The average
recreational poker player has less time to dedicate to the card game that we
all love and hate so much (depending on the final card that is dealt). But even
grinders appreciate the introduction of fast fold poker where you immediately
get moved to a new table once your action in the previous hand is complete.
Which sites actually offer this feature and to what extend? The below list is
most likely not fully accurate and I may missing out on some smaller networks.
PokerStars
It was not
the first of its kind but second to Full Tilt and Zoom Poker gives players the
opportunity to sit at eight fast fold cash tables simultaneously on PokerStars .com/.fr and
.eu. Games offered are No Limit Hold'em up to $50/$100 with more than 800
entries in their most popular pools below NL400, Fixed Limit Hold'em (with
barely any traffic), Pot Limit and No Limit Omaha as well as Five Card Draw
(same non existing action as in FLHE) at Heads-Up, 6-max and full ring tables.
You will even find entire Zoom MTT's and it was included in the SCOOP schedule,
mobile support and rather effortless multi tabling is obviously included.
FullTiltPoker
Rush Poker
was the first ever fast fold poker type and Full Tilt continues to offer the
biggest variety of games in general. Whereas cash game for No Limit Hold'em
reaches until 2/4, the Pot Limit Omaha action is capped to 1/2. Besides that,
there are a plethora of Rush MTT's and on demand SNG's available. The mobile / iPad
client only features Rush Poker thus far.
An even
more fast paced version is the so called "Adrenaline Rush": The games
are 4-handed, you can buy in for between 5 and 10 Big Blinds and there is no
post-flop betting. You can only raise or fold, except in the following
circumstances: your opponent is all-in, the cap of 10 Big Blinds has been
reached or you are facing a raise greater than your stack size.
iPoker network
In June
2012, iPoker jumped onto the fast fold bandwagon and whereas most skins have a
different name for it, the traffic is shared on the entire network (unlike some
regular cash game tables on the two major tiers). The limits include No Limit
Hold'em up to €1/€2 and Pot Limit Omaha up to €0.10/€0.20, on demand SNG's as
well as MTT's have been added to the line up recently. Sorry, no Mac or mobile
/ iPad client. Popular deals can be found on Poker770 and Ladbrokes.
PartyPoker / bwin
Up to four cash
game tables per limit can be played on fastforward, which is limited to No
Limit Hold'em up to NL50. All games are played as 6-max with one exception at
the NL50 level that is also available as Heads-Up format as well. No MTT's or
SNG's in sight just yet. The most popular pools show between 150 and 200
entries during peak times. The mobile / tablet version does feature the
fastforward tables as option but you always get an error notification when
trying to enter any pool.
888poker
In
September 2013, 888poker
started testing its own fast fold poker version with the name "Snap
Poker" and it was officially introduced about one month later with 6-max
cash game tables up to NL200 only. Snap tournaments take place now as well with
Buy-Ins of up to $10 with less than 100 participants whereas Freerolls features
thousands of entries. Early in May 2014, other skins on the network also rolled
out Snap Poker as well (e.g. on Lucky Ace). The tablet version doesn't include
any Snap tables yet in May 2014.
Ongame network
In March
2013, Strobe Poker was born and the only
available cash game tables are Texas Hold'em as of NL5 and up to NL200 as well
as Pot Limit Omaha at $0.05/$0.10 and $0.25/$0.50. The player pools currently
peak at a maximum of 100 entries. You can try EuroPoker but keep
playing regularly or you may get moved to their casino site - Betsson is also a
solid choice.
Microgaming network
Blaze Poker
was officially launched in May 2012 on the Microgaming network but traffic
never really picked up much. Three different No Limit Hold'em cash game tables
are available: €0.05/€0.10, €0.10/€0.20 and €0.25/€0.50 - the lowest stake
peaks around 100-150 players and includes some special raked hand promotions.
We'll see how the network evolves after the upcoming closure of Boss Media and
the arrival of some of their skins.
InstaDeal network
Operated by
Elec Games Limited, the network was launched as fast fold poker only type with 5-max
cash game tables and 8-max tables were introduced in late 2013. There are no
SNG's available but MTT's run regularly, though without any massive guarantees
or heavy fields.
About one
year ago when skins such as TerminalPoker and Buzz
Poker ventured into the Revolution Gaming Network as white label skins, the
general idea of fast fold poker also swapped over to their "new
network" and the InstaDeal software was implemented in November 2013. All
skins except for the Intertops
and Juicy Stakes
joint-venture share the traffic whereas the latter sites remain ring fenced and
with very little traffic.
Unibet
Back on the
Microgaming network, Unibet
already had a fast fold poker client that needed to be installed separately. On
their new standalone software as of February 2014, they offer Fast Hold'em cash
game tables for No Limit Hold'em (NL4 and NL10) only at the moment and can be
accessed from the Windows, Mac and mobile / iPad client.
The Hive
The fast
fold product on sites such as Planet
Win 365 is called InstaPoker. Pot Limit Omaha tables are available up to
€0.25/€0.50 whereas No Limit Hold'em peaks at €0.10/€0.20, the game opens in a
pop up window and all tables are 5-max with a rather limited traffic.
Bovada (US friendly)
Bovada is the only
US friendly online poker site at the
moment with their own independent fast fold poker client that goes by the name
"Zone Poker". Whether or not you have to be in the zone to be
competitive remains unknown.
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