For the better part of 2018, PokerStars was teasing and releasing online poker variations. Some of the games made it to the public sphere for player feedback, others were put on the back burner for later, and yet others were likely shelved in the developers’ workshop for future pursuits. The ideas were flowing like a river (see what I did there?), and the year was filled with new poker possibilities.
--Split Hold’em, a version of running it twice--Showtime Hold’em, to expose folded cards--Unfold, for a second chance to play folded cards--Fusion, similar to Irish Poker--6+ Hold’em, also known as Six Plus Hold’em or Short Deck Poker
The last one was teased for the last few months of 2018 but officially released in January 2019 to most markets. It was immensely popular with many players who had been hearing about Short Deck Poker for some time and starting to experiment with it in some live cash games. And it is the only one of the above games still available.
Now, as March gets underway, another new game may be on the horizon from PokerStars, this one featuring the increasingly popular Omaha.
February Whispers
On February 22, Pokerfuse reported that PokerStars was preparing to open up yet another game to the public. The reported name is Split Omaha, though it is often referred to as Double Omaha or Double Board Omaha High.
https://twitter.com/SpookyBugs/status/1100132182264303616
Split Omaha seems like it will work very similarly to the Split Hold’em variation that was released last year. It will be played much the same, with two boards for each Omaha hand, and players seek to win the entire pot by winning both boards, though winning one will garner half the pot.
Most of the Omaha rules remain the same in Split Omaha as in traditional Omaha, with each player taking four hole cards, and the best five-card hand includes two from that hand and three from the board of five community cards.
PokerStars dabbled in Omaha variants only slightly last year with Fusion, which combined Omaha and Hold’em, but as more players become familiar with Omaha, a new variant in that realm might work. For those very familiar with Omaha, the new game will present a welcome challenge. And for those not yet acquainted with Omaha, they might be inspired to at least look at the basic version of the game and learn it as they did with Hold’em.
March Changes?
No poker media outlet has followed the trail of PokerStars game variations as closely as Pokerfuse, and they estimate that Split Omaha might make its debut this month.
They noted that all other game variations have run on PokerStars for approximately six to eight weeks, which would put the currently-running 6+ Hold’em on the chopping block by mid-March. And with that, Split Omaha could be available in several markets by the end of March. Pokerfuse even suggested that Split Hold’em could return alongside Split Omaha.
Oooh. Interesting.
PokerStars has offered no indication on its blog as to Split Omaha news or release information. When it does open to the public, though, there will likely be some instructional guides, videos, and even some strategy to help players who are interested.
https://twitter.com/pokerprojones/status/1098938994757386240
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