PokerStars Power Up Now Live

The new PokerStars game which mixes elements of poker and card-games like Hearthstone is being rolled out in a real-money version this week after several months of play-money testing, and it’s set to be a ‘game-changer’ according to the Stars Group.

Severin Rasset, the company’s Director of Poker Innovation and Operations, said of the launch:

“Since the game’s inception, we’ve been eagerly anticipating this moment and it’s finally here,” adding that, “The team have worked incredibly hard to produce a brand new game which, by utilizing our custom engine, delivers incredible mechanics and an engaging universe. We are immensely proud of this major innovation to poker and we hope our players love it as much as we do.”

Brad Willis described the thought behind the game in futuristic terms over on the PokerStars blog, writing: ‘The folks at PokerStars are providing us with what 2047 looks like in their imagination. Poker is the same... but it's also wildly different. The story begins a little something like this…

‘Clean and renewable energy abounds, bioengineers have eliminated world hunger and the world remains connected at all times through Continuous Presence. However human nature demands competition which is satisfied through intellectual sport. The biggest of all of these, is Power Up. Key to its success and dominance are the nine powers, which require new strategies and approaches to be learnt to master the tactics for success.’

So, quite unlike anything the poker or gaming world has seen before, although others have tried somewhat similar things in the past without huge success. PowerUp, with the money and backing of the world’s leading online poker and gambling group will doubtless have a good go at making it work.

The game itself is played as a Sit & Go format with three players facing off across an agreed upon buy-in stake of $1, $3, $7 or $15, and it’s now gone live in the .EU domains and will roll out across .NET, .COM and .UK sites throughout the week.

As Brad Willis explains, after choosing your own futuristic character ‘all of whom have their own story, personality, and ways of thinking about things’ then ‘Not only will you get your cards just like you would in a normal game of poker, but you'll also have access to nine different powers that can turn the game in your favor... if you play them right.’

He adds: ‘Need your opponent's full house to crumble? There's a trick for that. Need your four card flush to come in? Well, if you watched the video above, you know how that works.’

The video – or series of short explanatory videos actually – sees Stephen Bartley taking you through all the different aspects of the game and will be a must-watch before anyone stakes their hard-earned in the new real-money version.

Speaking of the new products launch, Stars Group CEO Rafi Ashkenazi said:

“Poker has maintained its popularity for nearly two centuries because it has evolved with the times. PokerStars Power Up continues this evolution by providing a modern twist on traditional poker that we believe will be exciting to not only poker players, but to a broad spectrum of gamers as well. We’ve been encouraged by the reaction during alpha testing in July and August and are optimistic that PokerStars Power Up will introduce poker to a new generation of mobile gamers, excite current players and help reconnect with less active or former players.”