- Reviewing all the platform, product and app updates, and all the new games and features, deployed by PokerStars in 2020.
PokerStars’ New Flat Lobby Design is Its Biggest Update in Years (January 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has deployed a new online poker lobby in the Danish market.”
Key takeaways:
- While the layout is similar, every aspect of the lobby has been changed, introducing a new “flat” visual aesthetic throughout the client.
- It is understood to be in testing exclusively in the licensed online poker room in Denmark.
- The flat design language that has become increasingly common in mobile and web app development over the last decade.
Exclusive: First Look at Throwable Virtual Objects at the PokerStars Tables (February 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has been quietly trialing “throwable” virtual objects at the online poker tables for quite some time, tucked away in the Italian client.”
Key takeaways:
- Currently available to only Italian players on a trial basis, the throwable feature is PokerStars’ attempt to add a fun social element at the tables.
- Players have four items to choose from: A rose, a horseshoe, a fish and a pie cream plate.
- Some of these items require the completion of challenges to unlock.
Exclusive: PokerStars Rolls Out 6-Card Omaha (February 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has deployed 6-card Omaha to the global client for real money.”
Key takeaways:
- The new game format available in the international dot-com and dot-EU client, as well as the dedicated Russian client.
- It is currently available for cash games only, spread in Pot Limit format at 6-max cash game tables.
- It is just like regular four-card Omaha except all players are dealt six cards in their hand.
PokerStars Goes Live with Side Bets Feature Globally (February 2020)
Top line: “Online poker operator PokerStars has rolled out its Side Bets feature, allowing poker players to place poker-related bets against the house while active at real money poker tables.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars tested out this feature in January, where it was spotted for real money in the European and UK poker clients.
- The betting panel is accessible in the lower left, in a tab alongside the table chat.
- A flop bet has big prizes for uncommon board textures: Straight or flush boards pay out 5 to 1; three of a kind 25 to 1.
- The RTP on the hole card bet is 97.29%, and the bet on flops is 97.12%.
- There are three to five preset betting amounts that vary based on the buy-in and game type.
PokerStars Deploys Swap Hold’em Globally (March 2020)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars has deployed yet another twist on the classic Texas Hold’em for real money cash games.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars has deployed yet another twist on the classic Hold’em for real money cash games.
- The existence of Swap was first revealed by PRO some seven months ago.
- Players see when opponents change their cards, and how many were switched out.
- It can be done at any point in the hand, even half-way through a betting sequence.
- It is the eighth new format introduced in this manner by PokerStars in the last two years.
Grand Tour: PokerStars Unveils Ambitious New Fast-Paced Tournament Format (April 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has revealed a major new poker game, Grand Tour, that combines various elements of popular contemporary formats—shorthanded tables, fast paced games, random prizes, progressive bounties—and bundles it into a single cohesive package with a slick cycling theme.”
Key takeaways:
- Grand Tour combines various elements of popular contemporary games and bundles it into a single cohesive package.
- Shorthanded tables, fast paced games, random prizes, progressive bounties, and Steps-esque progression all feature.
- It is expected to launch for real money later on Thursday and come to the EU and UK clients by the end of the week.
- When a sprint is won, the player can immediately jump into the next stage or save that entry for later.
- The game is heavily inspired by the most famous of the cycling Grand Tours, the Tour de France.
PokerStars Launches Personalized Homepage, Throwable Objects in the UK Client (May 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has debuted The Rail, a new personalized home screen in the online poker client. It is currently live in the UK and is expected to roll out to other markets soon.”
Key takeaways:
- The Rail is accessible from within the lobby.
- It shows various widgets in a Pinterest-style display, including personalized panels.
- After a trial of almost a year in the Italian market, PokerStars has launched throwables in the UK this week.
PokerStars Readies “Dark Mode” Lobby (May 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars is expected to deploy “Dark Mode” in the coming days to desktop users. It will first come to the UK and EU clients before a wider international rollout, PRO has learned.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars is expected to deploy “Dark Mode” in the coming days to users on desktop in the UK and EU markets.
- Enabling dark mode changes the design in the cash game, Zoom, Sit & Go, Tourney and Events tabs.
- Many tools and web apps have it as an optional feature; others have it as the default or only option.
PokerStars Launches New Mobile App to Teach Poker Fundamentals (May 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has launched a new app, Poker DoJo, which comprises a trio of mini poker games designed to help recreational players improve their poker skills.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars has launched a new app called Poker DoJo, a mini poker game and learning tool.
- There are three simple, fast-paced poker games available in the app.
- The long-standing PokerStars School, formerly Poker School Online, is a dedicated learning portal and strategy site.
PokerStars Overhauls Home Games with New Features, More Games and Mobile Support (June 2020)
Top line: “In perhaps its biggest upgrade in a decade, PokerStars is rolling out an overhaul to its Home Games product that allows players to play in and administer their own private tournaments and cash games.”
Key takeaways:
- Home Games is rolling out to all mobile devices.
- As of today, admins can create the ever-popular progressive knockout tournaments for their home games.
- Other niche variants, including PokerStars-exclusive novelties like Split Hold’em and Fusion, coming soon.
- Other operators have also been looking to capitalize on the renewed interest in private clubs.
PokerStars’ Next-Gen Mobile App with Biometric Login Rolls Out Globally on iOS Devices (June 2020)
Top line: “After a long trial period in smaller markets, PokerStars has finally rolled out its next-generation mobile app, internally known as NG, in the dot-com market.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars has rolled out its “Next Generation” (NG) mobile app globally in the dot-com market for iOS users.
- The new mobile app is the operator’s biggest upgrade since it first launched in 2011.
- It has been built from the ground up and uses a new architecture that allows for faster deployment of new features.
- It also comes with the increasingly popular biometrics login, allowing users to authenticate with a fingerprint or via face detection.
Players Must be Playing to Join Cash Game Waiting Lists in PokerStars’ New Seat Selection System (September 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has launched a new system for joining waiting lists at its cash game tables, dubbed Active Waiting List, which prioritizes empty seats to players actively playing at other tables.”
Key takeaways:
- The system aims to reduce the player behavior considered “predatory.”
- “Our latest feature, Active Waiting List, is all about making the game fairer and the experience better for most players.”
- A player must be sat at another table of the same game, type and buy-in to join the wait list of another full table.
- Rather, all players on the wait list enter what PokerStars calls a “draw” for the seat.
PokerStars Trials Anonymous Tables in Segregated European Market (December 2020)
Top line: “PokerStars has launched anonymous tables, dubbed Stealth, in its French and Spanish online poker rooms, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- Two stakes are currently available to play in Spain and France.
- When sat at the table, players are identified by a system-generated alias and generic avatars.
- PokerStars regularly tests new ideas in one or two markets and has no qualms ending a trial if it proves unpopular.
