FULL TILT POKER BLOG

Posted by Editor | Filed under Poker Strategy, Rush Poker

Homer Simpson, informed that his meatloaf will be ready in eight seconds, asks (I’m not sure WHO – the world? God? Science? Marge?) a famous question: “Isn’t there anything faster than a microwave?” On Monday, January 18, Full Tilt Poker did Homer Simpson proud. It introduced a new cash game called “Rush Poker.” Because Full Tilt gave me no advance notice of the product, I was left to fend for myself in evaluating it. And, emblematic of the product, I had to do it FAST.

The press release announcing Rush Poker is packed with expressions suggesting something momentous has occurred: “set to revolutionize the online poker industry,” “ground-breaking,” “the greatest innovation in online poker,” and “world’s fastest poker game.” And why am I following this so closely? Because my bosses at Full Tilt – I have many – TOLD ME TO. They sent me the release on Monday morning and encouraged me to “create coverage.”

That’s not an unreasonable request. Part of my job – by my definition as well as theirs – is to provide information about Full Tilt Poker. That’s why Shauna started giving me weekly updates on Full Tilt promotions to post on Fridays. I’m sure she would have featured Rush Poker last Friday if we’d been given any notice about it.

So I decided to give it a try and tell you what’s REALLY going on with Rush Poker.

After playing several 30-60-minute sessions of Rush Poker on Monday, the first day of operation, and following up with several sessions through the week at different blind-levels, played it enough to reach some interesting conclusions.

My overall impression: while I am hardly an independent consumer, I think all the hype and superlatives are true. Rush Poker was incredibly fun to play and is going to be GIGANTIC. It also – like all the best features of online poker – offers great poker lessons for players who know how to find them.

RUSH POKER EXPLAINED

Rush Poker is a form of cash-game poker, but the interface starts with more of a tournament feel. (I like that, because I hardly ever play cash games on Full Tilt. Keep that in mind when evaluating my impressions, though my analysis is at least that of an educated neophyte, and someone who spends a lot of time thinking about how various game situations can teach poker lessons.)

You sign up for a “table” like you would a tournament. That is, you don’t pick a particular group of specific opponents. You join a pool of players who opted for a similar game and blind-levels. Therefore, you choose game, blind-levels, and 6- or 9-handed. (Rush Poker was initially offered only in 6- or 9-handed NLHE tables, at blind levels of $.05-$.10, $.10-$.25, $.25-$.50, and $.50-$1. Within five days of the introduction, Full Tilt has expanded it to $1-$2 NLHE and $.10-$.25 PLO.

I started by playing the lowest stakes available, $.05-$.10. My game was called “Mach 10” and I could see that there were over 1,400 players. After I decided to buy-in for $5, A whispery female voice counted down, as numbers flashed on the screen, “3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .” (I found myself wondering if, like a character in an old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, I should strap myself into something.)

I’m at a table – perfectly ordinary. Nine players. Hand just being dealt. Middle position. I’m dealt 7-3o. There is, as always, the little box to auto-fold. Underneath that, however, is the REAL distinguishing feature of Rush Poker: The Quick Fold button.

The instant I pushed Quick Fold, the other eight players disappeared and were replaced by different players. A new hand was being dealt. I had T-6o under the gun. Action was immediately on me so I pushed (regular) fold.

Once again, my hand and table disappeared and were replaced. That’s how rush poker works. My game’s 1,400 players, as soon as they were out of the hand – or even before if they quick folded – were instantly regrouped into new tables and dealt a new hand.

I immediately noticed two wonderful things about Rush Poker and I assume you will too: (1) You see a lot more hands. The press release suggested 2.5-4 times as many. In my first three half-hour tests, I averaged a little over 100 hands – per half hour. And that was nine handed. (2) You’re always playing. If you get ten bad hands in a row it takes you under a minute to play them (Unless you are in the big blind and have to wait for a raise to quick fold or for action to come around).  And when you play a hand, as soon as you fold, you are on to the next hand at a different table.

There is no way to say that this doesn’t make the game more fun. After all, you play poker to . . . PLAY POKER. Even if your orientation is to play very tight, the huge majority of your time is spent playing a tiny minority of hands you chose to play. Seeing this many hands in this fashion has numerous consequences. Most of them are positive, but it does make for a different game. It is important when you play to recognize and adjust to the differences. In addition, playing poker in this fashion can teach you some valuable lessons.

In Part II, I’ll describe how the features of Rush Poker change the game, and how you can learn and benefit from those changes.

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One Response to “#951 – Rush Poker, Part I – Homer Simpson’s Dream”

1. Ratsan 1941 Says:
   January 28th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

   I love Rush Poker. Fast, exciting, and I don’t get frustrated waiting for my primo hands to play. Likewise the folds around the table are faster also (not too many zzzzzzzzz moments).

   Michael, do you know what the rake is? It doesn’t really matter in micro stakes games, but you and the red pros will soon be upping the stakes. Durrr vs the world!!

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