Deputy Editor
PokerStars followed up its recent seating policy change with some minor but notable changes. The long-standing maximum of four cash game tables has been nudged up to six, while some less-popular formats have been phased out. Additionally, there’s now a ten-hand minimum at certain stakes to prevent seat hopping.
The changes come on the heels of a July overhaul that disabled seat selection at stakes up to and including $1/$2 blinds. Higher-stakes games still allow seat selection. PokerStars said it settled on that compromise to “respect the dynamics required for starting tables” at the higher stakes.
The formats that PokerStars removed from the new, streamlined lobby are:
- Pot-Limit Omaha with Ante
- No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
- Pot-Limit Five-Card Draw
Some Fixed-Limit games have seen the number of available stake levels reduced.
Here’s a look at the official update in the client summarizing the changes.
New 10-Hand Minimum
The new cash game policy at PokerStars requires those entering certain games to play at least 10 hands before leaving. Otherwise, they’ll receive “time penalties.”
Players leaving the table early won’t be able to find a new seat until a certain amount of time has elapsed, although the announcement doesn’t specify how much time.
Without such a policy, players trying to locate a specific opponent or occupy a certain position could repeatedly quit and rejoin the game until getting the result they want, a practice colloquially known as “seat hopping.”
The new penalties apply at $0.50/$1 and $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha.
Max tables bumped up for first time since 2019
PokerStars also increased the maximum number of concurrent cash game tables to six. That change took place a few weeks ago and represents a notable step back from the strict four-table cap that dates back to 2019.
For years, PokerStars allowed players to grind up to 24 cash games at once. That policy encouraged mass multi-tabling, which enabled high-volume players to reap huge rewards from the old player loyalty program. The site, in turn, benefited from the rake generated by the games populated by such players.
All of that came crashing down in August 2019 as the operator lopped the table maximum all the way down to four.
The days of mass multi-tabling for rakeback aren’t returning, but some players will undoubtedly welcome a change that allows for a bit more volume.
PokerStars had experimented with both automatic seating and a single-digit table cap in the ring-fenced Italian market before rolling them out internationally. However, while the table cap became universal almost immediately, assigned seating took years. Interestingly, the original table cap in Italy was the same six PokerStars has now adopted for all players, alongside assigned seating.
