In the world of online poker apps, one game is pretty much like any other—or at least that’s how it used to be. But then PokerStars released the new version of their app last October and turned the game on its head. Their all-new app includes everything you would expect from the world’s largest online poker platform, plus a few things you certainly wouldn’t expect (and that would get you thrown out of most games!).
The PokerStars Mobile App has been downloaded over 100,000 times on the Google Play site alone, and it seems to be going down well with players. Seventy-two percent of reviewers on Google Play have given it 4 or 5 stars, and it’s received an average rating of 4½ stars from 10,586 reviews on the App Store. Of course, there are still the usual moaners who wail that ‘it’s not fair’, but then again that’s been true of every poker game since the invention of cards!
Alongside all of the usual features you’ll find on every poker site, including a range of game formats, competitions, tournaments and stakes, the PokerStars app gives you a few really original extras.
The Features
One of the most important features of the PokerStars Mobile App is that you can play on the go, whether you're on the train to work or stuck in the passenger seat during a long car journey. Wherever you are, you can win the chance to play for real at one of their big money tournaments in the Caribbean or Monte Carlo. You can also play for big money on the app, which makes some major tournaments available online. There are games that start around the clock, and—just as importantly—there’s 24-hour tech support to keep you at the table when your technology lets you down.
But by far the most enjoyable feature of the new app is the Power Up games, which are set in a future where the normal rules of poker no longer apply. This is the poker equivalent of fantasy football; you can pick your cards and change the game in many fun and exciting ways. With Power Up, you can change your Texas Hold‘em hole cards, peek at the next card, and even get a hint of what your opponents are holding in their hands. You can swap the community cards for something more useful and even destroy the ones you don’t need so that they don’t help other people.
It might sound a bit gimmicky and pointless at first, but it can be fun to play with some decent cards for a change instead of constantly folding or struggling with a low pair in the vain hope of victory. The makers describe it as ‘supercharged poker’ with ‘game-changing powers’. And why not? After all, statistically, you’d have to play twenty hands a day—every day of your life—to get dealt a royal flush . So, wouldn’t it be good to know what to do with it in the off chance that it ever happened to you?
We’ve all had plenty of experience at losing, but if you’re not prepared, winning can be just as testing. Power Up gives you the chance to experience what it is like to get some good hands. As a result, when that golden run of form finally does come along, you’ll know how to cope and make the most of it, helping you to maintain that all-important poker face. At the end of the day, no app will ever truly replace the thrill of meeting eyeball-to-eyeball across the green baize, but if you are going to play online, you might as well enjoy yourself while you are doing it!
PokerStars Mobile App Reviews
Some PokerStars Mobile App reviews have pointed to technical issues, with complaints suggesting that it doesn't work in specific regions or on certain devices. There are a few things to consider here, though. Firstly, just because the PokerStars Mobile App is available in your country doesn't mean you can use it. Google Play is active in most countries around the world, but online poker isn't legal in all of those and PokerStars definitely isn't available in all of them.
If you can access the PokerStars desktop software and play legally, then you shouldn't have an issue downloading and playing through the PokerStars Mobile App either.
As for the technical issues, it's also worth noting that you may need the latest version of whatever platform you are running. This is true for most modern apps that are updated on a regular basis. If you have an old phone running an old operating system, then you're going to face a lot of restrictions and one of those could be the inability to load the PokerStars Mobile App. If the issue is definitely not related to your phone's software or hardware, simply contact the technical team and they should be able to deal with it.
It's also worth noting that some of the bad reviews, a surprisingly large proportion of them in fact, are related to losing streaks and hands that the players deemed to be unfair. This is obviously out of the realms of what the PS support team can do and it's not something you should be complaining about. It's poker, that's how it works. Sometimes you get the hands, sometimes you don't. You wouldn't blame the dealer if you got a bad hand in a real life game of poker, so you shouldn't blame the app if you get a bad hand in a game of PokerStars Mobile App poker.
Learn More
If you're relatively new to the game of poker, we have written a number of guides that can help you. One of these guides will tell you all you need to know about the odds of acquiring certain poker hands, including the Royal Flush. This is a great place to start if you're one of the aforementioned reviewers who thinks that a great hand should come along every time you sit down to play!
