On-line Poker — New games and new players

In recent years, poker sites have come up with a number of new ways to encourage players to part with their money; they have also recruited celebrity players.

The latest such big name to be signed up by one of the major sites is Rafael Nadal, who has been recruited by PokerStars, the world’s biggest site.

This could be a smart move; the Black Friday domain seizures and resultant shock waves have killed the American market, and there is no realistic prospect of any of the major sites returning, at least not for many years. This has led of necessity to them seeking to recruit clientele elsewhere, and although the Far East has enormous potential, Europe is the most logical place for them to start, and the Spanish speaking market - which of course extends far beyond Spain - also has enormous potential.

The major poker sites have also been experimenting with new games and new variations on old ones. Our hero stumbled onto a time tournament yesterday. I thought I’d registered for a slightly later one and was surprised when this appeared on my screen, but it was only a $1 + 10c buy-in, and I made the money too, so who’s complaining? Apparently these have been running since last October, the shortest lasts for 15 minutes, and the idea is that everyone left in at the end of the fixed period gets a share of the prize pool. Obviously there will be no big pay outs, certainly not for a $1 buy-in, but for those short of that most precious of commodities - time - it’s not a bad idea.

Badugi is a poker variant that has been around longer but not that much longer than time tournaments. On PokerStars you can play fixed limit as well as pot limit, and the occasional freeroll, but it is a game that will not appeal to all. Including me.

You can play razz on PokerStars, but Ladbrokes appears to be the only place you can play pot limit razz. You can also play pot limit 5 card stud on this site, though pot limit razz remains my personal favourite for purely selfish reasons.

Third place in a €5.00 + €.50 pot limit 5 card stud freezeout on Ladbrokes, November 17, 2011.

The €5.00 + €.50 limited rebuy Pot Limit Razz on Labrokes, May 27, 2012. 10 runners, 3 places paid, 16 buy-ins, only the one from me.

The €5.00 + €.50 limited rebuy Pot Limit Razz on Labrokes, May 28, 2012. Our hero goes one better than the previous night.

A badugi on PokerStars, June 18, 2012.

Another badugi from the same tournament as immediately above.

Ace rag cracks kings in a $1 time tournament on PokerStars, June 23, 2012 – see also the screengrab immediately below.

A $1 time tournament played on PokerStars, June 23, 2012. Pocke aces v pocket queens. See also the screengrabs immediately above and below.

A $1 time tournament played on PokerStars, June 23, 2012. Only 6 minutes left to run. See screengrab immediately above.

[The above was published originally June 24, 2012.]

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