PokerStars has announced the release of Unfold, its latest No Limit Hold’em cash game innovation, allowing players to do what the name suggest once the flop has been dealt.
Should an individual change his or her mind, the previously folded hand will be used to play for an unfold pot, made up of antes taken from each player, constituting a percentage of the big blind, at the beginning of each hand.
In order to play for that pot and unfold their hand players have to bet an amount equal to its sum, with those doing so unable to make any further bets, with the hand played out amongst main pot players while those unfolded spectate
The unfold pot will then be awarded to the relevant player with the strongest five card hand after the river is dealt, should the main pot be won before this point all remaining community cards will be dealt.
The three instances which sees the unfold antes refunded to all players are if the main pot is decided pre-flop, fewer than two players fold pre-flop or no players choose to unfold.
Severin Rasset, director of poker innovation and operations, commented: “This has never been done before. Unfold means more action and opportunities for players, reducing the all too familiar sinking feeling of making the correct pre-flop lay down, only to then find you would have flopped the nuts. We’re very excited to offer something new and completely different.”
Featured under a tab in the PokerStars lobby, the game is currently available on .COM, .NET .UK, .EU and .DK, with more licenses to be rolled out in the future.
Fatima de Melo, PokerStars Ambassador, stated: “I feel way more comfortable folding hands knowing that there’s great potential to hop on to the unfold pot if I want to.
“I remember playing a World Series of Poker event about five years ago and I folded 3s pre flop and the other players went all-in with aces against queens, and I would have won the hand with a set of 3s.
“This was for the chip lead and I was like “oh my god, why did I fold?”. Well I had to fold because they went all in pre-flop. But the unfold button would have definitely been nice there.”
Fellow PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneider added: “There’s been so many times at the tables where I’ve wished I could go back and unfold my hand when I’ve realised I’ve hit a winner, and now I can actually do it, which is super exciting.
“It’s a really engaging format and keeps players entertained and sweating it out in the side pot. I think it’ll also be very funny to stream on my channel and I can’t wait to show my community.”
Check out the video for PokerStars’ Unfold below:
