PokerStars have introduced a King of the Hill policy to prevent weaker players being preyed upon by more experienced ones in a practice known as ‘bum-hunting’

PokerStars has introduced a new measure to prevent players at a table from sitting out until a recreational player sits. PokerStars representative Steve Day posted broad details of the new policy on 2+2 forum.

If the dealing at a table stops because players have sat out, the table will be closed after a predefined delay, regardless of the number of players still sat down.

Players who start a table but sit out while they wait for weak players to join will no longer be able to do so. Tables where no cards are being dealt will be removed from the lobby.

For the purpose of starting new games, a single table of each type will be allowed to remain open where only one player is seated. If new players join that table and dealing does not start after a preset time, the table will be closed.

This policy is known as a “King of the Hill” solution because it forces active players to play against each other until games run or only one player is left waiting. The policy has been introduced to protect recreational players and end the common strategy of regulars refusing to play each other and simply waiting for weak players to turn up.

Changes made to Selected Games and Stakes Only

The new policy only applies to 6-Max and Full Ring No Limit Hold´em, Flop Limit Hold´em and Pot Limit Omaha tables with blinds at $1.00/$2.00 and above. At the moment the changes will not apply to Heads Up tables or to the PokerStars sites in France, Italy and Spain.

The policy change follows the April PokerStars meeting between players and management that took place on the Isle of Man. These meetings had been scheduled on a regular basis so that PokerStars can “cut out the middle man” and management can hear directly from players rather than feedback being filtered through marketing and PR.




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