Rush Poker: My Early Thoughts

By Kory Travers | January 22, 2010

When Full Tilt Poker announced the launch of Rush Poker this week, I thought to myself, “Seriously? It’s going to be video game poker!” I thought it was going to be terrible. I was both right and wrong.

It is kind of like video game poker, but you know what? It’s also kind of fun.

Some people have been saying that Rush Poker fundamentally changes the way poker is played, but I disagree. Party Poker’s HellKat tournaments that it introduced back in 2007 changed the way Sit-and-Go’s were played much more than Rush Poker changes cash games. And that’s surprising, considering that Party Poker, though a fixture in the online poker industry, has not really been too revolutionary over the years. Rush Poker is still poker. What Full Tilt did, however, was give casual players something that feels more like a quick-hitting, exciting game rather than a yawn-inducing grind.

I am actually a very patient player myself, but the few times I have played at the Rush tables, I have found that it’s pretty exhilarating to be able to see hand after hand after hand without so much as a few seconds break to grab a sip of water. Even the animation as you move to the next table is cool. It does feel like a video game. And I like video games. I get the feeling of constantly being in motion, rather than sitting at my desk, chin in hand, waiting for a couple players to finish the turn and river.

But I also like it for the potential profitability. Rush Poker was obviously invented by Full Tilt Poker for two reasons: 1) more hands per hour means more rake per hour, and 2) more action and more excitement brings in the losing, recreational players. It’s that second point that should make the games profitable, at least until people figure them out. There are many more casual players than serious players at these Rush Poker tables, so there are many more chips out there to be scooped up.

What I have found interesting, too, is that the bad players are actually worse at Rush Poker than they are at regular poker. First, they tend to play way too tight pre-flop. I am normally a very tight player, but the thing about Rush Poker is that recreational players now have an incentive to fold. In regular games, they don’t like to fold because they want action, which is very good in the long-run for the more serious players, but can also lead to more variance, as the casual players will suck out with every hand imaginable. Now, with Rush Poker, they are happy to fold because another hand, and another chance for pocket Aces, is a second away. Pre-flop, the game looks very exploitable so far. In general, it is easier to steal blinds because of the incentive to fold, and if someone doesn’t fold to a raise, they probably have a good hand.

After the flop, players are also unlikely to challenge your aggression if they don’t have anything, but if they did hit anything, even a good draw, watch out. The “fish” won’t be apt to release their hands. So while aggression is still good post-flop, go easy on the size of the continuation bets, as a moderate bet will typically serve the same purpose as a large one, without the risk.

I am not concerned, like many serious players are, that I won’t be able to use my HUD or get detailed stats on my opponents. Note taking is easy enough to do and people so far have been playing much more ABC-styles of play, making reads relatively simple. I do worry a bit about Rush Poker’s potential effect on the regular tables, though. If casual players are drawn to Rush Poker, that means the regular tables will get tougher as they become more concentrated with higher skilled players. For now, though, I am going to enjoy playing a game of Rush Poker now and then. That is, provided I don’t lose my buy-in within a few minutes.

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2 Comments

Rush Poker is a joke, its all action hands and is not what poekr is suppose to be. If poker is “rigged” then you wil see more “abnormal” hands than ever. Way to show off the rig FT. You are more worthless now than ever before

Comment by RushPokerisaJoke — January 22, 2010 @ 6:59 pm
As you may know Rushpoker is a type of poker at Fulltilt where you are whisked from table to table as you fold or as a hand ends. It is structured as a typical 9 player ring game and the rotating pool of players can reach over a thousand. As in typical ring game you are responsible for the big and small blinds. The blinds are a bit tricky to distribute in Rushpoker as there are always new players at each table every hand. Fulltilt claims that the blinds are random with it going to the player who has gone the longest without being in the blind. Now I would guess that sometimes I would be in the blinds quite often and sometimes I would be in the blind not so often. I would also guess that it would even be possible to go more than 9 hands without being in the blinds as it would be possible to go 9 hands being in the blind every hand. My problem began when I started to notice that I was in the blinds way to often and began to count using the hand history option available on fulltilt. In fact I was in the blinds over 10,000 hands every 4th hand. I play primarily 0.5/0.10 stakes. Very simple math can show you the tax I was playing to play Rushpoker. This was even greater when I played rushpoker for higher stakes. Thus I was paying double (or more) the amount of blinds I would pay at a regular ring game of 9 players.

I wrote to Fulltilt on a number of occasions to inquire and I furnished them with my hand histories. After a few back and forths they said the matter was closed and they would no longer answer questions ion the matter. My guess is that in order for the rushpoker to function properly the software chooses a few unlucky saps to suck up the blinds (everytime they play). I am unfortunately one of them. Over the course of probably 100,000 hands I am in the blind at least every 4th hand. The fulltilt rep even had the nerve to write saying that one could be in the blinds every hand over 20,000 hands. In the language of the internet LOL. Please beware of the blinds in Rushpoker. I am curious if anyone else has experienced the same. PLease post if you have.

Thanks

Comment by withheld — April 29, 2010 @ 6:31 am