Spin & Go tournaments in 2020: is it worth playing now?

The debut of the new poker format, called “Spin&Go”, took place back in 2013 at Winamax. The spins became widespread after a year, when they appeared in the lobby of the most popular poker room - Pokerstars. On the eve of the launch of the new PS format, they also conducted a large-scale advertising campaign, where literally every iron called to play in Spin and Go. The result of such aggressive marketing, as well as due to the specifics of the discipline itself, Pokerstars managed to attract the attention of many fans and attract a huge number of new players. But what is the current situation?

Are the tournaments of the spin and go format still in demand and has the peak of interest passed a long time ago? Will them repeat fate of FL Holdem or other, once also very popular, Sit & Go tournaments - Double or Nothing?

This material is intended to answer these questions.

For the most impatient and busy readers, we’ll start by answering the key question: “Yes, Spin & Go tournaments are still incredibly popular!” This statement is easily substantiated by two recent news about the introduction of spins with a prize pool of $ 1,000,000 at Tigergaming (as well as the rest of the Chico Poker Network) and the Winning Poker Network. The foundation of spin go tournaments becomes even stronger when mentioning two factors that accompany their appearance in the lobby of these networks:

1. Winning Poker Network closes the top ten by in Pokerscout rank, and the Chico network is at the 13th place at all. Nevertheless, not even the largest poker networks are confidently betting on spin and go and are ready to pay millions prizes, becoming on a level with Partypoker and Pokerstars;

2. Both news about the introduction of Spin & Go tournaments with huge money appeared over the past month.

Why Spin&Go are so popular?

The total dominance of spin and go over other Sit & Go disciplines is dictated by two key factors:

1. A huge prize;
2. The speed with which you can win a huge prize.

Let's be honest - the prospect of winning a fortune in a few minutes sounds very attractive. Much more attractive and understandable than the more realistic statements from experienced players, which boil down to many years of work on their poker skills, a huge number of failures, pains and tears before success can possibly be knocked at your door. Even if you take two cases of incredible luck in Spin & Go and large MTT, respectively, then in the first you will need 5-7 minutes before the end of the tournament, and in MTT you will have to maintain concentration for tens of hours. This is not to mention the tournaments, which are divided into several gaming days, where the road to treasured success will take even more time.

The main features of Spin&Go

In the analysis, we will build on the Spin & Go format at Pokerstars. The characteristic elements of these tournaments include:

• 3 people participate;
• The starting stack is 500 chips;
• The first blind level is 10\20 and grows every 3 minutes;
• The prize pool of a specific spin and go is determined randomly using a multiplier before the start of the tournament;
• Only the first place is paid, that is, the winner takes all.

When a really high multiplier falls out second and third players also receive part of the tournament prize pool. The above conditions are typical for spins on Pokerstars and a significant number of other poker rooms, however, some of the networks (rooms) seek to make their tournaments different from the rest. So the “Spins” format at Partypoker once provided for the participation of 4 people. For the "head" of one of them was appointed a reward in the amount of 25% of the prize fund. At 888Poker, they acted even more originally and made the local version of Spin & Go (here it is called “Blast”) completely arcade: after 2 minutes from the start of the tournament, all players automatically go All-In.

Are there many regulars in Spin&Go?

The first reaction of the poker community and professional poker players to the promotion and popularity of the new format was not difficult to predict: it was sharply negative. The reasons are as follows:

• Firstly, the introduction of spins and the accompanying massive advertising led to the outflow of weak players from other disciplines;
• Secondly, it was difficult even for experienced players to win consistently in new tournaments - they had nowhere to turn around and show their skills;
• Thirdly, the chance of the multiplier dropping even more confusion in the minds of professional players;
• Fourth, because of the specific format of the Spin & Go tournaments, the dispersion was especially ruthless.

Despite the frankly cold welcome in the camp of regular players, gradually more and more professionals began to appear in spin go tournaments. The first wave was led by players from related Sit & Go disciplines, like turbo or hyper-turbo HU. They were forced to leave the usual tournaments due to the outflow of weak players and endless wars with cartels. Over time, others also pulled in, whose main motivation was the unwillingness to miss the benefit of the huge number of weak players who made up the vast majority of the players pool.

The number of regulars increased even more after the appearance of various schools and foundations specializing exclusively in Spin and Go. Nevertheless, even now the volumes of amateurs in the discipline are significantly higher than in any other format or form of poker.

PreflopHero - solution for the main problem of the Spin&Go regulars

When moving to the spin and go, poker players faced one fundamental problem: “How to learn the new format of the game?” This is not only about educational materials (over time, a huge number of instructional videos, articles, and even whole manuals), but, first of all, about a suitable poker software. If cash players could rely on Flopzilla and Power-Equilab, which were specially designed to analyze played hands, then there was nothing like this for the new discipline. It was possible to use other poker tools, but they did not fully meet the specific requirements of Spin and Go. Remembering a huge number of charts for all situations that arise in the spins was incredibly difficult and inconvenient. This continued until the advent of PreflopHero, which became the first poker application exclusively for Spin & Go tournaments.

PreflopHero is a poker trainer that allows you to hone your preflop actions to automatism. No more paper charts or saving ranges in Flopzilla! At PreflopHero, you can learn in a playful way. The undoubted advantages of the program include:

• Training will be as close as possible to the "combat" conditions. You will not scour your memory halls in search of the right solution, wasting precious time. On the contrary, preflop automatism will give you an advantage in the form of a margin of concentration and strength for a more thoughtful postflop game;
• Built-in charts are developed by the best Spin & Go players, therefore, you will learn only useful and relevant skills;
• The program includes the ability to create your own strategy. Advanced users can not only raise their game to a new level, but also bring something of their own to the strategy of the game;
• The simulator saves the results of each training session and indicates your mistakes. You will be able to determine what should be worked on in the first place, and what you do so well;
• Thanks to the application for smartphones, you can train everywhere.

You can try Preflop Hero for free. On the official website of the developer, you can evaluate its usefulness yourself and make an informed decision about the need for a purchase.

Where to play Spin&Go in 2020?

The last major chain to add Spin and Go tournaments to its lobby was GGPoker. This happened in February. Here they are called "Spin & Gold".

In addition to the Good Game, spin and go are available at:

• Paradoxically, at Pokerstars. Unfortunately, last year, industry leaders immediately noted two negative news: the establishment of an even more arcade Spin & Go Flash and an increase in rake in tournaments;
• Partypoker. Unlike PS, in local Spins you can significantly increase your income through rakeback. The size of the rakeback can reach up to 55% (and if you manage to get into the Diamond Club Elite, then even more!);
• Winamax. It would even be strange if they were suddenly removed from the pioneers;
• 888Poker. Already mentioned about 2 minutes of the game and automatic All-In around the table. Not the most suitable conditions for stable + EV games;
• Winning Poker Network. On this network, they are known under the code name Jackpot SNG. More recently, the prize pool has grown significantly. There is also a good rakeback of up to 40%.
• Chico Poker Network. As recently as last week, the Windfall prize pool was increased to $ 1,000,000. Distinctive features of local Spin & Go tournaments: an increased number of chips (not 500, but 1000), the presence of a 1.5x multiplier and the distribution of prize money according to the formula (50\30\20) in tournaments with a multiplier of x10;
• iPoker Network. Here, in the client's lobby, Spin&Go should be looked under the name “Twister”.

There is still a “Fish Party” at the Microgaming Poker Network, but the network closes in mid-May, so neither a 30% rakeback, nor a weak field no longer causes its former interest. We recommend that you pay special attention to Partypoker and the Winning Poker Network, because in tournaments with high dispersion, having a good rakeback can significantly smooth the bad period and maintain your bankroll, as well as your emotional state at a good level.