16 Sep 10

PartyPoker Introduces Double Hold'em

PartyPoker has just released a brand new poker variant called Double Hold'em. This game is available exclusively on PartyPoker and plays just like Hold'em, except players get dealt three hole cards instead of two.

Not only does PartyPoker's Double Hold'em keep the game fresh and interesting for seasoned players, but it may also have the potential to attract a brand new pool of players to the tables, who will be eager to try out the new game.

Double Hold'em is already live and you can play it once you download the software update and login. The game is available in both Limit and No Limit and starts from the $0.02/$0.04 stakes all the way up to $2/$4 and $1/$2 respectively. The basic rules of Hold'em still apply, but with some adjustments.

We are currently working on strategy content for this new poker variant. Have you already tried Double Hold'em? Give us your feedback in our forum thread:

  PartyPoker Introduces Double Hold'em - Your Feedback

Read on to find out how this game is played.

Playing Hold'em with three hole cards

At the start of a Double Hold'em hand, every player on the table is dealt three hole cards instead of two. Other than the extra hole card, nothing else has changed with regards to preflop play.

Once the preflop round of betting is concluded, the flop is dealt and here is when the key difference in Double Hold'em occurs. With the flop dealt, players now have to select one of their three hole cards to be made as the "point card" (you cannot change this card later on). Once this point card is selected, the player's hand will essentially be divided into two hands:

• Hand 1: The point card and the card to its left
• Hand 2: The point card and the card to its right

The hand is then played out on the turn and river once the point cards for each player have been chosen, just like Texas Hold'em.

Players select one point card after the flop is dealt

Only the best hand goes to the showdown

After betting on the river is concluded, the system will automatically select the best five card hand from each player involved, for the showdown. The best five card hand is chosen from one of these combinations:

• All five cards on the board
• Any one of the hole cards and any four cards from the board
• Two hole cards (one must be the point card) and any three cards from the board

The hand strengths of both your hands (Hand 1 and Hand 2 as determined by your selected point card) will also be displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the table during showdown.

Your best five card hand on the showndown

To learn more about Double Hold'em, check out PartyPoker's guide here.

Shootout Satellites and STT updates

Besides the new Double Hold'em game, brand new satellite tournaments with a shootout format will also be making an appearance on PartyPoker. There will be two types of shootouts, the Double Shootout and the Triple Shootout, and they will be available as six, nine or ten handed tournaments.

Improvements have also been made to the Single Table Tournaments (STT) on PartyPoker with the introduction of the "tourney info" section on every STT table. Players can obtain all the key statistics of the tournament at a glance. This section displays information about chips in play, the largest and smallest stacks, average stacks and your position.

Tourney info (bottom center) for STTs

Finally, PartyPoker will also be introducing more blind levels for the STTs in the near future. This means that the STTs will no longer be capped at level 10 as they now are. More details of this change will be made available at a later date.