Normally when you play poker, you are at the mercy of the cards and there is very little you can do about it. Sure, there are thousands of books and poker strategies to help you learn how to make the most out of your hand, but at the end of the day, there’s not much you can do to change what you have been dealt. Until now that is…
The latest update to the PokerStars Free Online Poker Games & Texas Hold’em app, available on Google Play or the iTunes app for all iOS and Android smartphones, has just had an update that essentially allows you to beat the dealer by simply changing your cards if you don’t like them.
The hugely popular app, brought to you by PokerStars, the world’s leading online poker platform, has always been packed full of features including multi-table functionality, table chat and novelties like the fast-paced “zoom” poker. Of course, it also has poker in all its classic forms including Texas Hold’em, Omaha and five-card stud.
You can play for fun or play for real money with up to $1 million up for grabs in the three-player tournament. You can also either play against the app or real players from around the world and you can even use the app to qualify for big money live-poker tournaments around the globe, including The Bahamas and Monte Carlo.
More than half of the Google Play reviews have already given the PokerStars app the full five stars, and that’s before the latest upgrade that landed on October 13th.
The biggest update is the introduction of the new Power Up feature, which is set in a futuristic universe where literally anything goes. It offers “supercharged poker” with “game-changing powers”. If you’ve ever played poker and wished you had a certain card, well now you can have it. Ever wanted to know what your opponent is holding in their hand, well now you can see for yourself. You can even take a sneak peek at the next card in the deck to help you make your call, and if you don’t like your hole cards in Texas Hold’em, you can simply swap them for something more to your liking.
Power Up is an appropriate name for the feature because it feels like playing poker with superpowers like X-ray vision or telekinesis, and seems to give you a miraculous Derren Brown style advantage over an otherwise random game.
Ok, so it might not have quite the same excitement as drawing just the card you need at just the right time to complete your hand, but it does allow you to experience the thrill of what it would be like to have the perfect night at the tables or a huge win at a major tournament. At the end of the day, Power Up is just a bit of fun in the serious world of top-flight poker, but given that the app more than covers the serious stuff too, there’s no harm in that. Version 1.89.0 requires iOS 8.0 or later or Android 4.0, and is rated PEGI 18.
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