In early 2010, Full Tilt Poker introduced a new format that turned online poker on its head. The format is called Rush Poker. Rush Poker enables you to play more hands per hour — anywhere from 2-3 times the amount that you can play on a single non-Rush table. What this means for players is more action, higher hourly earnings and the ability to clear bonuses at a faster rate.
What Exactly is Rush Poker?
Rush Poker is a format where each player is apart of a “player pool.” Each player will be “rushed” to a new table with other players in the pool immediately after folding or finishing their hand. This is instead of waiting for the current action to be completed before being dealt a new hand like you’d experience at a traditional poker game. So every new hand that you are dealt, you’ll be sitting with a new random group of players.
How to Play Rush Poker
Playing the games themselves is going to be no different then if you were playing a normal cash game or tournament. So, if you don’t know how to play holdem or omaha, you’ll want to take a look at our holdem poker rules and omaha poker rules before you sign up to play them in the Rush Poker format.
If you already know the rules and are looking to get started, just visit Full Tilt’s lobby and click on the Rush Poker tab. For tournaments you’ll click on the tournament tab first and then the Rush tab.
In the lobby of each game, you’ll be able to find statistics that you might use in your decision on where to play including how many players are in the pool, how many are active, the average stack size, how many hands are being dealt per hour per table on average and the total amount of hands per hour dealt.
Once you find a game to play, simply click on “join now” from within the lobby. There will be a countdown from 3 and then you’ll be seated at a table.
Everything will look normal at first — that is, until you fold or finish a hand. Once your involvement in a hand is finished, you’ll be taken to a different table with new players and you’ll be seated in a random position. The player who has paid the blinds the least up until that point will be the player to post the big blind.
Now, keep in mind that you don’t have to wait until the action is on you to fold your hand. There is a “quick fold” option that is similar to those “fold to any bet” boxes. If you’re dealt a hand that you don’t like, just hit “quick fold” and you’ll be taken to a new table. The players at your previous table won’t know that you’re folding your hand until it’s your turn to act. That way they can’t use the knowledge of you folding to their advantage.
Differences between Rush Cash Games and Rush Tournaments
There are a couple of key differences between Rush cash games and Rush tournaments.
In Rush Poker cash games, you are allowed to multi table up to 4 games within the same player pool. In other words, you’re playing the same game via 4 different tables. You’ll never be seated at the same table twice though. Being able to do this is a great way to pick up reads and collect hands if you’re running a HUD.
For Rush tournaments, everything will be the same until the field starts to get smaller. Once there are 30 players or less, it’ll then turn to short-handed tables in order to keep the “rush” aspect going. Normal tournament poker will come into affect once the final table is reached.
Rush Poker Games, Variations & Stakes
There are several options in regards to games, variations and stakes for Rush Poker. And they’re being improved upon all the time. Here is a list of what’s available now.
- Rush Poker Games: Holdem and Omaha Poker in Pot and No Limit betting formats.
- Rush Poker Variations: 6-max, 9-max, turbo, rebuy, multi-entry, knockout, deep stack and guarantees.
- Rush Poker Stakes: $.02/$.05 up to $2/$4 for cash & freerolls up to $100+ for tournaments.
Try Rush Poker Games at Full Tilt
I encourage you to try Rush Poker if you haven’t yet. It’s a lot of fun to play. There’s no waiting for a new hand to be dealt and you’re going to see better hands more often. Not to mention that these games are going to be considerably softer with all the fish (action junkies) playing them. So you can have a good time and grind out good money. That’s a good combination if I’ve ever seen one.
