FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - Full Tilt Poker Academy

Membership

What do I have to do in order to join the Academy?

All you need to join Full Tilt Poker Academy is a Full Tilt Poker account. Simply download the Full Tilt Poker software, set up a username and password, and your Academy membership will be activated. For further information on downloading the software and opening your account, follow our guided setup.

What if I already have a Full Tilt Poker account?

If you have a pre-existing Full Tilt account, then you are automatically an Academy member. Just enter your Full Tilt Poker username and password at the top of any page in the Academy to login.

Do I need to make a real-money deposit?

No, you don’t need to have real money in your account to become a member. However, you will need to play for real money in order to become a Silver or Gold member and unlock certain aspects of the site, as real-money play is required to complete the Academy Challenges and earn Academy Credits.

Will my password be kept private?

Yes. Because this is the same password you use to access your real-money Full Tilt Poker account, we realize the importance of password security. Nobody will be able to see or access your private account information when you log in to Full Tilt Poker Academy.

Can I use the Full Tilt Points I’ve already earned toward Academy membership?

Any point you've ever earned goes toward determining your membership status. If you've earned 500 points in your lifetime on Full Tilt Poker, you get a Gold membership.

What are the benefits of membership?

Academy members have access to a substantially larger video library than guests, and only Academy members can take part in Academy Challenges. Additionally, Academy members have far greater access to Sit-N-Learn quizzes, and users who make the Sit-N-Learn Leaderboards will be eligible for Academy-only freeroll tournaments on Full Tilt Poker. For a complete breakdown of the different membership levels and their benefits, see the Academy's Join page.

Lessons

What is a Lesson?

Lessons are in-depth tutorials taught by the Full Tilt Pros, focusing on a specific subject. The teachers include Team Full Tilt members like Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, as well as Full Tilt Pros such as Brandon Adams and Michael Gracz. Some subjects are specific to cash games, multi-table tournaments, or sit & gos, while some apply to poker in all of its forms.

Are there different Lessons for different skill levels?

Each Lesson has its own Difficulty Level, ranging from "1" (most basic) to "10" (most advanced), but all Lessons can have value for all skill levels. The Academy is intended for advanced players to find benefits in watching the Lessons with lower Difficulty Levels, and for beginning players to find benefits in watching the Lessons with higher Difficulty Levels.

How can I learn more about a Lesson without watching the entire video?

When you click on a Lesson, you'll be given the option of watching the Lesson or watching a Preview of it that provides you with a brief taste of what the Lesson has to offer. Also, when watching a Lesson, you can fast-forward or rewind to a specific point in the video at any time. You can also move directly to the beginning of any chapter. All Academy videos provide real-time streaming functionality so you don’t have to wait for an upload if you want to skip ahead.

What are Courses and how do they work?

Courses are groupings of Lessons according to a common theme, allowing you to take a more structured approach to your Academy education. By watching all Lessons, completing all Sit-N-Learns, and attempting all Challenges in a specific Course, you may find your Academy experience to be more focused and more conducive to improving a specific aspect of your game.

Sessions

What is a Session?

Sessions are your opportunity to go inside the minds of the poker pros as they compete and make decisions in real-time while playing at Full Tilt Poker. The Academy has dozens of Sessions covering every type of game, from lower-limit cash games to major big-buy-in tournaments. The pros in action include Team Full Tilt members like Allen Cunningham and Andy Bloch, as well as Full Tilt Pros such as Kristy Gazes and Paul Wasicka. This is your chance to watch and learn from some of the top online pros who you don’t get to see on television.

Are there Challenges or Sit-N-Learns associated with the Sessions?

No, the Sessions are stand-alone Academy features.

Are there different Sessions for different skill levels?

Each Session has its own Difficulty Level, ranging from "1" (most basic) to "10" (most advanced), but all Sessions can have value for all skill levels. The Academy is intended for advanced players to find benefits in watching the Sessions with lower Difficulty Levels, and for beginning players to find benefits in watching the Sessions with higher Difficulty Levels.

How can I learn more about a Session without watching the entire video?

When you click on a Session, you'll be given the option of watching the Session or watching a Preview of it that provides you with a brief taste of what the Session has to offer. Also, when watching a Session, you can fast-forward or rewind to a specific point in the video at any time. All Academy videos provide real-time streaming functionality so you don’t have to wait for an upload if you want to skip ahead.

Challenges

What is a Challenge?

A Challenge is a set of tasks for you to complete in real-money action at the Full Tilt Poker tables. Each Challenge is associated with a specific Lesson and encourages you to incorporate the pro's advice from the Lesson into your game. Challenge tasks vary in scope from something that can be accomplished in a single hand to something that can only be accomplished over the course of several cash-game sessions or multiple tournaments. Each time you complete a task, you will earn Academy Credits.

How do I find out the specific details of what’s required to complete a Challenge task?

Each Challenge task comes with a link called "Task Details," which explains the specifics of what you have to do. These detail links are available in the Challenge presentation or on your "My Academy" page. Pay special attention to whether the tasks are intended for cash games, sit & gos, or multi-table tournaments, as you must be playing in the right type of game for your accomplishments to count.

How do I get involved in a Challenge?

There are numerous ways. When you click on any Lesson that has an associated Challenge, you'll first be given an opportunity to skip directly to the Challenge without watching the Lesson. Or at the end of the Lesson, you'll be prompted to take the associated Challenge. You can also directly access the complete list of Challenges under the "Test Your Skills" menu.

Can I have more than one Challenge active at a time?

No, you can only attempt to complete tasks in one Challenge at a time. You can switch your Active Challenge at any time, however, on your "My Academy" page.

How do I keep track of the tasks I've completed?

The Academy keeps track for you, lighting up the "bubbles" for each task on your "My Academy" page. Challenge progress will be updated as quickly as our systems allow. Cash game tasks may require up to two hours to fully report. S&Gs and MTTs may require an hour and a half from the end of the tournament.

Do I have to watch the Lesson to take the Challenge?

No, you don't have to watch the Lesson, but watching the Lesson will generally help you. The tasks are directly tied to the pro’s advice, so understanding that pro’s strategies will typically prove useful at the tables. For specific explanation of how the task relates to the Lesson and what the task is intended to accomplish, click on the "Why This Task?" link on the individual task description.

What do Academy Credits get me?

Academy Credits can be spent in the Academy Store, where you can put them toward everything from apparel to electronics to tournament tokens.

Sit-N-Learns

What is a Sit-N-Learn?

Sit-N-Learns are seven-question interactive quizzes featuring video hints from the pros. Each question has four multiple-choice answers. Each Sit-N-Learn is associated with a specific Lesson and builds upon the concepts in that Lesson and the strategies explained by the teacher.

Can I take a Sit-N-Learn more than once?

Yes, you can take a Sit-N-Learn as many times as you want, but your score will only count toward qualifying for the Leaderboard the first time you take that Sit-N-Learn.

Do I have to watch the Lesson to take the Sit-N-Learn?

No, but it is highly recommended, as many questions draw specifically upon the insights offered in that Lesson. Before you begin a Sit-N-Learn, you’re given the option to re-watch the Lesson, which will typically make it easier to answer the questions correctly.

How do I achieve the highest possible score?

The maximum score for a Sit-N-Learn is 7,000 points (1,000 per question), and the way to achieve that score is to answer all seven questions correctly, before the timer begins ticking down, without buying any hints.

What does the "Buy A Hint" option mean?

Since answering a question incorrectly means you'll get zero points for that question, if you aren’t sure of the answer you'll sometimes want to sacrifice part of your score in exchange for a video hint. There are two hints available for each question. The first one will cost you 100 points off your score; the second one costs 200 points. Each hint will remove one of your answer choices.

What is the benefit of reaching the top of the Leaderboard?

Academy Members who reach the top of the Sit-N-Learn Leaderboards will be invited to play in monthly Academy-only freeroll tournaments.

My Academy

How do I customize My Academy?

At the bottom of the My Academy page, you can "check" or "uncheck" any items. You can also open this customization panel at the top of the page by clicking "Customize My Academy."

What happens when I add Favorite Pros?

When you add one of the Full Tilt Pros to your Favorites list, you gain instant, easy access to all of that pro’s Academy contributions. The Academy will also recommend content based on your Favorites list. You can add or remove pros easily via the Academy's "The Pros" page.

Full Tilt Poker Academy General Questions

How do I get to the home page?

You can get to the home page from anywhere on the site by clicking the Full Tilt Poker Academy logo in the upper left corner of the page.

Can I minimize the carousel?

Yes, just click on "Close Carousel" directly underneath the carousel to minimize it.

Do you have a glossary of poker terms?

Yes. It can be accessed here.

Can I see a transcript of a video I have watched?

Yes. For any of the videos on the site, when you arrive at the page where you're given the option of watching or previewing the video, if you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll find a box entitled "Video Details." Here you'll see a link to a transcript of the video.

How can I share and discuss my Academy experience with others?

You can open or join in on a message board thread at the Full Tilt Poker Academy Forums, where other Academy members are posting their thoughts around the clock on their Academy experience. You can access the Forums either through your "My Academy" page or by clicking on the "Full Tilt Poker Forum" link at the bottom of any page.

What are the Deans' roles?

As Deans of the Academy, Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon provide your basic FTPA guides. Howard leads you through the Deans' Tour and the Academy Guide to Cash Games, while Phil narrates the Guide to Multi-Table Tournaments and the Guide to Sit & Gos. They've also both contributed a wealth of material to the Academy, with two Lessons apiece as of launch, and will continue to contribute regularly in the future.

Who can I talk to if these FAQs have not answered my question?

Full Tilt Poker Academy offers 24/7 customer support. Full contact details for 19 different languages are available on our customer support page.