Clear lines, advance levels
PokerStars has never shied away from special Spin & Go promotions, but the one the online poker room just announced is a little different. While it’s still just a Spin & Go promo with leader boards and what-not, this time PokerStars has teamed up with Tetris, arguably the greatest video game of all time.
The Tetris Spin & Gos begin today, February 15, and run through March 28. There are ten different buy-in levels, ranging from $0.25 to $500. The goal of the promotion is to clear lines, just like in a game of Tetris, but in this case, there are no falling blocks. Just poker.
We were never told there would be math
To earn “line clears,” all one has to do is play in one of the labeled Tetris Spin & Gos. Players earn line clears based on their finish, but every spot earns at least one line clear. The number of line clears depends not just on order of finish, but the multiplier, as well. 2x multiplier games earn four, three, and two line clears for first, second, and third place, respectively. At 3x multiplier games, the line clear count goes down by one. And at any multiplier above that, the line clears are two, one, and one.
For every five line clears, a player’s level goes up. The importance of this is that the higher the level, the more leader board points a player earns. The formula for points is relatively simple. One line clear awards 40 points times one more than the player’s level. So for Level 0, it’s 40 x (0 + 1), or 40 points.
Two line clears awards 100 x (n + 1), with n representing the player’s level. For three line clears, the formula is 300 x (n + 1) and for four line clears, it’s 1,200 x (n + 1). Thus, advancing levels is important.
Game over, man, game over!
And because this promo is loosely based on a video game, there is a chance for that “GAME OVER” message to flash on the screen. What game over means in this case is that one’s opportunity to earn any more points on a daily leader board is done and the player will have to wait for the next day to try again.
The “Playing Field” also consists of 20 levels, with each player starting at zero. Based on one’s placement in a Tetris Spin & Go, the one’s level can go up or down. The probability of an up, down, or no move at all changes based on the level and finishing position. Winning a Spin & Go guarantees one’s level will at least stay the same. Losing guarantees it won’t go up. It can never get worse at Level 0 or 1, but color coded playing field states (green, yellow, red) indicate how close one is to their game ending.
Players who finish in the top 100 places of the $0.25 through $5 leader boards will receive cash prizes. The top 50 places pay on the $10 and $25 leader boards and top 20 for the $50 and $100 leader boards. For the $250 leader board, only the top five places pay, and only the winner receives money for the $500 board.
