The strategy of the game in beat the clock. Beat The Clock Tournaments at PokerStars. Your commander is yourself
The new poker format at PokerStars is interesting and fast, but it also requires a special strategy that is not typical for other tournaments.
We are talking about "Starz" hyper-turbo "Beat the Clock": 4-max Zoom Sit & Go tournaments.
The very idea of these tournaments ignores the basic rules of poker, giving players only 5 minutes of time and distributing prize money in proportion to the size of their stacks (if they made it to the finish line, of course).
Probably, "Beat the Clock" is the fastest version of the poker tournament that currently exists in online poker e.
So is it possible not only to survive in this "action", but also to play in the plus at a long distance?
It is debatable (especially considering the 10% rake), but it is possible, because the “fields” in it are rather weak. In fact, this is a chance for "real ludomaniacs" who do not care about variance.
However, this is not just a "game of chance", following the rules below, you can significantly increase your "win rate" in these tournaments.
Standard Structure - $1 Beat the Clock
Before moving on to the theory, let's turn to the facts:
Format: Zoom Poker No-Limit Hold'em Hyper-Turbo Sit & Go
Buy-in:$1 ($.90 + $.10 rake)
Players: 48
Starting stack: 5,000 (12.5BB)
Blinds: 200/400, ante 80
The blinds increase every minute, below is their structure:
Level 1 - 200/400, ante 80
Level 2 - 250/500, ante 100
Level 3 - 300/600, ante 120
Level 4 - 400/800, ante 160
Level 5 - 500/1000, ante 200
1) If you haven't figured it out yet, this is - push/fold game. You shouldn't call often, and you shouldn't see the flop very often.
2) Your chips cost the same as in the cash game. A starting stack of 5,000 chips is 90 cents. If you have 10,000 chips, their price is $1.80. Remember this.
3) There is nothing to wait. If you are a tight player, then you will constantly lose in Beat the Clock. With a starting stack of 12.5BB and blinds growing every minute, it means only one thing - you have to bet!
4) Remember this game extremely dispersive(variable). You can easily lose 10 tournaments in a row, but also recapture everything in the next one by knocking out a couple of large stacks.
Make money!
5) More hands - revelry for ante. Difficult but important point- find the optimal speed of the game. It's possible to blow your entire stack into the ante and blinds if you quickly fold all your hands in anticipation of the "one". Just surviving is not enough.
6) Due to such a high speed of play, Beat the Clock tournaments are great place to earn VPP points. Most importantly, don't blow your bankroll.
7) you know push/fold game theory? Study it. Love her.
8) Initiative comes first. From the UTG or the button, you need to "push". B be the aggressor.
9) Keep track of time. Timer on the bottom right. When 1 minute is left, you will only be able to play one or two hands.
10) It is practically bubble game. In general, your task is to squeeze players out of the pot who want to sit out (limp) to the money. By the way, if you yourself decide to live to the money with a stack less than the starting one, then remember that this way you are already LOSSING money.
11) One good hand can bring you money. Let's just say that if you doubled in the first hand, then your stack is 10,000 chips, which are already worth almost $2 (that's 2 buy-ins).
12) Sometimes you will bust in the first hand. And that's okay. Departed - forgot. We play on.
"Water" like Isildur1.
13) Most strategies for Zoom poker also work in "Beat the Clock". However, it is difficult to keep "notes" (records) on players, as they change too quickly.
14) Pray for weak players. If there are 3 limpers in your hand, then you should "push in", practically, with any cards. It is not difficult to guess that such cases are extremely beneficial.
15) The main thing is to take chips from the enemy rather than thinking about a place in the tournament. It doesn't matter. You will receive prize money for your chips, not finishing position, whether you are first, second or third.
To enter these tournaments you simply need to have a PokerStars account, which is best done through the PokerStrars review page, which will entitle you to our exclusive $600 bonus as well as access to special freerolls and promotions.
Required skills for a grinder
After reading and applying the material, which touched on a lot, it was not told about what qualities, in addition, a person who decided to make money playing online poker should have. They play mostly low and medium stakes, not particularly encroaching on high stakes, where sharks live. Grinders are semi-professional players who play solely to make money.
The grinder mainly tries to play with stray "fish" who have not climbed to their level or are just mastering it. The grinder does not have the task of somehow improving his existing game that makes a profit. His goal is to rob new players to the bone. He does not set the task to raise the limits to the very top and join the ranks of sharks.
What is needed for this
In online poker, there are players who play a huge number of hands per year, exceeding the mark of more than a million. Now look at your statistics for the month and you will be surprised. You play a lot, but with such a game you will not come close to half a million in a year? Is not it?
Grinders can be associated with professional bodybuilders. For example, with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Which is a six-time owner of the title "Mr. Olympia". To achieve this, Arnold worked out a huge number of hours a day to achieve such a result, repeating almost the same exercises. So in poker, if your goal is to become a grinder, you need to play and play for many hours every day. From time to time without a break, if suddenly the card began to enter you incredibly.
If you want to become one and conquer the peak that you have outlined, you need to understand how to get there. And put in the effort every day. In simple and accessible terms, grinding is a skill that will develop in those who are ready to work hard. Yes, it is to work hard, there is no other way to call it. Arnold also worked hard to achieve better muscles, many still look up to him, although he became Mr. Olympia a very long time ago. It will not be about him and not about sports, but we will resort to comparison, for understanding.
You are ready?
And now we need to get an answer in order to move on. Think for a minute and answer the question “Am I ready to work hard to achieve my goal?” and don't rush to answer. You are not on the exam and no one will give you grades. You must be honest with yourself, weigh everything. And when you answer yourself that you are ready for this, then the following is for you. And remember grinders, just like champions are not born - they are made.
The following skills should be in your possession, if they are missing, they must be developed in yourself in order to move to your top.
Endurance
Did the title surprise you? Do not be surprised, the grinder is like a marathon runner, your endurance should be at an incredible level. And in our case there are two of them: mental and physical endurance.
Mental endurance must be constantly in good shape, and it must also be ready for a long distance. A good example would be if an ordinary average person is asked to run a distance like at the 50 km Olympiad for men, a normal person without special physical training will run from 2 to 5 km and leave the race. So in poker, once you decide to grind, you have to be ready to "run" your 50K. And if you are not ready, you will also fall out of the race.
And given that you only want to become a grinder, you need to prepare your mental capacity for these marathons. Everything here is much simpler than it seems. How to become a marathon runner? It is necessary to gradually increase the distance run over and over again. If you have easily mastered 5 km, try to run one more and again, increasing over and over again, you will eventually master your 50 km.
In our case, the same. If your standard gaming session lasts, say, two hours, and you play them freely, add 15-20 minutes to it next time. And by increasing the playing time, you will gradually come to the fact that for you many hours of sessions will become like eight hours of work. By working on this, you will increase brain activity and endurance for a long time.
Be true to your cause
Play for many hours a day and do not love it, then the collapse is not far off. You need to be committed to your cause no matter what happens today. You can tilt all day, your focus is off, your aces are out again, and you start to hate poker. All this is inevitable no matter what you do.
Take the same Arnold Schwarzenegger, he had injuries and was tormented by pain from various sprains. But he started and continued to do what he loves. So you should, there will be days when everything will turn out not in your favor and thoughts will appear that will start talking about quitting it all. It is necessary to discard all such thoughts and move forward and forward every day. Staying true to your cause and getting closer to your cherished dream.
No dream anywhere
A dream is what should motivate you every day. Arnold had a dream, he achieved it. But he achieved it, working hard every day, motivating himself with this very dream.
Do you have a dream? If yes, then think about it and play like no one else, imagine that this is the last day you play poker, and poker is canceled tomorrow. Play your best game, give it your all and don't skimp. You are playing for yourself, for the realization of your dream, so move towards it.
Rest is a powerful weapon!
Did you know that muscles do not grow when you work out in the gym, pulling dumbbells and barbells, they grow when you rest. And in order for you to be in good shape all the time, you should not ignore the rest.
Your brain needs neurons, and they renew and increase in number only with rest. Because your body understands that today it lacked a few neurons and the next day it will add a little more than it was. And so time after time, after a difficult session, you need to have a good rest and it will be useful, in addition to everything, to take vitamin complexes to maintain the immune system.
Turning on the autopilot
When playing poker, we fold all the time, waiting for a decent hand to play. Accordingly, the bulk of our actions are associated with pressing the fold button. And some hands will need to be played on autopilot. you will constantly collide with similar draws and you will know how to be in this or that situation.
Your brain will only think about 3-5% of hands out of a million, so grinders play multiple tables. Playing at one table is boring and unproductive. Your attention should be drawn to difficult hands and hands with which you are ready to play your entire stack.
Your commander is yourself
Considering that the grinder is a person, not a robot, due to the long tilt it is more and more difficult to start the game, you are overcome by a certain fatigue that is already sick of poker. But you embarked on this path when you answered the question that was above. Quitting any business that has been started is as easy as shelling pears, but to bring it to the end is not within the power of everyone, be the one who will bring it to the end.
Force yourself! Command over your mind. Overcome all the difficulties that you will face and only then you will become a grinder. Remember that if you get distracted by tilt, loss of motivation, and other such moments, you will be wasting the extra mental energy that you so badly need.
These are not tricky qualities that a grinder should have, and if you have not changed your mind yet, then you should start developing them in yourself and stand at your own distance, the length of which you will set yourself.
Knows how to entertain his players! This time, the world's most popular poker site offers another exciting tournament format - Beat The Clock. Fast-paced five-minute tournaments with a daily prize pool $10,000 and total fund $200,000 will be held until December 4th.
The first such games were launched for Russia and assumed a $1 buy-in, which has now increased to $3, having spread to the UK and US domains.
Quick Tournaments
Beat The Clock Tournaments are only 5 minutes long. As soon as the number of registered players reaches 48, the stopwatch will begin a five-minute countdown, accompanied by exciting sound effects.
Each player will receive a starting stack of 5,000 chips, with a starting blind level of 200/400 and an ante of 80. The blinds will increase by the minute and will reach 500/1,000 in the final with a 200 ante. Players who survive 5 minutes will split the prize pool.
There is no word on whether these tournaments will be available in Zoom Poker format at 4-max tables.
Challenges and prize pool
Beat The Clock tournaments will run every day until December 4th, and what's more, whoever plays three of them will receive a free All-in Shootout ticket the next day with a tempting $10,000 prize pool.
Just open the Challenges tab and select the Beat The Clock option. By registering, you automatically get a seat in the All-in Shootout with a prize pool of $10K.
Presence in the All-in Shootout tournament is not required. Each player automatically goes all-in until a winner is determined.
Online poker sites are constantly trying to innovate, creating new variations and game formats to attract players. PokerStars, due to its position as the world's largest online poker room and powerhouse of the internet poker industry, has added many new formats over the past few years (not necessarily their own original creations, mind you), most notably Zoom Poker, Spin&Go and Power Up (currently in alpha testing).
However, despite the fact that many games have gained their fans, PokerStars recently announced that they will be removing Beat the Clock tournaments.
“There will be changes to the poker client, the main of which will include the removal of Beat The Clock. The decision to remove this format of Sit & Go tournaments is dictated by the need to free up space for games that need to attract the attention of players. This decision is also driven by the obligation to meet the growing demands of users, which inevitably change over time. This type of game will be removed today,” a PokerStars spokesperson said.
On the this moment, does not offer Beat the Clock tournaments. The Beat The Clock tournaments were introduced last November, so the game didn't even make it past its one-year anniversary.
Beat the Clock Format
Beat the Clock tournaments functioned quite simply, although very different from a traditional tournament. The games consisted of Zoom Sit&Go for 48 players, respectively, after the registration of 48 players, the tournament began. And, of course, since these were Zoom tournaments, the players moved to a new table after the fold. The important difference was that the tournament ended in five minutes.
Each player remaining in the tournament received a portion of the prize pool in proportion to the number of chips in the stack. The formula for determining the payout is that the player's chips are divided by the total number of chips in the game and multiplied by the amount of the prize pool. Thus, if there were 144,000 chips in the game with a prize pool of $480, the player with 25,000 chips would receive $83.
The aim of Beat the Clock is likely to ensure players have a fast, fixed-length tournament and make it easier to plan game time. At the same time, this format encouraged a lot of crazy action, where players took risks in order to increase their stacks in a limited time, and get more prize pool. In the event that a player acted too cautiously and ended up with a stack less than the starting one, he would win less than the buy-in value and, therefore, lose money. It's certainly better than not winning any money at all, but Beat the Clock didn't offer an opportunity to play it safe and stay in the black.
The PokerStars spokesperson's statement is a little vague, but apparently the decision to remove the melon format was due to the fact that Beat the Clock is not very popular.
Introduced a new, fast-paced game called beat the Clock, kind of a hybrid of cash games and tournaments that like Spin-n-Gos and Zoom Poker presents a unique format only possible online.
Having experimented some with the format, I thought I"d share a few initial impressions regarding these "Beat the Clock" games with an eye towards suggesting how best to approach them strategically.
Beat the Clock: Not Simply a Timed Cash Game
"Beat the Clock" games each last five minutes with one-minute levels, at the end of which the surviving players" winnings are directly proportionate to the amount of chips they have when time runs out. In other words, the payouts resemble what happens at the end of a cash game, with chips being directly converted to cash, unlike in tournaments.
Make no mistake, though - these new "Beat the Clock" games are not simply timed cash games. The rapidly-increasing blinds and antes and relatively shallow stacks definitely make game play more like a tournament or sit-n-go than a cash game. in a way, the game s manage to pack all three "stages" of a multi-table tournament into a short five-minute span - early, middle, and late.
"Beat the Clock" is the latest new offering on PokerStars
The first minute - which generally means just a few hands - does permit some postflop poker as in the deep-stacked early levels of MTTs, although many players won't try to get too fancy given the starting stacks are only 12.5 big blinds.
The next three minutes do play a little like the "middle stage" of a tournament, albeit one in which there is a preponderance of short-stacked players looking for spots to double up and improve their chances of cashing.
Then the final minute might be thought of as "late stage" tournament poker, though not a final table. Here you"ll find many big and medium stacks playing as though they are jockeying for position at a final table (which in this case never arrives), while short stacks try desperately either to hang on or get that one last double to give themselves more than just a couple of blinds.
That said, this is really more of an impression than genuine strategic advice. Your understanding of the different stages of MTTs and the appropriate strategy for each will help you when playing "Beat the Clock" games on PokerStars, but truthfully you"ll be better off focusing on...
- short-stacked strategy
- short-handed strategy
- "Zoom" (or "fast-fold") strategy
- chip accumulations (and not merely surviving)
Beat the Clock: Short-Stacked Strategy
Players of turbo and hyper-turbo SNGs as well as PokerStars" Spin-n-Go games should find the Beat the Clock format familiar. Players start with 5,000 chips, with the blinds and antes increasing as follows:
| Level | Blinds | Ante |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200/400 | 80 |
| 2 | 250/500 | 100 |
| 3 | 300/600 | 120 |
| 4 | 400/800 | 160 |
| 5 | 500/1,000 | 200 |
As noted above, you might see some small preflop raises and postflop poker during the first level. Sometimes during the fifth level a couple of big stacks with 20-plus big blinds may also "play poker" rather than go for a preflop all-in against each other. For the most part, though, you"re going to want to adopt a "push-or-fold" approach, which means understanding starting hand values.
That means often being ready to open-shove with all pocket pairs, all hands, all hands containing two Broadway cards (ace through ten), -suited or better, -suited or better, and even -suited and -suited if on the short side
You can call all in with most of these hands, too, although obviously it"s always preferable to be the one pushing all in and thus having fold equity rather than calling off your stack.
Speaking of getting folds with your preflop pushes, picking up the blinds and antes in a later level is significant in these "Beat the Clock" tournaments. In Level 5 (for instance), if you push from the cutoff or button and get folds, you win 2,300 chips or nearly half a starting stack - that translates to just over 40% of your buy-in when it comes time to cash out!
Beat the Clock: Short Handed Strategy
"Beat the Clock" games are played four-handed, which means half the time you"re in the blinds (small or big) and the other half you"re not (in the cutoff or on the button).
"Beat the Clock" games are currently available at buy-ins of $1, $3, and $5 The shallow stacks and hyper-turbo format should have already encouraged you to loosen up your starting hand requirements, so the fact that you"re playing short-handed only makes it even more likely your pocket pair or hand is going to be the best among the four preflops.
Typically you should defend your blinds more often in short-handed tournaments, both because people are trying to steal more liberally and since you"re in the blinds a lot more often you"ll get hurt a lot if you don"t defend.
That applies here, too, although letting go of poor starting hands from the small blind with a "fast fold" is frequently going to be better than mixing it up. Don't always automatically give up your big blind, though, if you've got something worth calling or three-betting with, since smart players in the cutoff or on the button are looking to steal.
Beat the Clock: "Zoom" or "Fast-Fold" Strategy
The games are currently being offered at $1, $3, and $5 buy-ins (which means prize pools of $43.20, $129.60, and $216, respectively). You can also try out a play money "Beat the Clock" game for 10,000 play chips. They run like sit-n-gos, meaning once 48 players sign up the game goes off (you don't have to wait very long).
The tournament is then played according to the "Zoom" or "fast-fold" format, meaning that after each hand players are reseated, and the "fast fold" option is always available to you if you aren't in the big blind and no one has raised yet.
Those familiar with "fast-fold" cash game strategy know of certain tendencies, including the way many players go ahead and choose that "fast fold" option whenever they are dealt poor starting hands, which tends to make blind steals more profitable.
While you"ll often encounter a lot of tight play in "fast-fold" cash games as players fold hand after hand waiting for something good, that isn't happening so much in these "Beat the Clock" games where the blind/ante increases make it impossible for players to be too choosy.
Be aware, though, that players do opt out of hands quickly, which means even min-raising from the cutoff or button will frequently earn you pots without resistance. I also think it is advantageous to "fast fold" yourself, especially during the first few levels as you want to play as many hands as you can as you try to accumulate chips.
The "Zoom" format also means it probably isn't worth spending too much time profiling opponents, although it can get interesting towards the end when you start seeing the same players popping up as the last few tables are being redrawn and reshuffled. I" ve yet to play a game where a "read" I gained on a player in an earlier hand became relevant in a later one, but don"t let that stop you from paying attention to opponents" styles if it helps.
Beat the Clock: Focus On Chip Accumulation, Not Survival
In the recent "10 Multi-Table Tournament Tips" series here on PokerNews there was an article devoted to " " that discussed how players should concentrate on both in MTTs.
In "Beat the Clock" tournaments, you can mostly forget about just trying to survive - it's all about chip accumulations. It doesn't matter if you are the chip leader or 19th of 19 left, your focus should be on getting more chips.
Most of the time around a third of the field of 48 players is still standing after five minutes - usually somewhere between 16-20 players, give or take a few.
Don't worry so much about your place on the leaderboard -- keep accumulating! In a regular tournament, min-cashers get back more than their buy-ins (e.g., 1.5x or 2x the entry fee). In "Beat the Clock" games, those barely "making the money" tend to lose money, getting back less than the $1, $3, or $5 they put in. I"ve seen it happen often that the last two, three, or four cashers end with less than the starting stack, and thus get back less than what they paid to play.
That should tell you that just trying to squeak into the money is a losing strategy in these games. If you are at or below the starting stack during the fifth minute/level, you should not be thinking about "folding into the money." I"ve even seen players "cashing" $1 games for less than a dime!
Meanwhile if you"re a big stack, you also shouldn't be too satisfied at the end to preserve a "chip lead" or your place in the top five. Sure, it looks nice to see your username up high on the list, but in a game where the payouts are solely tied to your chip stack and not made according to a preset schedule (as in MTTs), it's silly to fold through the last level in order not to fall a few positions on the leaderboard.
If you are among the big stacks late, ramp up your aggression and challenge medium-to-short stacks constantly. Think of yourself as being one of those bubble maniacs taking advantage of the general tightness as you gleefully accumulate blinds and antes.
The client shows your position in the upper-right hand corner, but I wouldn't suggest being too focused on the fact that you're "2nd of 23" (or whatever). Rather, when a new table comes up, immediately look around the table at the other three players" stacks and decide who to target (those shorter than you) and who to be careful with (those with bigger stacks).
I"m seeing first-place finishers in these games typically ending with 5-7x their starting stacks, which minus the rake means winning 5-7x their buy-ins.
Final Thoughts
There"s certainly a novelty element here, and while the 10% rake andor the necessarily high variance of "Beat the Clock" games may be enough to dissuade some, I"ve found the entertainment value of these games to be surprisingly high. In fact, although my sample size is still small, so far I "d say I" ve enjoyed these games more than Spin-n-Gos and regular Zoom cash games.
In any case, the games do reward skill. Players who focus on adopting winning strategies in these "Beat the Clock" games are going to have an edge over those who fail to appreciate how the structure and differing payouts affect your bottom line.
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