Five online poker formats that could actually work live

The speed of online poker makes these esoteric formats work, but could they actually be replicated in a live setting?

Fast Fold Poker

The biggest barriers in live tournaments are logistical, there either is not enough space, staff or time to do the esoteric formats in a bricks and mortar setting. Of all the online formats, fast fold poker would be nothing short of a nightmare, it would be musical chairs on steroids.

Having said that I could potentially see a few reasons to do a live fast fold event, if only as a one off. Just like we once had a Strip Poker World Championship, a one off fast fold event, for charity perhaps, could be funny enough a task to become a worthy publicity stunt. With the constant moving around you could label it the most physically demanding tournament of all time.

If you wanted something a little more workable, then you could create a tournament or cash game event where the tables redraw every hour. It’s not the same as traditional fast fold of course, but would still feature that constant changing of opponents that makes it work.

Timed Tournaments

The newly introduced five minute SNG style 'Beat the Clock' tournaments wouldn’t cut it and the fast fold style element of it also would be too much, but in general a timed tournament could certainly work live.

As I have already written, time is the ultimate barrier for recreational players and an event which promises to finish and pay out at a certain time could be a winner. It could even work as a regular nightly format at a local card room if it could promise to, say, start at 8pm and finish 11pm. It's a real barrier for local events when their midweek tournaments go into the early hours. 

The biggest barrier would be people stalling as it got near the money, which is why such an event could only work with a very fast shot clock involved. However, given the real way to win at this event is chip accumulation, that hopefully won’t be as needed as first may think.

Bubble Rush

We have seen live events tinker with formats to make bursting the bubble less painful (most notably by introducing more payouts) and Bubble Rush strikes me as the one online format better suited to live poker. 

Making the money is even more important in live events because there are bigger time costs and significant travel costs involved. So any format which gets players to the money sooner would be welcome live.

We have even seen some events trial variants of this already. Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, for example, sometimes has a ‘Turbo Day 1’ that takes place in the morning before Day 2 begins. It’s a much faster structurer which then slows down when the official Day 2 begins, which means an entire day is saved for those with travel barriers.

Jackpot SNGs

We have already seen a novelty version of Spin & Go at EPT events and I think there is a potential for an expansion. Thus far they have been single table tournament side games with a random prize after the spin of a wheel.

I could envision a version of this where a large field comes together and is drawn on tables just as in an MTT, but instead play in a Single Table Tournament (maybe full ring instead of three handed to make it worthwhile for both casino and player alike). The prize for each table could either be drawn at random or (to mitigate risk) a raffle ticket system could be employed for each table.

There have been live events that revolve around Single Table Tournaments before (The World Sit ‘n’ Go Masters) and it always surprised me it never took off. I’d see this more of a once a year side event during a PokerStars event like the PCA.

Six Max Tournaments

This might seem like a not very creative way to end things but it is more of a reminder that there is a shocking disparity between the amount of Six Max played online compared to the almost entirely Full Ring we see live.

The reason is a cost one, quite simply you save space and spend less on dealers when each table has 9/10 players than if you have six. However, as we have learned from people who organise live Six Max events before in the past, this might not always be the case. When you have shorthanded tables in live events they break much faster meaning you can clear up space, players and dealers sooner to get side games going.

The Six Max Championship at the WSOP is one of the most coveted bracelets precisely because Six Max is the online game. It is remarkable how rarely it is spread on the live circuit the rest of the time.

Could you see one of these formats working live? Can you think of another online format that would work in a live setting? Let us know in the comments.