It looks like the fierce competition between the major online poker sites is starting to have some aspects that won't be good for the game in the long run. According to industry sources, Full Tilt Poker have told their sponsored players that in the future they won't be able to participate in some tournaments sponsored by their rivals. It's unclear whether the "ban" is in place only in the USA or does it include other tours such as the PokerStars EPT.


According to Pokerati.com, Howard Lederer has stepped down from the operational front of Full Tilt Poker leaving Ray Bitar and co. to make the decisions. Apparently they have got the idea that it's not good for FTP if their players add to the prestige of their rivals' tournaments. Because of this, you won't see any FTP players at the upcoming PokerStars NAPT Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, and FTP pros were even told not to enter a recent charity tournament sponsored by Victoria Poker.

ESPN poker blogger Gary Wise looks at the news and its' consequences to FTP and the game as a whole: "For the last eight years, 'good for poker' has been a unifying rally cry. The game and the online industry built upon it, fought for growth and acceptance... Are we seeing the increasingly corporate mentality of the industry bring an end to that chapter?" Wise asks on his blog on ESPN.

Apart from that, FTP would be much wiser not to alienate their own players by denying them the chance to play at lucrative tournaments just because they are sponsored by the wrong site, Wise says.

Read Wise's blog entry on ESPN here.