Known by many names including Rush Poker, Zoom Poker, Fast Fold, Fast Forward, Speed Poker, SNAP Poker and more. Every single variant is based around that same premise: Fold your hand and get a new one instantly. It's fantastic, too. In an instant you're transported to a different table with a brand-new hand waiting for you. You’re never out of the action for more than a few seconds.
Fast Fold poker is something that could never work in live poker but it’s one of the most popular ways to play online. Because there's no waiting for multi-tablers timing out, or tanking players to make up their minds. Basically if you hate downtime in online poker, then Fast Fold is for you. It’s also one of the best ways to play mobile poker since you’ll likely be playing only one table.
What is Fast Fold Poker?
Fast poker, also known as fast fold or speed poker, was an online poker software innovation that was first released in 2010 and offered an entirely new way to play poker. In fast-fold poker, whenever you fold your hand you are immediately transported to a new table with a brand new hand waiting for you with new opponents. Fast-fold poker essentially did away with much of the downtime in poker and players were suddenly able to play many more hands on one table than was previously possible.
Is Fast-Fold Poker the Same as Rush Poker or Zoom Poker?
Yep. Here’s the thing. Pretty much every single online poker operator came out with a “fast poker” variant after Full Tilt reinvented the segment with Rush Poker in 2010. Every online poker site has released its own version of fast-fold poker. Each version has its own name, of course, but it’s all essentially the same from site to site. All versions crank the action and give you the ability to get a new hand instantly. Here’s a list of the various names that online poker sites use for fast-fold poker:
- Rush Poker (Full Tilt)
- Zoom Poker (PokerStars)
- Snap Poker (888poker)
- Speed Poker (iPoker skins incl. Bet365 Poker)
- Fast Forward Poker (partypoker)
This kind of variation lends itself very well to mobile, as you can see from the SNAP playability on the latest 888 mobile update.
Best Fast Fold Poker Sites 2024
Do I Always Get a New Hand When I Fold?
Almost. If you’re in the big blind you can’t fold for a new hand until someone puts in a bet. It doesn’t really matter as you’d want to stick around anyways if no one is going to bet since you’re already in the pot.
What Are the Benefits of Fast Fold Poker?
You’ll dramatically reduce the amount of time you sit around waiting for a premium hand. You can just keep clicking fold to your heart’s delight. The other major benefit is that you’ll be able to put in way more hands than you would with normal poker. That means you’ll be able to generate more frequent player points, which unlock poker bonuses or other cool perks.
Does it Work on iPhone, Android, iPad?
Yes, Rush Poker and most variants of speed poker can be played on your iPad or iPhone. Fast poker is actually perfect for mobile devices because you usually can’t fit more than one table on a screen. With fast fold you’ll actually be able to play a number of hands instead of just waiting around. This is perfect for pumping up the action on your commute or when you have time to kill.
Further Reading:
Are There Fast Fold Poker Tournaments?
There are fast-fold poker tournaments offered but it’s much more popular for playing cash games. Cash games just tend to work better because you instantly get in and start playing, which is what fast poker is all about. If you’re playing an MTT “fast poker” event it will obviously turn into regular poker by the time you get to a final table.
Can I Play Anything Other than Hold’em?
Fast Fold Poker is also available on a select few poker sites in Pot-Limit Omaha. You won’t find any more obscure variants such as Seven-Card Stud or any Lowball affairs.
Are There Downsides to Fast-Fold Poker?
Since you’re transported to a new table every hand it can be hard to build up reads on your opponents. Instead you’ll have to make snap decisions based on the limited knowledge you have. This has the added benefit, however, of protecting you from sharky players if you’re just learning the game. The sharks will never be able to target you specifically because they’ll be transported to a new table every hand.
The other thing you have to watch while playing fast poker is the amount of money you lose in the small and big blinds. Those blinds come around faster than you might think so make sure you defend your blinds every now and then!
Does Fast-Fold Poker Still Involve Skill?
Of course! Instead of building up long-term reads on players you’ll have to adapt to making snap-decisions and picking up on basic patterns you notice across the board. But there are tons of different strategies to dominating Fast Poker so make sure to do a little research.
What’s the Best Strategy to Beat Zoom Poker?
There are a lot of good resources for fast poker, such as this guide to playing Zoom Poker, but we can give you a bit to get started. In general people are going to be throwing away their trashy hands so playing solid ABC poker is a pretty good play most of the time.
On the other hand weaker players can get away with playing very conservatively — since you can fold 30 times in a row and no one will know — so you should probably throw a raise in every now and then to test the waters. Since the big blind is the one spot that players can’t instantly fold you should keep a close eye on them. They’ll sometimes raise with marginal hands because they were forced to wait for action to get to them anyways.
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Is Speed Poker Good for Clearing Bonuses?
It’s not just good; it’s great! Usually when you sign up for an online poker site they’ll match a percentage of your deposit. For instance if you deposit $50 they’ll match 100% for a free $50. The trick is that you have to unlock that free $50 by playing a certain number of real-money hands. One of the best ways to burn through a significant number of hands is by multi-tabling a couple of Fast Poker tables.
You’ll be amazed by how fast you burn through hands with just a couple of Fast Poker tables on the go. It’s also great for amassing frequent player points, which can be spent on merchandise, tournament tickets or cash.
Related Reading:
Can I Try Fast Fold Poker for Free?
Yep. If you want to try out PokerStars' Zoom Poker, for example, all you need to do is create a new account at PokerStars via our link above and try the play-money games. Each new account gets 35k in free play-chips plus more added to your account every 4 hours. Since Rush Poker was developed on Full Tilt Poker virtually every other major poker site has added their own version of Fast-Fold Poker and most you can also try out for free. Check our toplist of the best free poker sites below:
Fast Fold Poker Sites
Try Out Fast Fold Poker Free No Download
Went to give fast fold poker a try but aren't ready to commit to real money poker? Get some free poker practice in with fast-fold poker on the free no download online poker version of a major poker site's software.