Portrait Mode Available in PokerStars Mobile App

When it comes to mobile gaming, Portrait Mode is usually the preferred method when playing games on your phone or tablet – but, does that apply to poker? Players at PokerStars will soon find out, as the brand has just launched portrait mode for a variety of games.

How Portrait Mode Works

It just does, really. If your mobile device is set up to change its orientation as you rotate your phone, then the PokerStars app will readjust. This all depends on if you

You can make all of your decisions just using one hand. It doesn’t look awkward – just like a normal game turned on its side – and everything is laid out nicely.

You can cycle between tables using buttons located at the top of the screen. There’s also an option to open up a new game, and challenges are easily accessible using one hand.

Portrait mode on PokerStars is available on No Limit Hold’em games, Pot Limit Omaha games, Sit & Gos and some MTTs. If there is a positive response, it’s likely the operator will expand it into other activities.

Portrait Mode on Other Poker Apps

Over the course of the past year, we’ve also seen 888Poker and partypoker both launched portrait mode on their mobile apps. Both work in the same way as PokerStars’ app. The main difference seems to be that partypoker allows you to switch between tables by swiping – a very cool feature that would be great to see in PokerStars’ app.

Testing new vertical mobile cash games on @partypoker⁩ app before they launch next week – fast forward saw big increase with vertical format, let’s hope ring games do same. Play with just my thumb loads better than current IMO 🙏 pic.twitter.com/PUn8HxZ8BD

— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_) February 8, 2020

Could This Be the Start of a New Trend?

If you’re partial to playing poker while on the go, this is perfect. It’s great for when you want to pull out your phone quickly and have a little fiddle around.

However, many poker players on forums across the web aren’t convinced that the addition of portrait mode is something that the app needs. Some are content with using the mobile app the way that they always have – holding their device in both hands and playing in landscape mode.

Some players have called it cluttered – so, it might be an issue if your phone has quite a small screen size. Otherwise, it just sounds like most players find it a bit unnecessary.

For now, we think poker operators with mobile apps will stick to landscape mode. It’s nice that PokerStars gives you the option, but there really doesn’t seem to be any real demand for it among players just yet.

If you play on the PokerStars app, give it a try. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!