Amaya Scooting Full Tilt Poker players to PokerStars

Full Tilt's performance has been on the decline ever since its 2012 relaunch following the effects of Black Friday. Parent company, Amaya, announced that it will scoot Full Tilt Poker players over to PokerStars as soon as this spring. According to Amaya's press release: “This platform migration will allow Amaya's development and technology teams to focus on improving one market-leading platform rather than two, leading to a better gaming experience for all; improvements and features will be delivered faster and more efficiently rather than doubling development requirements. For instance, rather than splitting resources developing Full Tilt Jackpot Sit & Go and PokerStars Spin & Go features independently, teams will be able to work together on delivering the best possible product on one platform.” Rafi Ashkenazi, Chief Executive Officer of Rational Group, said, “Players will benefit from a larger pool of players offering greater game choice, bigger prize pools. It will also make us more nimble as we can focus our technological innovation on one platform, rather than two, so we will be able to innovate more quickly and enter newly-regulating and existing markets swiftly.” This move doesn't come without is casualties. A review of the potential effects on employees is currently under review in terms of how many stand to lose their jobs. The migration will cause the “elimination of a number of roles” at Full Tilt's office in Dublin, Ireland. On the casino side of things, Full Tilt will continue to be available in select jurisdictions but will merge under one platform with PokerStars. From the player perspective, you will notice one simplified account that will provide access to both the Full Tilt and PokerStars platforms; however the latter will be the only choice for poker. The transition will be automatic and PokerStars VIP, a major source of contention over the last several months, will also become the default loyalty program. Could this be the first mile in Full Tilt's race to the end?