Is Full Tilt's "Rush Poker" Innovation the Next Big Thing?

Full Tilt poker introduced a new twist to online play they call Rush Poker and it vastly speeds up the number of hands one can play without having to multi table.

Here’s how it works. Each rush player is one member of a larger player pool who are randomly seated at tables. Cards are dealt normally, and each player has all of his usual options available along with a "quick fold" opportunity. While hands play out as they would at any poker game, once you’re out of a hand, you—together with other players who folded about the same time you did—are seated in a new game at a new table and a new hand begins. So it's not only the cards that are shuffled at Rush Poker, players are shuffled too.

Rush Poker eliminates downtime between hands, making it possible to play something like 300 hands per hour without the flip-flopping that accompanies multi-tabling.

But there’s more to it than that, once you begin to examine the strategic changes brought forth by this innovation. For one, it negates any data mining opponents may have done on you. If the player pool is big enough, you may play one hand with a given opponent but not see him again for some time. It all depends who folds and whether the timing is such that you are moved to a new table with that opponent, or a group of others.

According to Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch, "It's the difference between watching TV and watching TiVo. You get to skip the commercials.

"One of the big advantages of Rush Poker, according to Bloch, “is that you can't just observe and watch hand histories. People can't track or target you. You don't have to worry about particular players spotting a weakness in your game."

We’ll see how this innovation plays out over time. For now, it looks like a major change to the online poker offerings, and for those who are wary of playing against opponents who have them data mined, it’s a good chance to play invisibly—or close to it.