Here is a small sound-bite that is sure to pique the interest of all Zoom Poker fans (and its detractors): PokerStars is strongly contemplating replacing all high-stakes games with Zoom Poker tables.
“In the long run, [PokerStars is] leaning very heavily towards possibly going Zoom-only for high-stakes games,” muses PokerStars Poker Room Manager Steve Day. “That’s a very real possibility at this point.”
Day did not speculate further, but we can hazard a guess as to why PokerStars may be considering such a significant change. PokerStars wants to generate action—it makes nothing from players sitting around waiting to start games—and what games like Zoom Poker do is encourage more action, with players of closer skill level competing together.
Learn more about Zoom Poker and its history in our 'Rush to Zoom Poker’ series of articles →
The move will certainly have its critics. Fast-fold poker removes two skills that a player can use to gain an edge on his opposition: seat selection and table selection. It also reduces the edge a player can obtain from developing reads on his opponents during a session.
Another obstacle to overcome is table observation: currently Zoom Poker tables cannot be observed, and the format is inherently less “rail-able.” Watching high-stakes and nose-bleed games is a big draw for many players, who flock to rail SuperStar Showdown matches.
The sound-bite comes from this week’s 2+2 pokercast (the Zoom discussion starts at the 02:05:00 mark). PokerStars is the main sponsor of the show, and Steve Day is a regular guest on the show to discuss recent happenings at PokerStars.
What do you think, would Zoom-only tables at high stakes solve many of the issues today with a lack of action and “bum hunting”? Or is fast-fold poker like Zoom just too different to be considered a possible replacement for normal tables? Let us know in the comments!
