If you have been playing on PokerStars the last few years and have enjoyed revving up some Spin & Go tournaments but thought to yourself, “Man, these three-handed, hyper-turbo Sit-and-Go’s are just too damn slow for my on-the-move lifestyle,” then you will be thrilled with the new addition PokerStars introduced on Friday. Now live is Spin & Go Flash, a hyper-mega-ultra speedy version of the popular jackpot Sit and Go.
Over before it starts
Spin & Go Flash tournaments work exactly like regular Spin & Go’s except for two important details: 1) the starting stacks are only 300 chips high, and 2) the blind levels increase every minute.
Compare that to a traditional Spin & Go, which has 500 starting chip stacks and blind levels that go up ever three minutes. That’s a 40 percent reduction in chips and a 300 percent increase in level speed. Yikes.
In a blog post, PokerStars summed it up well:
If you like spending hours over a tournament while making the most of your time bank, then the super speedy structure – even quicker than regular Spin & Go’s – might not be for you.
But if you like your poker in small packages, and super quick, and all done within those few spare minutes you find during the day, then Spin & Go Flash is for you.
Side note: anyone else in the United States suddenly not able to access the PokerStars blog? It forwards me to PokerStars.net now. I mean, I understand that I’m not allowed to play in the poker room, but I can’t even read the site?
Moving further away from pros
There hasn’t been all that much reaction to this from the poker community, probably because Spin & Go Flash doesn’t replace regular Spin & Go’s. It is just another option in the Spin & Go lobby. The little reaction I have seen as generally been negative, with one person calling Spin & Go Flash a version of “bingo.”
Spin & Go Flash is not designed for serious poker players.
And it’s understandable. Spin & Go Flash is not designed for serious poker players. With such small stacks and such fast blind levels, it is almost like a game of “war.” There is very little room for making poker plays. Players are generally at the mercy of their hole cards and the luck of the deal.
But that’s why PokerStars has introduced the game. The idea is to appeal to recreational players. The extreme speed of Spin & Go Flash, like PokerStars said on the blog, will give players who just want to gamble* for a few minutes and be done.
And by significantly reducing the role of skill, recreational players (who are often unfairly labeled as poor players) have a better chance to win against those who play more often. The bulk of an online poker room’s customer base is recreational, so anything that can keep them playing is good for PokerStars.
While PokerStars has been known to offer limited-time novelty games, Spin & Go Flash appears to be a permanent addition to the lobby.
*While still feeling like they have some control over the outcome.