Ever wondered what poker would be liked if you could somehow magically see everyone’s hole cards? Well, if you have then this must be your lucky due because PokerStars is debuting a game that will give players the chance to do just this. Showtime Hold’em, the game, is an exciting no-limit variant and twist on the popular and old school no-limit Texas Hold’em where folded cards are exposed face-up for all the players to see throughout the duration of the hand.
Would you play differently if you could see your opponents’ folded cards? How would your opponents’ play if they saw what cards you folded in certain situations? As you will come to find out, the exposed folded cards will certainly add an extra element to the ordinary game since the players are given vital information which will, with a doubt, influence the moves they make next.
While it is a very unique take on the traditional Texas Hold’em, Showtime Hold’em is close enough to the old-school game and therefore players will not need to learn any new set of rules. Still, if you need them, the operator has explicitly detailed them on their website for rookie players.
“Traditional Texas Hold’em sees players each receive two private cards (known as ‘hole cards’) that belong to them alone, with five community cards then dealt face-up – known as the ‘board’. All players in the hand use these shared community cards, combined with their own hole cards, to each make their best possible five-card poker hand. What makes Showtime Hold’em different, is that every card folded by any player remains face-up and visible for the rest of the hand. This includes all cards folded pre- and post-flop,” PokerStars explained.
Showtime Hold’em tables are currently live and players can either opt for the real money or play money options with stakes starting from as low as $0.02 and $0.05 respectively. Players will be seated at the Showtime Hold’em tables using the Seat Me system that was designed by PokerStars to eliminate the “bum hunting” or “whale hunting” or fishing altogether – all you need to do is to pick the stakes and the next random open seat at the Showtime table is yours.
“It is a real pleasure to offer this second temporary variant to our players,” said Severin Rasset, the director of poker innovation and operations at PokerStars. “The possibility to see all folded cards will introduce some fascinating strategic adjustments to the traditional and well-loved no-limit hold’em game.”
A Follow Up to Split Hold’em
Showtime Hold’em’s release comes just a few days after the PokerStars’ previous temporary poker variant, Split Hold’em, ended its six-week run. Just like Showtime, Split Hold’em was a traditional Hold’em poker variant with the only twist being that it was played with two separate sets of community cards dealt simultaneously – there were two flops, then two turns and then followed by two rivers. The pot was split between the winners of each board but a single player could also scoop the entire pot if every other player folded or if the player had both winning hands.