Exclusive: Giant Blinds, Variable Antes and All-in or Fold--PokerStars' Unique Tempest and Deep Water Games Go Live Exclusive: Giant Blinds, Variable Antes and All-in or Fold--PokerStars' Unique Tempest and Deep Water Games Go Live
Key Takeaways
  • In both games, there are three blinds and an ante that increases each time a hand doesn’t go to showdown.
  • Deep Water is played deep-stacked.
  • Tempest is played short-stacked in an All In or Fold format.

PokerStars is today unveiling two new games, Deep Water and Tempest, in the UK and dot-net client, PRO can reveal.

It marks the sixth and seventh new cash game formats introduced by PokerStars in the last two years, and the first since January 2019, when it launched 6+ Hold’em.

As exclusively reported by PRO late last week, the new games are being launched in tandem and have a similar rule set, played with three blinds and an ante that increases under certain game conditions.

Both games are expected to be spread in six-max cash and are based on NL Hold’em. They are expected to replace Power Up, the poker-esports hybrid game that PRO also revealed last week would be removed from the client.

“If you’ve followed along for the last couple of years you will have noticed our commitment to poker innovation hasn’t dampened,” said PokerStars’ Séverin Rasset, Managing Director & Commercial Officer of Poker. “We’ve been busy continually trying out new formats and game types, listening to your response, and going back to the lab.”

“The classic games that we all love aren’t going anywhere, but creating new and exciting variants is vital to our mission of growing poker and meeting, head on, the expanding variety of other entertainment options the modern world provides,” he added. “Plus, it’s one of the best parts of the job.”

In both Deep Water and Tempest, the game is played with three blinds: The normal small and big blinds plus a “Giant Blind,” posted by the player under the gun. This is double the size of the big blind, and is effectively a mandatory straddle.

The game is also played with an ante, which starts off at one fifth the size of the big blind. The unique twist is that, when a hand does not go to showdown, this ante increases on the next hand. After one non-showdown hand it doubles; after two, it triples; after four, it quadruples, which is the cap.

Any time a hand is won at showdown, the ante resets.