PokerStars Launches Industry First Spin & Go Max

Lotteries are ever enticing, with their promise of rich cash rewards for speculating a small amount. Online giant PokerStars entered the exciting world by offering lottery type Spin & Go`s in October 2014.

The tournaments, referred to as “lottery” Sit-and-Go`s, are fast-paced events, featuring 500 chip starting stack, where each game has a randomly drawn prize pool. The $1 to $30 buy-in games featured payouts ranging from 2x to a 1,000 time the amount of buy ins, making it one of the most attractive games, especially to recreational players.

The uniqueness of these tournaments was that players had no idea about the prize pool until all players are seated. About 90% of the time, the prize pool will be either two or four times the buy-in.

In 2015, PokerStars added a $100 buy in variant in the Spin & Go’s with the top prize being as much as $300K. In October 2015, Spin & Go variant completed its first year and the giant celebrated with limited time special Spin & Go’s with chance to win as much as $1 Million, all for an investment of just $0.50.

Jump to April 2017, PokerStars decided to taste new waters by launching the Omaha Spin & Go format.

Now, on August 9 the online giant launched a new action-packed version i.e. Spin & Go Max and stated that the new variant is an exciting, industry-first game that offers players a new, alternative poker experience with even more variation and excitement. That also means more chances to win big, with the opportunity to secure up to 10,000 times the buy-in of each Spin & Go Max played.

Spin & Go Max will be offered at buy-ins of $1, $3, $7 and $15 with the biggest prize awarded for the $1 game to be $10,000, while the jackpot prize for $15 contests will pay out $150,000.

Severin Rasset, Director Of Poker Innovation and Operations at PokerStars said, “Spin & Go Max is the next level of the Spin & Go format and delivers more excitement and a great immersive experience through new graphics and more chances for winning moments,”.

The new Spin & Go Max features five new elements, animations, sounds and graphics to create an immersive gameplay experience.

1. Player Spinner: Every game will begin with a spin to determine the number of players. The number of players in a given tournament will not be known before a player registers. Instead, a random draw held before the tournament starts will decide the number of players, ranging from three to eight. The number of players drawn will directly influence the prize pool.

2. Triple Prize Spinner: At the start of the tournament players will be shown the three potential prize options that they’re playing for. At the end of the tournament the winner will have to pick from the three prizes at random which will be shuffled and hidden – adding a compelling and tension filled winning moment.

3. Hand Countdown: Spin & Go Max games will have a fixed number of hands based upon the size of the prize and the number of players. Once gameplay begins, a special countdown will show how many hands are to be played. But, if no winner is decided within a certain number of hands it will be time to go all-in.

4. Automatic All-In finale: Once the final hand has been played, all remaining players will automatically go all-in until there is a winner. This will require the development of new strategies to beat fellow players. This means players will need to consider playing to win early on or accumulate enough chips to survive going all-in with their opponents.

5. Risk/Reward Option: Whether a user wins the Spin & Go Max outright, or beat all players in the all-in mode, the player will get a chance to pick the prize. The winner will have 45 seconds to pick from one of the three hidden prizes. If they don’t act in time the prize will be randomly selected for them. To add even more excitement, when higher prizes are drawn a ‘Cash Out’ option will be offered. The Cash Out amount is equal to the average value of all three prizes, minus an amount which will create a compelling choice. This poses the big money question of whether to take a guaranteed payout or take that one in three shots at the top prize. Other places will be paid dependent on number of players and the amount will be of fixed value.