Full Tilt stops tracking Pokerstrategy players

Power affiliate Pokerstrategy.com has accused Full Tilt Poker of “retrospectively” removing all tracking of those players it brought to the site ahead of its relaunch next month.

The move follows PokerStars’ acquisition of FTP in July, and the operator’s new owner claimed earlier this month to not be liable for any pre-existing affiliate deals set up under Tilt’s previous ownership.

It pledged at the time to set up a new affiliate programme following the 6 November relaunch of FTP, but noted that “Previous contractual agreements that Full Tilt Poker may have had with affiliates were excluded [from those assets acquired by Stars].”

The latest developments mean players brought to Full Tilt by PokerStrategy will no longer receive rakeback agreed upon under the terms of their previous deals, and they will cease to earn ‘StrategyPoints’ from the affiliate for their play on the site, with Pokerstrategy claiming FTP management refused its compromise offer of “A drastic reduction in our commissions.”

Pokerstrategy said in a statement: “We are shocked that Full Tilt Poker, being under new management, would make a decision that will, in our opinion, directly harm the player base.

“We are now genuinely concerned that this might just be the first step in a process towards making online poker less attractive for players, in particular for those that take poker seriously,” it added.

Pokerstrategy remains involved in ongoing legal proceedings against former Full Tilt subsidiary Pocket Kings with regard to a sum of $1.2m which it argues it is still owed. A spokesperson for the affiliate declined to comment on the specifics of the legislation.

It has approximately 485,000 players with previously tracked Full Tilt Poker accounts who will be affected by the development.

eGR contacted PokerStars for comment but is yet to receive a reply at the time of writing.