The Most Popular Online Poker Tournament Alternatives
Online poker tournaments have long been a staple for poker enthusiasts looking for exciting competition and a chance to win big. With huge field sizes and massive guaranteed prize pools, large-scale multi-table tournaments (MTTs) have dominated the online poker landscape for many years, as well as the biggest offline events like the World Series of Poker.
However, as the industry continues to evolve, there is a new wave of players seeking novel and innovative online poker tournament formats. Whether it’s to pass the time in between major MTTs or to spice up the gaming experience, there are several new tournament formats which are starting to gain genuine traction at well-established online poker rooms.
Spin & Go
Spin & Go tournaments have taken the online poker world by storm in recent times. These fast-paced, three-handed tournaments offer you the opportunity to win big prizes in a matter of minutes, perfectly catering for those online poker fanatics with very short attention spans.
The format itself is simple: you buy in for a pre-determined figure and the ultimate prize pool is randomly allocated before the event begins. Prizes can range from 2x to 10,000x the combined entry fees.
Popular Strategies and Concepts
Spin & Go tournaments are marketed almost as poker lotteries, but a lot can happen in three hands of the classic game of Texas Hold’em poker. That’s why it’s important for players not to call open raises with speculative, unmade hands. It’s also a good idea to shove all in on the button with any ace or suited kings, queens and some jacks and tens.
It’s important to accept that Spin & Go games attract a lot of recreational players. That means there’s plenty of loose and aggressive poker played. Consider min-raising wherever possible to build a pot without getting overcommitted. It’ll also allow you to see flops more cheaply.
Spin & Go Max
Spin & Go Max takes the original concept of Spin & Go tournaments to a whole new level. It’s become one of the most popular formats for poker tournaments online, alongside long-time faithful favorites with six and even seven-figure guaranteed prize pools. It adds a new layer of strategy and excitement. In Spin & Go Max events, you’ve got the opportunity to win even larger payouts thanks to the integration of a randomized multiplier wheel.
Spin & Go Max events can cater for between three and eight players. Once the tournament seats have been determined and allocated, three spinners will display three potential prizes for the eventual winner. At the end of the tournament, the winner will then pick one of these three prize wheels – whose values have been shuffled and hidden. There is a fixed prize for second-place finishers in larger events too.
Popular Strategies and Concepts
The biggest difference is entering a Spin & Go Max not knowing whether the game will be a three-player event or an eight-player game. Nor do you know what the payout structure is either. Some games are “winner takes all” while others pay out to first, second, and even third place. This requires you to be ultra flexible with your strategy.
Knockout Poker
This format of tournament poker is particularly popular with those who consider themselves to have an aggressive strategy at the tables. At the start of every Knockout Poker tournament, each player is assigned a cash bounty on their heads. You’ll earn the cash bounty of every player you knock out of the event; it’s that simple.
Aside from the cash bounties, there’s also the potential to win from the prize pool of buy-ins too. Knockout Poker tournaments are usually staged as sit and go or scheduled multi-table tournaments. The beauty of Knockout Poker is that, even if you don’t finish in the money, you can still have earned cash prizes by knocking out players in the meantime.
Popular Strategies and Concepts
Knockout Poker bounties are fixed and cannot progressively rise through the tournament. In progressive knockouts, sometimes operated by the largest land-based poker rooms in Las Vegas, some of the bounties earnt by players knocking out others is added to their own bounty, making them more of a target. However, in Knockout Poker, the bounties stay the same from the first hand to the last. This means you don’t need to be patient and time your aggression. If you have a strong starting or post-flop hand, players look to be bold and invite action.
Give at least one of these poker tournament alternatives a try in between your usual MTTs or sit and gos and check out the dynamics for yourself!
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
