PokerTracker Adds Support for Zoom Poker Omaha 8/b, LHE

This week, PokerTracker, the massive poker tracking and analysis software, upped its support of the all-new Zoom Poker on PokerStars. If you haven't heard of Zoom Poker, it was rolled out for real money in recent days and is similar to Rush Poker, which was formerly found on Full Tilt before the site's license was revoked by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission last September.

In Zoom Poker, once your action in a hand has ended, you're shuttled away to a brand new table with a new set of opponents where a new hand will begin. It's the ultimate game for action junkies and, according to PokerTracker, players have been clocked in at over 1,300 hands per hour across four tables.

In a recent update just a few hours after Zoom Poker was released for real money, PokerTracker officials added support for Omaha Eight or Better and Limit Hold'em Zoom Poker games. As an important note, this functionality is available within PokerTracker 3 and PokerTracker 4, so all PokerTracker customers are covered.

"When we first heard about Zoom Poker, we were very excited to learn there would be a test client available," PokerTracker's Steven McLoughlin told PokerSoftware when asked about the process of integrating Zoom Poker into PT3 and PT4.

He continued, "PokerStars releases many updates to the test platform first and then rolls them out in a major release or beta release. Because PokerStars had the test client available and PokerTracker is the only tracking software available that supports play money, it gave us an incentive to start testing play money Zoom Poker games immediately." The result: PokerTracker rolled out Zoom Poker support the same day the new poker game was introduced to the world.

PokerStars initially released play money and micro-stakes Zoom Poker Omaha and Hold'em games. McLoughlin described the process of moving from PokerTracker's play money test site to real money: "The changes between play money and cash games weren't very big, and we were able to adjust the code within 24 hours. We were able to release our Zoom HUD client the same day that PokerStars Zoom Poker was available."

Does being among the first programs to support Zoom Poker give PokerTracker a leg up on the competition? "It's still too early to say we have a leg up," McLoughlin told us. "The important thing is that we're giving a solution to our players. We were able to provide a solution for our new product, PokerTracker 4, as well as our legacy product, PokerTracker 3. We're not abandoning our PokerTracker 3 users."

The reaction from the poker community to Zoom Poker has been relatively positive. With plenty of bells and whistles available, players have been competing en masse at the PokerStars Zoom Poker tables, and PokerStars has responded by increasing the game types and limits available.

"As a poker player, I am very impressed with Zoom Poker," McLoughlin applauded. "There are some small bugs, but those will be solved very quickly. They've made a lot of correct choices in terms of the number of tables allowed at a time, and the tables are fast and operate at an optimal speed. We have users who are getting as many as 1,300 hands per hour across the four tables they're allowed to open. PokerStars has done a good job of learning from their competitor's mistakes and I applaud them for that."

McLoughlin concluded by saying that he's looking forward to even more Zoom Poker games down the road: "I look forward to other Zoom games like 2-7 Triple Draw, which PokerTracker doesn't support but I think would be good for the future of Lowball games. It might create a resurgence of these games in the future."

You can get PokerTracker free through PokerSoftware by signing up for a brand new online poker site and completing the play-through requirements. Learn more.