PokerStars Spin & Gos are catering to the less-endowed financial crowd, though likely a much larger crop of players, announcing this week that it’s offering micro stakes for its popular lottery format in both France and Spain that will cost just €0.25 ($0.28) to enter.
The decision to bring smaller bankrolls to Spin & Go tournaments follows the $100 buy-in on the dot-com market and a €50 game ($55) offering on the dot-es network.
In the past, PokerStars has used its regional domains to test promotions, and after a successful run have made their way to the dot-com client, meaning the micro stake three-person max hyper-turbos could soon land on PokerStars.com should the trial run be successful.
Small Buy-In, High Rake
Spin & Go XS, as it’s called in Spain, comes with a maximum prize pool of €1,200 ($1,327), with the winner snagging $1,106 on basically a 25-cent coin entry
. Not too shabby, but when you consider that the prize multiplier actually landing on 4,800, the top prize, has odds of just one in 200,000, or 0.0005 percent, the game becomes a bit more grounded.
You’ll double your money nearly 75 percent of the time, and quadruple it about 17 percent. That’s lower than the higher stake Spin & Gos on the dot-com platform.
In France, things are even more dire, with the top prize pool valued at $3,317 and the winner taking $2,764. However, the lottery chances of striking the 10,000 multiplier jackpot is a dismal four in one million, though doubling your money is at 77 percent.
But the rare chance of striking a large payout on a miniscule buy-in will likely attract many new players to the Spin & Go tables, and if that happens PokerStars stands to collect a considerable amount of money as rakes for the micro stake games are elevated to eight percent, the highest toll PokerStars has ever levied.
Tournament Takedown
Since their inception, Spin & Go tournaments have been a rapidly growing format for PokerStars and its players, and while seasoned online poker fans initially loathed the turbo structure, Amaya certainly won’t be turning its back on one of its biggest revenue earners.
During the company’s recent second quarter call with investors, CEO David Baazov revealed that 60 percent of poker revenues are now generated through tournaments, and player participation has grown a staggering 90 percent year-over-year.
In May, Baazov credited Spin & Gos to not only attracting new players, but also reactivating stagnant accounts.
“This is primarily a result of PokerStars success and offering by far the widest variety of tournaments at more price points than competitors,” Baazov stated. “This is highly attractive to players because it allows them to play the games they want at the stakes they want and at the time of the day they want.”
As the owner of the world’s largest poker network ventures off into new market sectors including daily fantasy sports, sportsbooks, and general online casino gambling, it appears Amaya isn’t forgetting about what made PokerStars so profitable in the first place. Staying the course and investing in new formats and tournaments is likely a sound bet.
