PokerStars Rolls Out Test Launch of Heads-Up Mobile DUEL
If you're walking through any major poker room in the world, you're likely to see plenty of players fixated on their mobile devices playing the wildly popular open-face Chinese poker. Now, PokerStars is hoping to capitalize on the mobile-poker craze and social gaming trend with an app of their own.
PokerStars has introduced a one-on-one, turn-based poker app based on the mechanics of no-limit hold'em called DUEL. The product, available for download in test markets in Norway as of today, will be available for both Apple and Android mobile phones — but not tablets, according to Team PokerStars Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo in a video interview with PokerNews.
The app will offer real-money contests, according to a press release from PokerStars.
Select Team PokerStars Pro members have already been given a sneak peak at DUEL.
"I love being able to play it so easily," 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker said in the press release. "It fits easily into my hectic life since I can pick up, and put down, anytime I want! It also manages to represent the depth of poker that I love.”
According to the release, DUEL is another step in PokerStars' ongoing attempt to introduce poker to newer audiences. As social gaming continues to gain steam, people turn ever more to their mobile devices, and there may be an untapped market of players who enjoy social games but have yet to be exposed to poker.
"This strategy includes serving people who want a form of poker that fits into their busy lifestyle: players who want to be able to challenge friends at their convenience, in addition to traditional forms of poker which might require longer periods of time to play," PokerStars said in the press release.
After the initial beta test in Norway, DUEL is expected to be available in other parts of the world "in the coming months."
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