WHAT ARE SPIN AND GO POKER GAMES?

PokerStars Spin and Go poker tournaments are fast-paced three-player games. In the hyper-turbo format, each player starts with 500 chips, while in the ultra-turbo Flash format, players begin with only 300 chips.

The action kicks off as soon as three players sign up and the prize pool is set through a random draw right before play begins.

Here’s the key: unlike the usual poker tournaments where the prize depends on entries and buy-ins, Spin and Go tournaments use a random prize pool method. This format can multiply your buy-in by up to 12,000 times (or 240,000 times on a $5 buy-in), although such high multipliers are rare. This means you can win $100,000 with a single $10 buy-in, competing against only two other players.

PokerStars Spin and Go lobby

Statistically, the chance of hitting a top-tier multiplier, like 12,000x your buy-in, is about 1 in 10,000,000 games. More commonly, multipliers range from 2x to 10x the buy-in, with these appearing in ~99.9% of the tournaments.

The appeal of these games is similar to that of slot machines due to the randomness and the possibility of a huge payout, attracting many casual players. For a skilled player, this is an opportunity. The influx of casual players substantially lowers the skill level of the field, increasing the likelihood of a seasoned player profiting.

The structure of the games also varies based on the multiplier. Higher multipliers result in longer blind levels, allowing more room for skillful play.

Multiplier	Blind levels (mins)
2x	2
3-5x	3
10-50x	4
100x+	5

The buy-ins range from $0.25 all the way up to $1000.

 

SPIN AND GO MULTIPLIERS AND ODDS

Multipliers determine the size of the prize pool in Spin and Go tournaments. They are drawn right after 3 players register and just before the tournament starts. They can range from 2x to 12,000x the buy-in, with higher multipliers resulting in larger prize pools.

However, there is no 12,000x multiplier in $5 Spin and Gos. Instead, they have a 240,000x multiplier with a top jackpot of $1,000,000.

The likelihood of hitting each multiplier level varies and the higher the multiplier, the rarer the likelihood of occurrence. The multiplier frequencies shift a little depending on the rake percentage. You can check out PokerStars’s list of multipliers on all stakes.

Here’s a breakdown of multipliers and their odds for a $10 Spin and Go tournament:

Spin and Go Multiplier	Spin and Go Odds	Occurrence in 1M games
2x	47.72% chance	477,250 in 1 million games
3x	39.69% chance	396,850 in 1 million games
4x	9% chance	90,000 in 1 million games
5x	2.5% chance	25,000 in 1 million games
10x	1% chance	10,000 in 1 million games
25x	0.075% chance	750 in 1 million games
50x	0.01% chance	100 in 1 million games
100x	0.005% chance	50 in 1 million games
12,000x	0.00001% chance	1 in 10 million games

SPIN AND GO PAYOUT STRUCTURE

Payout percentages in Spin and Go tournaments vary based on the multiplier level and players’ finishing positions.

If you enter a Spin and Go with a 2x multiplier and a $10 buy-in, the prize pool will be $20.

 

• Below 10x multipliers, the winner takes home 100% of the prize pool.
• On 10x multipliers, the winner gets 80% of the prize pool and the second 20%.
• On 25x, 50x, and 100x multipliers, the winner gets 80% of the prize pool, the second 12%, and the third 8%.

If you enter a Spin and Go with a 12,000x multiplier and a $10 buy-in, the prize pool will be a whopping $120,000. The winner receives $100,000, and the second and third players each receive $10,000. (1st : ~83.3% // 2nd: ~8.3% // 3rd: ~8.3%)

 

SPIN AND GO 1 MILLION $ JACKPOT

In Spin and Go tournaments, the jackpot feature adds an extra layer of excitement and the potential for massive payouts. With each Spin and Go tournament played, a portion of the buy-in contributes to the jackpot pool.

It would be fairly easy in this article to daydream about winning a million dollar jackpot and list the potential opportunities it would create for the lucky player. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be more than a daydream. At bitB Spins we believe in teaching our players how to reach a high monthly income with the proper Spin and Go strategy without ever relying on winning a jackpot.

Hoping to make a living off of Spin and Gos by winning a jackpot is like waiting to win the lottery to make more money. It’s possible but extremely unlikely.

As a regular player, you should think of the jackpot as a nice ‘bonus but never expect to win one. On average, the majority of your income should come from you beating the field and, as you climb the stakes, from rakeback.

The tiny possibility of hitting the jackpot encourages casual players, reducing the overall quality of the field, and making it easier for you to beat it.

While it’s important in the long run to play Spin and Go games with the right mindset, not expecting to hit the jackpot, it does happen on rare occasions. Take a look at the aftermath when one of bitB Spins’ players hit (and won) the million dollar jackpot:

Sejdeamiota talks about winning the million dollar jackpot

 

SPIN AND GO RAKE AND RAKEBACK

The rake starts at 8% at the lowest stake ($0.25) and decreases to 5% when you reach the highest stakes ($100+).

Stake	Rake %
$0.25; $1; $2; $5	8%
$10	7%
$25; $50	6%
$100; $250; $500; $1000	5%

When it comes to Spin and Go rakeback, Pokerstars has a unique system. You earn 100 reward points for every $1 you’ve paid in rake.

Collecting the required amount of points will earn you a chest. Depending on your current level, these chests have different values, ranging from $3 to $1000. You’ll need to collect 5 chests on each level to advance to the next and earn a chest with a higher value.

Level	Reward points required	Chest Value	Rakeback %
Blue	2,000	$3	15%
Bronze	6,000	$10.5	17.5%
Silver	20,000	$40	20%
Gold	50,000	$125	25%
Diamond	120,000	$360	30%
Black	250,000	$1,000	40%

Let’s say, you play 1,500 Spin and Gos a month at the $2 stake. For every single Spin and Go you’ll pay 16 cents in rake. 1,500 games * 0.16 dollars = $240 rake in a month, earning you 24,000 reward points.

The first 10,000 reward points (2,000 points * 5 chests) will go toward earning ‘Blue’ chests ($3); the rest toward ‘Bronze’ ones ($10.5). Next month, you can keep grinding for ‘Bronze’ chests and eventually level up for ‘Silver’ chests. You just have to make sure to earn at least one chest in a rolling 28-day period, otherwise, you’ll be moved down a level.

PokerStars Reward Chests

Spin & Go rakeback is not capped at 40%, but you have to put in a lot more work to reach the higher levels. These are called PokerStars Select and PokerStars Select+.

For Select you’ll need to contribute the following:

• either $10,000 or more in rake in a rolling three-month period
• or $50,000 or more in rake in a rolling 12-month period

With Select you’ll get 50% rakeback and another 1-5% from leaderboards.

For Select+ you’ll need to contribute the following:

• either $20,000 or more in rake in a rolling three-month period
• or $100,000 or more in rake in a rolling 12-month period

With Select+ you’ll get 60% rakeback and another 1-5% from leaderboards.

 

SPIN AND GO FLASH FORMAT

The Spin and Go Flash Format is a turbocharged version of the already fast-paced Spin and Go tournaments. In Flash Format blind levels increase every minute and the starting stack is 300.

Pros:

• easier to play more games and earn higher rakeback
• slightly higher chance of hitting a jackpot

Cons:

• less room to outplay your opponent
• higher variance due to lower possible ROI

 

SPIN AND GO ROI

Based on our players’ results, we calculated the possible ROI of games up to $50s in both regular speed and Flash tournaments. Note: these results are an average, skewed toward the lower side of the possible ROI on each stake. There are players constantly achieving higher numbers.

Let’s see the ROI and realistic monthly income for regular Spin and Gos:

Limit	ROI (post-RB)	Realistic monthly income
2	5.3%	$211
5	5.3%	$528
10	4.2%	$832
25	3.3%	$1668
50	2.6%	$2573

And the same, but for Flash games:

Limit	ROI (post-RB)	Realistic monthly income
2	2.2%	$516
5	1.8%	$1082
10	1.8%	$2157
25	1.3%	$3779
50	0.8%	$4572

SPIN AND GO VARIANCE

Spin and Go tournaments have a special place in poker because they’re unpredictable and can have high swings. You might remember that when these games first came out, most players believed they couldn’t be beaten!

It’s normal to have streaks where you lose more than 300 buy-ins, even if you bring your A-game, especially in the ultra-turbo Flash games. To help players handle this, professional players and poker schools work together in two main ways:

 

• Backing services: Players don’t have to use their own bankroll to play. This way, if they have the skill and a good win rate, they can play at higher stakes without worrying about their bankroll.
• Spin and Go schools and pools: These are groups of professional players who share their results to balance out the ups and downs. Players get paid based on their expected value ($EV) instead of their actual winnings.

While there’s a common saying in poker that you can’t use your $EV to pay for real-life expenses, in the realm of Spin and Go games, this is a reality! bitB Spins provides a reassuring ‘EV protection’ to its members on PokerStars. This means you are compensated based on your $EV, independent of other players’ luck. We essentially shield you from the inherent variance, offering a secure path in your poker journey.

 

CONCLUSION

Pokerstars Spin and Go games have many unique features, making them highly profitable if you know how to play them. The possibility of hitting a jackpot will always attract casual players, providing a relatively good field, especially at lower stakes. At higher stakes, you need to be prepared to compete against other regular players, with rakeback becoming more significant than standard profit.

It’s by no means a simple game format, as the 3-handed and heads-up play require a completely different style and knowledge of ranges. Many have often predicted the decline of this game format, but the truth is that, for those who know what they’re doing, it remains a great supplementary income or even a primary source of income.

If you choose the normal speed game (Spin and Go), you can develop a greater edge over your opponents, as you will play more hands and encounter more post-flop situations in each game. However, due to the slower pace, you will be able to play fewer games in a month, resulting in lower rake and rakeback.

The faster format (Spin and Go Flash) offers a smaller possible edge but allows for a higher volume of games, thereby significantly increasing rakeback.