5 benefits of playing Spin & Go with PokerStars

Poker is a fun game, involving thought, skill and exhilaration in equal measure. But a good poker game can take a LONG time.

That’s why, a few years ago, PokerStars introduced a new innovation with Spin & Go poker. For a beginner card player (like the writer of this article!!), this was a bit of a game-changer…

The basics

The idea of Spin & Go poker is a quick, exciting game. You can play at any time, not having to wait for the start of a specific game or tournament.

You buy in (stakes are usually low: $0.25, $1, $2, $5, $10 or $25) and are instantly put into a three-player game where the winner takes it all (each player starts with 500 chips). Games are limited for time, with blinds increasing all the time – and quickly – to speed the play up.

But there’s a twist: before the poker begins, you get the “spin” element of the game. Indeed, there is a multiplier after the buy-in that determines the game’s eventual prize.

The most common is a x2 – so a $1 buy-in wins you $2. By the very nature of a random spin, however, you could end up betting $5 and playing for the top prize of $1m.

Those kinds of multipliers are, of course, rare – but, importantly, they do happen!

There are obvious benefits to playing this type of poker, as opposed to traditional cash games or long-form tournaments. Here are five this writer thought of while testing their own luck at the game…

#1 Speed

Perhaps the most obvious advantage – and one that cancels out the biggest disadvantage of poker overall: the amount of time it takes.

You will never play a Spin & Go game for hours. You could go through the highs of being the chip leader to the lows of almost being wiped out – all within minutes.

On average, a game takes a few minutes so, if you do feel you suffered a particularly bad beat and know you were unlucky in your last game, you can play another straightaway, without waiting hours to build up your pot again.

#2 Lower skill levels

This one works both ways. If you are a beginner looking to play a few fun hands, you can do just that with Spin & Go. There will be fewer sharks (a really good poker player), less value at stake if you do come up against a shark – and the advantages of a top player will be diminished due to the more random/quicker nature of the game.

Similarly, though, for those of you out there looking to profit from your poker ability, the lower overall level can offer an opportunity for some Spin & Go winnings.

That said, the advantage is definitely with the beginner here, so it’s a nice, more relaxed environment to play in.

#3 The spin

Poker is widely considered a skill game – and it’s true you can’t just spin your way to victory without thinking about your next move.

But casino and lottery players will obviously love the random nature of a jackpot and the thrill of a win based purely on chance.

Here is where the spin element gives players an extra kick. So you can enjoy your poker – but you know your jackpot is also determined by chance.

Here, if a player has bet $1 and is playing for $2, they might not be as interested. But in their very next Spin & Go game, they might have bet $0.50 and could easily be playing for $500. Suddenly, they are up for it!

#4 Low stakes

If anyone has ever played roulette, they’ll know the pain of there being a minimum bet for red or black. Sometimes, higher stakes just mean fewer wagers as your bankroll might deplete much sooner than you expected.

The same can go for poker if, say, your opponent went all in… you had pocket aces and so called – but lost on the last card!!

The beauty of Spin & Go here is that, playing with low stakes, you can play loads! If you deposit $25, that’s 100 games at a $0.25 buy-in. If you deposit $50, you could still play 10 $5 games. Really, there’s fun available for hours here!

Just look at the experience of this writer… On my first day playing, I won two games and lost five. But I broke even overall as I won the bigger-prize games.

Plus, when I called someone going all in on just their third hand (and lost) I knew there was another game to redeem myself right around the corner…

#5 You can still win big…

It’s important to note that the random multipliers are not guaranteed to provide you with big winnings. But given the random nature of the pre-match spin, as we’ve already said, it’s completely possible to end up winning BIG.

Imagine you’ve played 10 $2 games and lost them all… but game 11 gives you the chance to play for $200. Suddenly, you could go from $20 down to $180 up – without changing the level of your stake.That’s definitely something to think about, especially for the beginners out there…

Important notices

PokerStars is only legal in three states currently: Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But this type of poker is great to get to know in case PokerStars ever returns to other US regions.

There are also similar “sit & go” styles of poker on other sites you can try.

Please gamble responsibly, as poker is a game that is very easy to get carried away with. Just because you lost your last hand, it doesn’t mean you have to keep playing until you win that money back!

Sometimes, a break will make you play better when you return – ready to Spin & Go!