Last Friday May 28th the Aams informed by circular notice on its site it adjusted central system and communication protocol to let two new poker tournament variants. Licensees will be allowed to apply for starting from June 16th. Taking into account that both poker cash and tournament market falls in Italy since autumn 2011 and its volumes are at least halved since then, this initiative must be welcomed as a needed shot in the arm for the sector.
Poker tournament random prize is a Sit&Go variant with prize-pool randomly fixed just after last player registers and game starts up. RTP of each single Sit&Go will vary and sometime players could even compete for prize up to 1,000 time their buy-in. The mean value must be equal to the amount showed in the licensee’s site, which provisions impose at least equal to 80%. Winamax adopted that poker variant in France last July 2013 and the possibility of such huge prize attracted a large numbers of players to the game. Winamax Expresso, this is the name, is a three-handed hyper-turbo Sit&Go, buy-in from € 1 to € 10, random prize ranging from 2 to 1,000 times the buy-in. Licensees that are going to exploit this opportunity in Italy will probably adopt a similar framework. It seems jackpot-type element will be a draw for recreational players attracted by the possibility of a huge winning. But obviously huge or high prizes will happen only few times. Most of the times prizes will be low and RTP lower then usual.
Poker tournament multi-phase will emulate big live poker tournament events. That poker variant provides multiple subsequent stages over different days, attended by a number of participants progressively lowered because of players’ elimination. Lower stages will be divided in several sections, which may take place contemporarily or over several days. Player eliminated could buy-in again on further sections, subject to maximum total buy-in amount equal to € 250. Entry anyway is allowed only at the first stage. Duration of section will be pre-established for all stages apart the last one. That poker variant could let big winnings and will involve many participants. It could be an alternative to existing big multi-table tournament, like Pokerstars Sunday Special. But re-buy is expected to be frequent and consequently big events do not necessarily require huge liquidity. Furthermore many players, particularly recreational ones, will be happy not to be obliged to seat continuously at a poker table for twelve hours and more to reach the final table.
Poker online is a problem business now, after the great success of the early years, not only in Italy. Indications are that the game lost its appeal to recreational players, mostly because of the excessive number of regulars and because the use of poker tracking software by regulars make winning almost impossible to them. Operators must make the eco-system better balanced and should invest in innovative product concepts like the above-mentioned ones, able to attract again recreational player. Poker remains a beautiful skill game and still holds the potential for a reversal of current trend.
