Binary Decision Making
Love to gamble, but poker is just too slow for you? Need to put your money on the line with nearly zero thought, but are too high-brow for slots? PokerStars has a new game for you: All-In Poker.
All-In Poker is a short-stack, six-max cash game with a fixed buy-in of five big blinds (no more, no less) and a maximum stack per player of 25 big blinds. And as the name implies, the only betting options are all-in or fold.
Similar formats have been seen in tournaments, like Flip & Go’s, which have made their way to the World Series of Poker, but cash games are a different story. It’s gambling in its truest form, though with All-In Poker, at least you have the option to fold pre-flop.
Good for Gamblers and Tourney Trainers Alike?
PokerStars bills All-In Poker as “ideal for those who enjoy an action-packed game without the need for deep strategic planning – making it accessible to new players.” Great for “when you’re looking for action, but might only have a few minutes to play waiting for your bus/train/plane/next meeting/your food to arrive.”
Who doesn’t love a flipament wearing cash game clothing? Right?
PokerStars is also selling All-In Poker as a way to practice push/fold decision-making when short-stacked in tournaments. I know you tournament players might have something to say about that, so have at it. I won’t stop you.
But hey, all kidding aside, if you are the type of poker player who likes more gamble than strategy, All-In Poker could be exactly your cup of tea. Stakes range from $0.05/$0.10 to $5/$10.
The Anti-Leaderboard
To kick off the new game, PokerStars is running an All-In Poker Leaderboard promotion from January 13 through February 9. $10,000 in prizes are up for grabs each week.
A leaderboard competition is nothing new at PokerStars, but this one is a bit different. Instead of earning leaderboard points for doing well, players will accumulate points for losing. And face it, if you play All-In Poker, you are going to lose a lot, whether it’s by cooler, bad coinflip luck, or just a poor run of cards.
points are calculated on a rolling 25-hand basis using the strength of one’s losing hands
To ensure that it’s not just the high-volume players who have a chance to finish atop the leaderboards, points are calculated on a rolling 25-hand basis using the strength of one’s losing hands. We don’t recommend trying to lose on purpose because you won’t make up those losses via the leaderboard prizes. You’ll lose enough as it is.
There is a separate leaderboard for each of the six stakes tiers: $0.05/$0.10, $0.25/$0.50, $0.50/$1, $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10.
