PokerStars is a top online gambling site that offers quality cash game and tournament options. The site continues to make updates and stay up to date with the latest technology and more. One variant that was added to the online poker room and tested to see if players liked the option is Fast-fold poker. Apparently the game has now earned a US Patent and this may hurt other sites that have added similar gaming options.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office decided in April of this year to issue a patent to the parent group of PokerStars and sister site Full Tilt Poker, The Rational Group, for the game of fast-fold poker. The patent was initially covered by news source Pokerfuse and then PokerNews, which stated that the USPTO will be giving The Rational Group a patent on May 20th of this year and the information on the patent will be ‘Computer gaming device and method for computer gaming’. The patent will be for Zoom Poker for sure, which is offered at PokerStars, but it is not clear if the patent will be for Rush Poker as well, which is Full Tilt’s variant.
The patent will not affect sites located outside the United States but will affect the variant type in the US. Regulated sites in the US will find that PokerStars owns the rights to fast-fold intellectual property once the patent is in place.
In the US, PartyPoker NJ and Borgata Poker offer a fast-fold game called Fast Forward, so once the patent is in place, these sites will have to make a deal with the Rational Group to continue to offer the game or litigation may take place. Other sites in the US such as 888 NJ, WSOP NJ and WSOP Nevada offer a similar game type called Snap Poker, which would face the same situation.