Viewers watching the Americas Cardroom Twitch stream last weekend were treated to a preview of the site´s forthcoming mobile poker app for Android.
Watching the Americas Cardroom´s Twitch stream is not what some people would consider to be the best use of a Sunday afternoon. However, last Sunday´s broadcast was well worth watching due to the Winning Poker Network´s CEO – Phil Nagy – treating viewers to a preview of the Americas Cardroom mobile poker app for Android.
According to Nagy, the Americas Cardroom mobile app goes into development within the next ten days. His intention of previewing it was intended to attract input from players into the design and functionality of the app before the development started. The finished product is expected to be released in sixty to ninety days.
First Impressions Look Good
Although the Americas Cardroom app will eventually support all cash games and tournaments, Nagy focused on previewing the mobile Jackpot Sit & Go games. These Jackpot Sit & Go games are three-handed hyper-turbo Sit & Go games that give players the chance of winning up to 2,500 times their buy-in.
The Americas Cardroom poker app will support both NL Texas Hold´em and PL Omaha Jackpot Poker games with buy-ins (according to the graphics) ranging from $0.50 to $40.00. Players will be able to play four Jackpot Poker games simultaneously, with the hole cards and time to act displayed on each one displayed at the top of the screen.
From what was previewed on the Twitch broadcast, the app looks impressive – with easy to navigate controls and, most importantly, a decent sized bet slider for those of us who play on a Smartphone rather than a tablet. The lobbies also provide access to the cashier, the Elite Benefits program and a player admin section; so it looks as if the Americas Poker mobile app will have pretty good functionality compared with the full downloadable client.
The “ITM ATM” Also on its Way
For those of us that sat through the whole broadcast, Nagy also announced an innovative change to the way in which all the sites on the Winning Poker Network will pay tournament winnings. Nagy acknowledged that some players often exhaust their entire bankroll when registering for a series of tournaments, and the scenario can occur that a player is well-stacked and in the money in one tournament, but has no money left in his or her account to enter new tournaments.
Calling the new innovation the “In the Money ATM”, Nagy explained that, when the money bubble bursts, every player cashing in the event will have the min cash amount added to their bankroll. More money will be paid out as each pay bump arrives – all the way up to the heads-up conclusion to the tournament.
Nagy gave the example of a player who was running deep in a $500 buy-in tournament and who was assured of a $2,000. He said that the player is unlikely to make a deposit because, when he busts out of the tournament, he is going to have at least $2,000 added to their account. If he or she were to run really deep, it could be several more hours before any funds are credited to their account – during which time they are limited to just playing one event when they want to play more.
Changes Likely to Add to Further Liquidity at Winning Poker Network
The volume of traffic and the liquidity at the Winning Poker network has recently increased due to changes made to the “Beast” weekly rake race and the release of a beta Mac version of the software. Nagy estimates that the innovative “ITM ATM” pay out system will increase tournament entries by 5% to 10%, and the release of a mobile app for Android will likely have benefits for cash game traffic as well.
Last August, Phil Nagy claimed that the poker room (read our Americas Cardroom review 2016 here) could break into the top five poker sites in the world within a year. If he carries on introducing new innovations such as these, he could well be right!
