PokerStars Launches Real Money Zoom Poker

The clientele of the world's largest online poker site, PokerStars, have been buzzing in recent days over the introduction of Zoom Poker. Do you remember Rush Poker on the now-defunct Full Tilt Poker? Well, think of Zoom Poker as its cousin. The Zoom Poker game play is very similar to that of Rush Poker – once your action in a hand is finished, you're whisked away to a brand new table with a new set of opponents where a new hand begins immediately.

Text found on PokerStars' Blog heralded the arrival of Zoom Poker and gave a sneak preview of what you can expect: "The format is as simple as it is fast. You can play up to four tables of poker at a time. As soon as you fold a hand on one table, you are taken to another table for a new hand. With three different animation options and a chance to hang around and see how the hand plays out after your departure, Zoom Poker is the answer to anyone who hates to wait."

Rush Poker was originally rolled out on Full Tilt Poker in early 2010. Many viewed it as one of the most innovative forms of poker ever, but when the site was unable to pay back players following Black Friday, Full Tilt Poker and Rush Poker fell by the wayside. Now, the industry seems to be getting a crack at a variant of the game.

Zoom Poker features the ability to sit out the next big blind or the next hand; the former was not available in Rush Poker.

On the popular poker forum PocketFives, posters shared their experience with the newest poker sensation. One wrote, "So much fun. I'm glad they brought it in." Another member of PocketFives gave his review: "I like it. Played for 10 minutes and doubled up. I could get into this. Also like their new layouts, animations, etc. They are obviously paying some decent designers now."

Hold'em and Omaha Zoom Poker games are available at micro-stakes right now, with PokerStars officials pledging to ramp up the offering in the near future. Zoom Poker could soon be coming to a tournament near you as well, as the PokerStars Blog teased, "As of right now, we have no specific timeline on when more is coming, but rest assured: more is coming. We expect to see bigger stakes, other game types, and maybe Zoom tournaments in the future."

The reason that only micro-stakes games are currently available is because Zoom Poker is still in beta. Therefore, users could experience unforeseen bugs when firing up the Zoom Poker software. PokerStars is encouraging anyone who encounters a hiccup to e-mail beta@pokerstars.com.

The possibility of Zoom Poker tournaments caught the attention of many members of PocketFives, a site that built its reputation on ranking online poker tournament players. One PocketFives poster expressed his excitement: "Rush MTTs were without a doubt the best thing Full Tilt contributed to the poker industry… PokerStars not copying this would be dumb and I'm surprised it took this long."

Zoom Poker allows users to record a vastly increased number of hands per hour. Whereas a person can get upwards of 100 hands per hour on a traditional table, Zoom Poker could allow that number to triple. This means players have an easier shot at the upper echelons of the PokerStars VIP system. As one PocketFives member explained, "Works really well. For people trying to achieve a VIP status, this is a godsend once it moves from beta and goes to higher stakes."

Initially, $0.01/$0.02, $0.02/$0.05, and $0.05/$0.10 Zoom Poker No Limit Hold'em games were available. Also running was $0.01/$0.02 Zoom Poker Omaha. Meanwhile, programs like PokerTracker were scrambling to release updates to accommodate Zoom Poker. We're certain that developers for other pieces of poker software will be hard at work this week making their programs compatible with the latest innovation to hit the market.

Visit PokerStars for more details on Zoom Poker.