Is Bubble Rush good for poker?
Does the poker market crave a format where you get to the money as soon as possible then slow down?
PokerStars have launched a new format called Bubble Rush which is an interesting tweaking of a regular tournament.
Basically the blinds go up at hyper speed with the intention of getting everyone to the money within the first hour. After the bubble bursts the event slows down to regular speed so you can enjoy playing deep poker on your way to the final table, safe in the knowledge you have already guaranteed a payday.
Whether it works or not it is always good to see tournament formats experimented with, hopefully to find a sweet spot for both pros and recreational players alike. I personally see a lot of merit in this format because it alleviates one of the most off-putting aspects of MTTs to recreational players – playing for a long time and just missing the money.
Time is a recreational expense
We now have online series like TCOOP and just last week the EPT announced 20% payout structures. Some live tournaments now offer ‘turbo day ones’ which take place on the morning of day two for this same reason. This year the WSOP also changed their structures so that in most cases the players made the money on or very soon after the first day. When and how we get to the money is important to casual players.
Money is not the only cost we recreational players incur, there is also a time (and travel expenses) cost. This is true for pros too but recreational players have a regular job to juggle and playing all night then getting up the next morning is more painful when we bubbled.
Perhaps the biggest reason for professionals to dislike this format is less the skill edge considerations (more on that in a second) and more the fact that this investment of time and money is precisely why bubble play is so profitable. Objectively all recreational players hate losing their money when they bust but when it comes to the bubble itself, it is as much about feeling like you have wasted the last five hours as it is your buy-in.
Edge considerations
The clear problem for professional players with this format is that the skill edge is much slimmer prior to getting to the money. It will be something of a crapshoot before the bubble which arguably is the opposite of what happens in a longer standard tournament. While this is true the flipside of this is that once you have reached the money the skill edge will much more greatly favour the pros. Those who have luckboxed their way to the money all of a sudden face the prospect of deep stacks and the better players can clean up.
However, there is still much more skill to hyper turbo poker than a lot of people give it credit and the bad players can still butcher a shallow stack as much as they can a deep stack. A lot of professionals consider the first few levels of a tournament as very inconsequential because the pots mean nothing (Which is why so many late register these days) so I think Bubble Rush tournaments could suit the pros too.
A lot of pros are skeptical about Bubble Rush because there is a clear loss of edge, just as they were with Spin & Go. However, just like Spin & Go, I think they will discover that the influx of recreational players whom this format suits could make it a win-win for both markets.
What do you think of Bubble Rush? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
