While fans of Rush Poker have been somewhat left in the lurch since the demise of Full Tilt Poker, it appears that their despair, such as it is, may have an expiration date: Summer 2012.
That’s because it is becoming increasingly likely that Rush Poker will return – in one form or another – within the next few months. What is making that scenario more and more likely? Two major factors, described in more detail below.
Full Tilt Deal May Finally Go Through
While the above heading will no doubt elicit a few groans and eyerolls from some readers, the fact of the matter is that GBT seems very, very close to completing the deal to take over FTP. It appears that everyone from FTP and GBT are more or less in line, and the company is reporting that negotiations with the DOJ are also well on track.
When FTP comes back online, expect the company to push Rush Poker very heavily, as it will remain a competitive advantage in the online poker real money segment for the company and also generates very solid rake numbers. They will also be eager to push Rush Poker quite heavily for another reason: Their window of exclusivity is closing quickly.
PokerStars May Beat FTP to the Punch
Rumored for some time, it appears that the PokerStars version of Rush Poker – tentatively labeled Zoom Poker – is moving out of beta and into production status.
While there is no official word from PokerStars, they would obviously be eager to roll out their replacement for Rush Poker while FTP is still on the mat, giving the room one less arrow in the quiver. PokerStars also has a much larger player base than the new FTP will be expected to have, so they may be able to achieve some things with the format – especially the tournament version – that FTP wasn’t able to.
Either way, the path back to Rush Poker is taking shape. For those who miss the format and have never really been able to move back to regular speed poker, that’s good news indeed.
