The PokerStars Spin & Go Mobile App now offers a $1 Million Jackpot for a $5 Entry Fee.
PokerStars is releasing a new version of its popular “Spin & Go” mobile app, which offers a potential $1,000,00 prize for a $5 buy-in. Since May 2015, PokerStars has offered the Spin-n-Go mobile app to provide the player-favorite poker game as an option on smartphones and tablet computers.
Online poker players have enjoyed the Spin & Go format for a time now, because it’s the fastest way to win a huge prize. The game is a natural choice for mobile gamblers, but PokerStars is telling players to download the latest version of their mobile client, which is the only version with the newest feature.
Lloyd Melnick, Director of Social Gaming at PokerStars said that mobile gamers would “love the fast-paced poker action.” Spin-&-Go have the advantages of a Sit-n-Go or Turbo event, but adds a twist: huge jackpots for a $1.00 and $60.00 buy-in. For events $5 and up, the prizes get into the life-changing range.
How Spin-n-Go Events Works
Here is what the PokerStars website says about the classic Spin & Go-type events.
The promotional material says, “Spin & Go’s are fast-paced, 3-Max Hyper-Turbo Spin & Go tournaments, featuring 500 chip starting stacks. Buy-ins range from $0.25 to $100 and each tournament has a randomly drawn prize pool that will award between two and 10,000 times your buy-in.”
Players spend to buy into the event. A random drawing is made to determine the size of the prize pool. The prize might be 2x the amount of the buy-in or it might be 10,000x the buyin. Obviously, the smaller prizes are more likely, but players receive the anticipation of a huge prize pool.
The idea is to combine the skill of poker with the excitement of a lottery-sized jackpot. While some have criticized the concept as deceptive or disappointing, it has proven popular with the rank-and-file online card playing community.
When players enter a contest, they are given 500 virtual poker chips. The event goes until one player has all the chips. Different payout structures are used by PokerStars, but the most common is the 80-10-10 format. The first place winner receives 80% of the prize pool. Second and third place each receive 10% of the prize pool. Everyone else loses.
Available for Android and Apple Devices
PokerStars says the apps are available for Android and Apple iOS devices. Players can enjoy Spin & Go on the iPhone 4 and above, iPad 2 and above, iPod Touch, or Android 4 or more smartphones. For Android devices, the screen resolution needs to be 800×480 or more. At present, players who use BlackBerry phones, Windows Phone, or Symbian phones cannot download the game app.
The release of the new gaming app goes along with Amaya Gaming’s plans to maximize the PokerStars brand. Since Amaya Gaming bought the world’s number one poker site 16 months ago, it has promoted more live tournaments in the brick-and-mortar industry, while Amaya has tried to increase PokerStars’ presence in the sports betting, online casino, and daily fantasy sports industries.
This has included attempts to gain licensing in the United States, a campaign which was successful in New Jersey so far. The New Jersey PokerStars site has not launched yet, though. When it does, online and mobile Spin & Go events will be available to gamblers in New Jersey.
In an update, PokerStars announced it would launch in New Jersey sometime in March 2016. When it does, the introduction of the world’s biggest Internet poker brand should make a positive impact on the Jersey online gaming revenues. How much of an impact is still uncertain, as online poker has been disappointing, so far.
Red Spade Spin & Go App
Red Spade has released its own downloadable application which features a game a great deal like Spin & Go. The app is called “Jackpot Poker”. It offers the same concept: a random draw to determine the jackpot size.
Jackpot Poker has a maximum jackpot of 3000x your original entry fee. While this is not quite the same potential jackpot as the PokerStars app, it is said to be a “bridge” into the PokerStars gaming community. Jackpot Poker is supported for Android or IOS gadgets.
New players are given an in-game poker quiz to test their knowledge of the game. Refer-a-friend bonuses and in-game promotions are also offered.
