When it comes to game selection, PokerStars is by far the most versatile of all online poker sites out there. However, in the sea of choice available to players, there is one format that stands out: Spin & Gos.
These quick-paced, three-handed sit and go games have successfully combined a number of elements to make them as popular as they are. The potential to hit massive jackpots is certainly one of them, but there are other features that have helped Spins establish their position.
While spins are preferred by some professional players, many recreational players are drawn to this format, and we were curious as to why this might be the case. So, during the recently concluded NAPT in Las Vegas, we caught up with Nick Walsh, a PokerStars Ambassadors and an expert on this particular format.
Nick was kind enough to answer our questions and provide us with some insights as to why Spin & Gos can be the right choice for recreational players.
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What would you say are the main points are for Spins that appeal to recreational players?
Nick: So right off the bat, I think a lot of people are initially drawn to the fact that you can win big from, from a single buy-in. And, in all honesty, the super, super big jackpots that we see at Spin and Gos are very infrequent.
I think that actually a lot of the fun of Spin and Gos has more to do with the frequency that you can play them, the ease with which you can play; the sort of accessibility that they offer. I believe it’s one of the most accessible mobile-based products that you can play just given the fact that it’s very fast-paced.
If you’ve only got internet for the next 20 minutes or so, you can definitely fit a game in.
So initially, I think it’s that people want to play for the big win and that’s obviously always a part of the game. But I think, eventually, what they discover is they just like that it’s very challenging.
It forces you to be in a lot of difficult situations at a very quick pace. Thus, it’s interesting from a poker player’s perspective. But then also I think they realize that it just fits into their schedule.
A lot of people that might have had more time in their younger lives to play more long-form poker suddenly have the opportunity to play short-form – but more challenging type of poker that fits more into their adult lives and things that they have to do during their day.
Would your answer be any different for more serious poker players?
Nick: No… Okay, I think actually it would. If you are a more serious poker player, or perhaps you already play cash games or MTTs, but you’re finding that you don’t have as much time as you did before to play them, I think that Spin & Gos offer you a way to get through very considerable volume with a considerable edge, given the fact that they are a hyper format, while also achieving reasonable reward targets, depending on where you live.
What that means is that you, as a professional player or somebody that plays the game more seriously, you can put in a serious amount of volume to realize your edge much faster than you would if you were playing MTTs.
Obviously it’s still very high variance, but it’s still true, and you can also be rewarded very rapidly. If you want to unlock sort of rake back targets and stuff like that, it can be very beneficial.
So for recreational players or anybody looking to get better at Spin & Gos, how do you advise that they start their learning process?
Nick: I would say preflop is always first and then the preflop sort of spawns the postflop or sort of inspires the postflop, because in Spin & Gos, since we are so short stacked, you can cap your opponent’s ranges aggressively based on their pre flop actions, which is something people underestimate.
You can get really sick reads on people heads up, in particular when they don’t take aggressive action in specific spots. So, if there’s a limp and then there’s no aggressive action, postflop, a lot of times they just don’t have any pairs, or they won’t have any aces.
Learning that preflop means that you can become very good at postflop very quickly, because then you know what ranges you’re working with right off the bat. So, resources that inspire or where you can learn your preflop much faster, are very important.
And then the postflop, we have other tools like GTO Wizard and other courses that can help you with that as well.
In particular, I need to give a shout out to PokerStars Learn. I made an entire Spin & Go course on the PokerStars Learn website that I spent way too long making that probably should have been a paid piece of content somewhere.
It is what is a Spin and Go, as in literally, what is a Spin and Go, all the way down to preflop. I have ranges in there that I’ve actually created myself that I sell on my website that I have for free in there.
There’s a bunch of postflop material as well, not just specifics of how to play situations, but also conceptually what we’re looking for in the steps that I go through, as I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do post flop given the preflop action, and if you guys haven’t seen that yet, go watch it.
It’s not been seen enough, and yeah, like I said, it probably should have been a BBZ bundle or something like that, but it’s free for everyone to enjoy. So it’s a great starting point there.
Give Spin & Gos a Try
If you are a recreational player yet to dive into the exciting world of Spin & Gos, maybe these insights will inspire you to check out the format and give it a try.
In many ways, Spins are a perfect choice for recreational players who may not necessarily have a lot of time on their hands but still want to play a game that features exciting winning prospects and significant strategic elements to put you ahead of the competition.
There is a lot to Spin & Gos that doesn’t necessarily meet the eye, and there are many misconceptions floating about, but these tips from one of the game crushers should help you see past those and embrace this format in all its glory.