PokerStars Rush Poker has been a Chinese Poker whisper heard on the poker streets for what seems forever. While the term ‘forever’ may seem wrong think how frustrated you get when an online poker player takes over 10 seconds to make a decision EVERY SINGLE TIME.
PokerStars Rush Poker version of the much missed Full Tilt poker variant seemed to be announced by a few PokerStars pros a few months ago. Then with a PokerStars upgrade people spotted BlitzPoker files included and we assumed that this would be the name for the PokerStars version of Rush Poker. Since then nothing new or concrete has been heard or seen.
Will PokerStars Rush Poker every be launched? Were they ever going to launch their own version of Rush Poker? Was it a great marketing ploy costing them nothing but rumours and the whole of the poker world who miss Full Tilt’s Rush Poker cash games and especially the tournaments would be signing up for PokerStars if they did not have an account with them?
The idea of a PokerStars Rush Poker seems to go against everything that PokerStars have been doing over the recent years. Yes PokerStars want to make money but they do not make as much money as they short term could. Instead they will take measures to protect their long term poker ecology and in a strange way perhaps make more money long term than if they were greedy now.
PokerStars do need high raking players but they have done things to not encourage PokerStars to be a grinders only site. Where the recreational players are killed as soon as they deposit to play on PokerStars and then are in no rush to deposit and play again.
PokerStars have stopped the DONs (Double Or Nothing) Sit and Go tournaments for this very reason. They also changed their rake calculation method – which effects PokerStars rakeback payments – in favour of the contributed rake method. This infuriated PokerStars rakeback grinders who set up a protest against it. A similar protest had worked before at PartyGaming but PokerStars totally won the argument and destroyed the protests effects in a great display of showing who is the online Poker Daddy.
A ‘Rush Poker’ site owned and operated by PokerStars would sort of make business sense – with their player liquidity they could totally take over the Rush Poker alternative market – but with what they have shown and how they try to protect their poker economy it would seem to be one step forward and two steps back.
Unless they can somehow keep it fairly separate from their normal PokerStars client and players? Or they have done the maths and work out that with such an opportunity a PokerStars Rush Poker is worth more than the damage it could do.
Terminal Poker (review) is the Rush Poker alternative site and also the best mobile poker client in the online market today. Terminal Poker give a rather generous 200% up to 400 bonus and you are guaranteed 30% rakeback. For pokerQ4 readers if you sign up through us then first deposit 20 or more using the bonus code TER20 you will get an instant matched 20 bonus and you can still claim the 200% up to 400 bonus (click here for more info on the instant match bonus).
4 Responses
Recently something concrete has been heard – PokerStars have categorically stated it exists, that it’s called Rush poker, and will enter public beta testing end of feb/beginning of March. Pokerstars player representatives have also confirmed its existence.
That it’s called “blitz poker”, that is
Sigh… i shouldn’t write comments that don’t have edit buttons so early in the morning.
They’ve confirmed it’s called “zoom poker”.
Cheers Nick,here is the link to pokerfuse article on pokerstars zoompoker http://pokerfuse.com/news/poker-room-news/zoom-poker-pokerstars-rush-game-close-public-beta/