PokerStars have moved quickly to fill the void left by Split Hold’em by creating a new cash game variant known as Showtime Hold’em, a game where folded hands are shown face-up for all to see.
If you’re a book, then you’re better off snuggling up next to other books in Waterstones, Barnes & Noble or some aged-old bookstore in Budva.
Competition is fierce, but you have to be in the arena with other books. Otherwise, nobody will see you. Nobody will touch you. Nobody will read you.
All the books are helpful to each other, but underneath earmarked, child food splattered pages there is envy. At night when the books go to sleep, the savvy ones inch their spines forward.
And it’s the same in poker writing.
I’m aware that I make a lot of shit up in my head, but of this one thing, I am sure. Poker writers are like hairy coconuts at a fairground, and the ones holding the balls are of the same ilk.
So when I tell you that most of my brethren screwed up this past week when they wrote of PokerStars decision to pull Split Hold’em from the shelves, intimating that the punters didn’t like the game, there is no envy, I am stating a fact.
PokerStars said that Split Hold’em would only be available for a short period. After that short period elapsed, the game came down for review.
I made the same mistake.
PokerStars Release Showtime
PokerStars have wasted little time filling the space left by Split Hold’em. On Wednesday, the largest online poker room this side of the woman with the rainbow watch released a new cash game variant called Showtime Hold’em.
The game – which is available for a limited time only – is another attempt by Stars to reduce the edge that professionals and semi-professionals have over everyone else, while at the same time, increasing the fun element of the game.
And note I said reduce.
If you are a master of the arts then nobody is taking away your paintbrush and easel, the very best in the game will still beat the rest over the long run.
The twist is a simple one.
Each time a player folds, the hole cards are shown face up. The extra information allows people to fill in some of the missing gaps that would enable the very best to use all of their experience and mathematical jiggery-pokery to gain an edge.
If the Pokerfuse article on this is anything to go by then, we can expect more cash game variants to follow as Stars continues to provide value for their recreational players.
If you want to see how the pros react to Showtime Hold’em, then PokerStars will be hosting a unique Twitch Invitational where the likes of Fintan Hand, Ben Spragg, Lex Veldhuis, Jaime Staples, Kevin Martin and Felix Schneiders will test their skills at the new game.
