In our previous article, we showed you a glimpse of what the tournament schedule for PokerStars Pennsylvania may look like when it launches. In this article, we will be unveiling details surrounding other game offerings such as cash games and its associated features.
Cash Game Offerings Much Like New Jersey
Much like the tournaments offering, cash games in Pennsylvania will also closely resemble the operator’s New Jersey counterpart.
Based on the information we have gleaned from the PokerStars PA platform, which is currently believed to be in internal alpha testing, the cash game lobby appears that it will adopt the traditional lobby system just like in New Jersey, meaning players will be able to pick their own tables and seats.
A Quick Seat option is also expected to be available, allowing players to pick their seat automatically once they have chosen their game type and desired stakes.
Although Hold’em and Omaha will most likely be the predominant games offered in PA, other niche variants such as stud games and mixed games like 8-Game will likely also be part of the cash game offerings on the fresh PokerStars US room.
Other details that we expect to be a part of the PokerStars PA launch include:
- Cash game tables stakes ranging from $0.01/$0.02 up to $100/$200
- The majority of the NLHE cash games will be available in 6-max format
- The Run It Twice feature is likely to be available to Pennsylvania players
There are also things we do not expect to be part of the initial PokerStars launch such as:
- No heads-up tables are expected to be part of the initial game offering
- Zoom cash tables are not expected to be offered at launch
- All-in Cashout (the operator’s newly launched insurance feature) is not expected
Wide Range of Sit & Go Games Are Expected
Unlike New Jersey where Sit & Gos are available only in heads-up format, Pennsylvania players should have access to both heads-up and 6-max format.
Based on the tentative SNG schedule deployed on the test client, we have determined the following:
- SNGs will be available with buy-ins from $1 to $500
- Only Hold’em and Omaha games will be available in SNG format
- Only heads-up and 6-max tables will be part of the SNG offerings
- All Heads-up SNGs will have a hyper-turbo structure
- All 6-max SNGs will have a turbo structure
- Multi-table and 9-handed SNGs will not be available at the time of the launch
Spin & Go Will Likely Have to Wait
It appears that players in Pennsylvania will likely have to wait before they can start playing the ultra-popular lottery-based three-handed Sit & Gos commonly referred to as Spins. Although in our first behind the scenes article published last month, we did report that Spin & Gos were thought to be available in five different buy-ins from $1 to $25, we no longer believe that is the case.
Based on the recent activity, the Spin & Go tab has been removed from the main lobby of the test client and is likely awaiting approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).
Spins are likely to be added in Pennsylvania later with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $25. PokerStars NJ currently offers Spin & Gos with six different buy-ins ranging from $1 to $25.
PA to Have Bigger Guaranteed Tournaments than New Jersey
As reported in our last PokerStars PA preview article, the weekly tournament schedule will closely follow the branded tournaments seen in New Jersey but with some slight but significant differences.
A wide variety of MTT formats are expected to be available including Progressive Knockouts (PKO), time tournaments, turbos and hypers, and a couple of Pot Limit Omaha MTTs
Other highlights of the tentative PokerStars PA MTT schedule include:
- Bigger guarantees than those offered in New Jersey
- Dozens of daily MTTs with almost all of them promising guarantees ranging from $100 to $30,000
- Buy-ins ranging from $2 to $250
- Five Sunday Majors with guarantees totaling approximately $60,000
