FCP community generally supportive of PokerStars switch

Posts on the Full Contact Poker message boards were generally supportive of the Internet poker room's decision to shut down operations and migrate accounts to PokerStars, though some players are upset that their pending bonus balances will not also be moved to the much larger provider.

"I've been playing more on PS since FCP changed sites," wrote 'WKTSWAY,' who claimed to have $750 in his pending bonus account. "If I knew this was coming where I would lose out on my bonus money, I would have played more at FCP so I could have tried to get some of that bonus money."

One of the administrators explained that players who do not have existing accounts at PokerStars will be eligible for a $50 first deposit bonus. FCP points, which are earned based on stakes and volume of play, will be transfered to the players' PokerStars Frequent Player Points accounts at a 2.5:1 ratio. PokerStars FPP can be used to pay for tournament entry fees or to buy things from the PokerStars FPP store.

"The best store would be the one of my own choosing that I would have spend the $900+ in bonus money I cleared," wrote 'koolromeo.' "Not a store stocked with Moneymaker books and Greg Raymer posters."

Most of the posters, however, were excited about the move, with some even okay with giving up their pending bonus.

"I was having trouble making any deposits into PokerStars," wrote 'MrH.' "Problem SOLVED!"

FCP began as an Internet message board and became popular thanks to Daniel Negreanu's blog, which gave the average poker player a glimpse into the life of the professional card player.

The site's first Internet poker room used ill-fated Poker Mountain software and was largely unsuccessful. But the site started to see a surge in membership once it moved to Ongame, which offered much higher player liquidity.

Fueled in large part by the forums, FCP held several highly successful promotions like Daniel's Protégé and the Weekly Negreanu Open.

Ongame, however, opted out of the U.S. market after the UIGEA passed, forcing FCP to change to the Digital Gaming Network. The software was largely rejected by the FCP community, and its player base never rebounded as many moved to PokerStars and Full Tilt – two major sites still accepting U.S. players.

FCP will continue to host an Internet message board and be the home of Daniel Negreanu's blogs, and PokerStars has pledged to continue running promotions like the Protégé and Negreanu Open.

"I like the upcoming change," wrote 'rog.' "I see it as a return to the old ways. It means I can be more involved in FCP private tourneys and events without leaving part of my bankroll on what is for all intents and purposes, a dead poker site."

Some, however, believed that the move may bring thousands of PokerStars players to the FCP message boards and were concerned about the effect that might have on the community.

"FCP is a pretty big sized forum but if it gets a brazillion new posters that play on stars we could turn into a 2+2 site where there is no good contetn (sic) from good posters, just idiots flaming each other," wrote 'Jam-Fly.' "Remember, if a forum becomes too fat, it could get heart disease and die, don't let FCP die."