Following the recent decision by Amaya to remove the “Fold” button when the option to check is available in order to prevent players folding instead of taking a free card, they have now gone a stage further and removed the “Fold” button whenever the option to call is available.
In the most recent update to the PokerStars software, whenever you have the option to call the fold button will no longer be available. This way, you can no longer accidentally fold and practically every pot is guaranteed to be raked.
“This is a revolutionary change to the world of online poker,” said Amaya’s Head of Corporate Communications Eric Hellraiser. “Our research has shown that recreational players love to see flops, and also turns and rivers and most of all showdowns.
“Further research has also shown that many recreational players lose money in non-showdown pots, so we figured it was best to just get rid of those entirely.”
The previous software update to PokerStars meant that whenever one has the option to check, the fold button will no longer be available. This means one can no longer accidentally fold, a change made for the benefit of new players. Of course, since a pop-up let you know that you could check for free, one wonders how big of a problem this was.
Many critics of Amaya have argued that this move is simply a bid to increase the size of pots and therefore the rake. Hellraiser denies this:
“Of course, bigger pots will lead to more rake. However, we’ve shown time and time again that higher rake is actually good for the game because it means the pros can’t win and therefore the losing players won’t lose. It’s science. Plus, we’ll be passing all our piles of cash onto the recreational player.”
