PokerStars Launches Spin & Go Flash Tournaments

  • Players begin with 300-chip starting stacks, blinds increase every minute
  • All other features are the same as regular Spin & Go games
  • PokerStars aims to attract more recreational players with the faster format
PokerStars Spin & Go Flash logo
PokerStars has launched Spin & Go Flash, a version of Spin & Go’s with smaller starting stacks and shorter blind levels. [Image: PokerStars.com]

Faster version of already fast game

PokerStars launched a new version of its Spin & Go game on Friday called Spin & Go Flash. This new jackpot Sit and Go variant is the same as the standard format except faster. Starting stacks are smaller and blinds escalate more rapidly.

Spin & Go Flash games are located in the same lobby as regular Spin & Go’s. Players select their stakes and number of tables, but rather than clicking the “Play Now” button, they click the “Play Flash” option instead.

300-chip stacks, 60-second blinds

Starting stacks in Spin & Go Flash games are just 300 chips. Blind levels increase every minute. The games will move significantly faster than the already quick Spin & Go. In the traditional Spin & Go, stacks start at 500 chips and blind levels go up every three minutes.

Everything else in these jackpot Sit and Go’s are the same. They are all three-handed and before the game starts, a spinner in the center of the table presents the randomly drawn prize pool.

The prize pool of a Spin & Go and its cousin, Spin & Go Flash, can range from two times the buy-in to 12,000 times the buy-in. The vast majority of the time, the prize pool will be just two or three times the buy-in. The exact probabilities vary based on price – higher buy-ins give a better chance for a three-times multiplier – but the combined probability is always 90.9 percent.

Adding the five-times multiplier, the chances of hitting one of the three lowest prize tiers is 99.4 percent. The probability of hitting the highest multiplier is just one in a million.

Most Spin & Go’s follow a “winner takes all” format. The exceptions are at the three highest prize tiers, where the second and third place finishers still win 10 percent of the first prize.

Recreational player-friendly game

Spin & Go Flash is the latest in an ongoing effort by PokerStars and most other online poker rooms to cater to recreational players.

Decreasing both the starting stacks and blind level duration dramatically speeds up the game. What was already a fast match is now even faster. This appeals to casual players who don’t have the time or desire to sit through a long tournament.

Skill & Go Flash removes the advantage of skilled players even more than Spin & Go’s do, as well. Very few hands are played in Spin & Go Flash games, meaning there is little chance to execute specific strategies, wait for big hands, or read opponents. Just about anybody can win. Luck takes on a bigger role than before.

Skill & Go Flash removes the advantage of skilled players even more than Spin & Go’s do

And like regular Spin & Go’s, Spin & Go Flash tournaments give players the opportunity to win large prizes for small buy-ins. Recreational players are not going to typically be able to win thousands of dollars for a three dollar buy-in or less, but they see that chance with Spin & Go’s. And it is possible to do it in just a few minutes.

As explained earlier, the odds of rolling a top prize tier are low, but they are not zero.

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