XPOKERCHIC wrote:
In their latest update, Full Tilt Poker added three new innovations to the world of online poker.
All three have to do with tournaments or Sit & Go’s. The first, Rush Poker Tournaments, is a game type takes their game of Rush Poker and gives it the structure of a tournament. The other two, Steps Tournaments and Tournament Tickets have to do with payout structure and buy-in options. If you understand how they work, these exciting innovations have the potential for big payoff.
Rush Poker Tournaments are easy to understand if you are familiar with Rush Poker. Basically, they work the same way but in a tournament format. These games have a large player pool instead of individual tables, and you are moved to a new table with new players every time you fold or end a hand. It was only matter of time before they turned this popular new game type into a tournament, and now they have.
There are a few important things to know about this new format that might change your strategies. First, because players go through so many hands per hour, the blinds increase very quickly. They start by changing every three minutes, and by the end change every six minutes. The tournament ends much faster than a standard MTT – a Rush Poker Tournament with 2700 players will be over in under three and a half hours! However, there is only one scheduled break, and it only lasts one minute. This means that unlike a traditional tournament format that requires patience and discipline, Rush Poker Tournaments reward speed and endurance.
The structure of these events change as the prize pool gets smaller. When there are less than 30 players left, the tables become short-handed to keep the game as fast as possible. But with only 30 people you can actually start to get some reads, so try to keep track of who you are playing. When the event reaches the final table, it becomes standard and will be played one hand at a time until the end.
The second Full Tilt innovation is a new way of winning prizes and buying into events: Tournament Tickets. At first glance, these just seem like a more restrictive version of Tournament Dollars (T$). Each ticket is worth a specific amount, for example $26, and can only be used to buy into a tournament or Sit & Go for the same amount, so that $26 ticket can only be used for a $26 event. They are non-refundable, non-transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash or T$, and have an expiration date. With so many restrictions, Tournament Tickets don’t seem so good. However, one good thing about them is that you can buy them directly with Full Tilt Points, Iron Man Medals, or Academy Credits at a rate of about 220 Full Tilt Points per dollar. This is a great way to put those points to use.
Though they don’t seem very good on their own, the real purpose of Tournament Tickets is to work alongside Full Tilt’s third innovation: Steps. Steps is a tiered system of Sit & Go’s where prizes are awarded as Tournament Tickets to the next level of play. There are seven steps, and the prize for winning the top step is currently a $12,000 WSOP Main Event prize package. The buy-ins are:
Step 1: $3.30
Step 2: $8.70
Step 3: $26
Step 4: $75
Step 5: $216
Step 6: $640
Step 7: $2,100
Steps is an exciting new format because of its potential for big payoffs. In Step games, prizes are awarded with an unusual payout structure. While the top one or two players get a ticket to the next step up, the next one or two get a ticket to the same step, and the next one or two get a ticket to the previous step. This means that usually, half the players get a prize, and can stay alive to try again. Steps also makes Tournament Tickets useful because you can use any ticket to Step 3 or above to buy into any other tournament or Sit & Go for the same price. In other words, this means that you can think of Steps as a tiered system of satellites to any tournament. With Steps, no matter what event you want to enter, you can get there for as little as $3.30.
Full Tilt has continued to bring exciting innovations to the world of online poker. Download their update and check out these new events today.
Join:
2009/09/05
Messages:
85
All three have to do with tournaments or Sit & Go’s. The first, Rush Poker Tournaments, is a game type takes their game of Rush Poker and gives it the structure of a tournament. The other two, Steps Tournaments and Tournament Tickets have to do with payout structure and buy-in options. If you understand how they work, these exciting innovations have the potential for big payoff.
Rush Poker Tournaments are easy to understand if you are familiar with Rush Poker. Basically, they work the same way but in a tournament format. These games have a large player pool instead of individual tables, and you are moved to a new table with new players every time you fold or end a hand. It was only matter of time before they turned this popular new game type into a tournament, and now they have.
There are a few important things to know about this new format that might change your strategies. First, because players go through so many hands per hour, the blinds increase very quickly. They start by changing every three minutes, and by the end change every six minutes. The tournament ends much faster than a standard MTT – a Rush Poker Tournament with 2700 players will be over in under three and a half hours! However, there is only one scheduled break, and it only lasts one minute. This means that unlike a traditional tournament format that requires patience and discipline, Rush Poker Tournaments reward speed and endurance.
The structure of these events change as the prize pool gets smaller. When there are less than 30 players left, the tables become short-handed to keep the game as fast as possible. But with only 30 people you can actually start to get some reads, so try to keep track of who you are playing. When the event reaches the final table, it becomes standard and will be played one hand at a time until the end.
The second Full Tilt innovation is a new way of winning prizes and buying into events: Tournament Tickets. At first glance, these just seem like a more restrictive version of Tournament Dollars (T$). Each ticket is worth a specific amount, for example $26, and can only be used to buy into a tournament or Sit & Go for the same amount, so that $26 ticket can only be used for a $26 event. They are non-refundable, non-transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash or T$, and have an expiration date. With so many restrictions, Tournament Tickets don’t seem so good. However, one good thing about them is that you can buy them directly with Full Tilt Points, Iron Man Medals, or Academy Credits at a rate of about 220 Full Tilt Points per dollar. This is a great way to put those points to use.
Though they don’t seem very good on their own, the real purpose of Tournament Tickets is to work alongside Full Tilt’s third innovation: Steps. Steps is a tiered system of Sit & Go’s where prizes are awarded as Tournament Tickets to the next level of play. There are seven steps, and the prize for winning the top step is currently a $12,000 WSOP Main Event prize package. The buy-ins are:
Step 1: $3.30
Step 2: $8.70
Step 3: $26
Step 4: $75
Step 5: $216
Step 6: $640
Step 7: $2,100
Steps is an exciting new format because of its potential for big payoffs. In Step games, prizes are awarded with an unusual payout structure. While the top one or two players get a ticket to the next step up, the next one or two get a ticket to the same step, and the next one or two get a ticket to the previous step. This means that usually, half the players get a prize, and can stay alive to try again. Steps also makes Tournament Tickets useful because you can use any ticket to Step 3 or above to buy into any other tournament or Sit & Go for the same price. In other words, this means that you can think of Steps as a tiered system of satellites to any tournament. With Steps, no matter what event you want to enter, you can get there for as little as $3.30.
Full Tilt has continued to bring exciting innovations to the world of online poker. Download their update and check out these new events today.