PokerStars Removes Fold Button

The world’s largest online poker network PokerStars has been full of changes the past year. The same has held true for the past few weeks leading into 2017.
 
One change that took place heading into the end of the 2016 was the removal of the fold button when not faced with a raise. In other words, if you are in the big blind during preflop action and nobody has raised it you will only have the options to check or raise and no option to fold. Likewise, during postflop action, if none of your opponents has bet yet, your only options will be to bet or check.

This isn’t a huge change, since PokerStars was previously warning players that clicked the fold button to ask if they really wanted to fold since there is no benefit to doing so at that time. All this does is speed up the action for players accidentally clicking on fold when they didn’t realize they weren’t losing out on anything by just checking. This might also be a benefit to newer players who may not fully understand the rules to the game adding to their experience.

While some players have complained about this change, it isn’t one that really should bother anyone and could be something we see other online poker rooms copy. Also, since the hand history files have not changed at all, there is no update needed by your HUD provider (if you are using one), since this is how HUD and poker tracking database are updated.

Another change that took place at the end of last year was the offering of the Full Tilt game The Deal on PokerStars. This is really just a casino type of game that you can use FPPs on. PokerStars has shared that the game is a neutral EV one in the long-run and that they are not taking any rake on it.

One strategy people are employing here is playing this game once every 12 hours so if someone hits the big jackpot that they are involved in sharing. While half the jackpot does go to the person nailing it, anyone that played during the past 12 hours gets a small share too which is more or less around $1 per person.

The last change that recently happened only effects some of the bigger grinders on PokerStars. The online poker room changed the Supernova VIP status from annual to monthly and capped the potential rewards at 28 percent. PokerStars did also share that they will be making more changes to its VIP program during the year, which includes the involvement of its sports wagering and casino verticals into the program.

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