Fast-fold Poker is finally taking a-hold at more than one well-known website; PokerStars is now also attempting to stop its feverish spread on the World-Wide Web by pending patent rights. The game started more than a year ago at Full-tilt Poker, and with this websites’ downfall, copies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

Players are getting the hang of the game, where the appeal is its difference to normal paced poker online. Because it is fast, it reduces waiting time – a player can fold, then simply be moved to another table, and take part in another game. The additional appeal is that the game is a natural fit for mobile, and opponents barely get to know the game of the people they play against, so, this makes it fabulously fair. It is an action-focussed game with an almost arcade game-type feel.

Full-tilt introduced fast-fold in 2010 – calling it "Rush Poker". At the time, no other poker product was interested in exploring the possibilities that this form of the game seemed to offer. This gave FTP almost a complete year with exclusivity on fast-fold poker. Whether or not this shows lack of competitive vision, or fear of patent infringement, on the part of other online poker software developers, we actually do not know. But what we do know is this, as soon as Full-tilt was out of the fold, there was a mad rush to develop software which emulated fast-fold.

PokerStars have their own version of the game, and now that they own FTP – lock, stock and their backs over a barrel, they also want their hands on any patent rights they may be entitled to. Their version is called Zoom Poker, but they were in fact not the first to offer real money fast-fold poker after FTP. InstaDeal was the first fast-fold poker competitor online.

This software provider soft- launched a flagship product called "Terminal Poker" back in late 2010. They were the first online network to exclusively host fast-fold style poker with low stakes Hold ‘em games. They expanded with white-label skins on PokerTube as well as at an online poker portal – Vegas365. This product still receives consistent players, even if only in very small numbers.
When it seemed as though Full-tilt would never rise from the ashes of their ruin, let alone ever be able to competitively defend a patent rights legal brougha; “Fast Poker” from Maltese developer – Relax Gaming was the next to hit the Net. This game can be found at Unibet and iGame.

Zoom Poker came from PokerStars in March 2012, and is still ostensibly wearing the "Beta" banner. However, it has hit the tables hard, there are various stakes and multiple game types available already, and now PokerStars has nothing to worry about, their lawyers have taken the problem of "Patent Pending" away from FTP lawyers, and are letting their lawyers handle the issue, as though they developed this product for themselves. Good on them, they paid enough money for FTP; might as well get it back one way or another!

It is that time of years again, the time when poker gets serious, and looks at the names of players and people who deserve recognition for the part they have played in poker. The WSOP Hall of Fame is the name of the game, and it is not only Players who are acclaimed, also non-players who underwrite the success and growth of poker have an opportunity of being inducted. The criteria are:

1. Must have played against accredited competitors
2. Minimum of forty (40) years old when nominated
3. Must have been a high-stakes player
4. Gained the respect of peers – played poker consistently well
5. Stood the test-of- time
6. Non-players, – contribution to the overall success of poker. Must have indelible and positive results.

There are ten finalists this year, and there are also only ever a maximum of two winners. Mostly only one person wins. The induction class takes place during the course of the World Series of Poker Main Event, and all nominations were gathered during a public nomination process. The finalists will be decided upon and approved by the Governing Council of the WSOP Hall of Fame.

The Finalists are:

1. Jennifer Harman
2. John Juanda
3. Tom McEvoy
4. Scotty Nguyen – these first four have all been nominated before
5. Six first-timers — Chris Bjorin a sixty-four-year-old Swedish-born player residing in London. Bjorin’s earnings are over $5 million, and he is a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner – has seven WSOP Main Event cashes.
6. David Chiu – moved to the US as an eighteen year old exchange student from China. He started in poker as a dealer – was originally a Colorado restaurateur. Chiuin – now fifty-two years old – has transitioned into one of the most successful tournament players in recent poker history. He is a four-time WSOP gold-bracelet winner, with cashes in fifty-four events.
7. Eric Drache – a poker career which stands head and shoulders above many. He has made five WSOP final tables, ending in the top three each time, but also served as the tournament director at one stage. He is responsible for various innovations in the WSOP event, and has worn many hats in the Las Vegas poker industry. Our money is on this man receiving induction.
8. Thor Hansen – A Norwegian poker pro who has cashed in a mahoosive one-hundred and seventy- five tournaments and earned $2.9 million. Known as the “Godfather” of Norwegian poker in Europe, he has 2 WSOP gold bracelets and has contributed massively to the EU poker scene.
9. George Hardie – The only non-poker player, but has never-the-less left a lasting impression on the character of the game. He stood at the centre of the poker boom on the West Coast, and built-up the largest poker club in the world during the 1980’s.
10. Brian "Sailor" Roberts. Was nominated at the final hour, in writing, but another Hall of Fame inductee. He is well-known as one of the “good guys” of the game, and apparently there aren’t all that many.

The popular online poker room is staging a new series of its MT3 Multi-Table Tournament races offering $150,000 in prize money and WSOP experience packages for winning players.

Following the huge success of its previous promotion, Titan online poker room is staging a new series of MT3 Multi-Table Tournament races and will award winning online poker players with $150,000 in prize money and World Series of Poker* experience packages.

The Titan Poker tournament race action begins on February 1, 2011, and will continue through the end of May. The Multi-Table Tournament races will award $12,500 in cash prizes monthly to players who rank the highest on the popular poker room’s MT3 leaderboards. Players will receive leaderboard points for each multi-table tournament in which they participate, based on a formula which takes into consideration their finishing position and the number of players. In order to level the playing field, a player’s best 20 results from each month will be considered when calculating leaderboard positions.

$100,000 in prizes will be reserved for the final leaderboard, which will consider players’ tournament play during the four months of the promotion. The top twenty players on this leaderboard will each receive a $5,000 WSOP* Executive Experience package, including flights to Las Vegas, hotel accommodations, buy-in to one of the WSOP side event tournaments, tickets to a Cirque Du Soleil show, and more luxurious benefits.

Online poker novices and veteran poker players alike are invited to download the user-friendly Titan Poker software and compete in the MT3 Multi-Table Tournament races to win their share of the prizes.