PokerStars recently launched Zoom Poker, a fast-fold ring game product, on its Michigan-New Jersey shared liquidity network. This comes almost a month after merging the two states' player pools to create the network.
PokerStars US Network aired live Zoom ring games on January 23 at 9:00 p.m. It had several buy-in levels ranging from NL2 to NL200. Also, it accompanies the launch with a promotion incentive that awards players double reward points to start playing at tables.
Zoom poker is accessible to Michigan (MI) and New Jersey (NJ) players on the poker operator's liquidity network. But, it is inaccessible to Pennsylvania players.
The game product's launch wasn't smooth as PokerStars faced technical challenges that forced it to remove the product from its lobby. Besides, some social media users claimed that games didn't load despite tables reaching their minimum number of participants. Several Zoom cash game tables deployed late since PokerStars had removed the Zoom tab.
Many people had anticipated Zoom poker's introduction to the country's poker market as it lacked fast-fold poker. The format was first launched in 2012. It has rapidly gained popularity in European gaming markets and among the youth.
Fast-fold games allow players to join uncapped pools. A player will randomly sit with other players in the pool once they sign up. They will go to a new table with different players whenever they fold a hand. The "fast fold" option allows players to fold hands out of turn and move to another hand.
The fast-paced format allows participants to play more than 200 hands an hour at the same table. Still, it helps operators prevent predatory practices like "bum hunting" through table selection and seat removal.
It can be tricky to start pools sometimes as the game needs sufficient liquidity to run. A long pause might occur between folding a hand and starting another one if available players cannot fill two tables.
PokerStars launched an Early Bird promotion to encourage individuals to start the game. It awards the first ten players double points when they join Zoom for ten minutes.
PokerStars Is the Country's Second Poker Operator With the Fast-Fold Variant
BetMGM Poker was the first operator to introduce fast-fold poker, which it called FastForward. It launched the variant in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Still, most games are empty as they run during peak hours on some days.
Players can make $10 to $50 buy-ins to play FastForward games. One of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) networks shares pools between Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. But this might change once WSOP MI joins its WSOP Network's shared liquidity.
PokerStars introduced fast-paced poker in New Jersey twice; in June 2020 and several months after venturing into the state's market. Unfortunately, the launches didn't last for long due to insufficient liquidity.
The poker operator occasionally organizes Zoom tournaments as part of its tournament series. But, it doesn't spread cash games.
The PSPC Online Series is its first series since it merged PokerStars MI and PokerStars NJ. It is running four events in the fast-paced format. One of them is a heads-up, and two have bounties.
