This week has witnessed the concept of Rush Poker brought to life on Full Tilt Poker. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, Rush Poker cash game tables allow you to take to the virtual felts in a mass player pool. Every time you fold or otherwise end action in a hand, you’re whisked away to a new table where a new hand will begin instantly. The main appeal among PocketFives.com members appears to be the massive number of hands that players are able to muscle through in one sitting at a Rush Poker table. PocketFives.com sat down with Full Tilt Red Pro Aaron GambleAB Bartley to get his experienced take.

PocketFives.com: Thanks for joining us. What were your first impressions of Rush Poker?
Aaron Bartley: I thought it was great. I could play four tables and get in as many hands as if I were playing 12 normal tables. It's definitely quick and you basically always have an action, even if it's just hitting “Quick Fold,” but it's the same speed as a Turbo table, so you're never pressed for time and subject to misclicks.

PocketFives.com: Will Rush Poker tables fundamentally change the need to multi-table due to the large number of hands played?

Aaron Bartley: I think it's just a different type of game. I mean right now at a random Rush table, you have almost twice as many entries as players, so a bunch of people are multi-tabling the rush tables. It's just an easier way to get in more hands.

PocketFives.com: What’s the ideal strategy for a Rush table?

Aaron Bartley: Honestly, I'm not really sure because I've only played an hour of it and haven't gotten a chance to speak to some of my more experienced cash game player friends, but I just stayed pretty tight like I normally am and had a solid win rate. Some of that may have been due to the fact that it's fairly lower limits ($100nl) and obviously the fact that I'm a Red Pro makes people play at me a little harder, but I think in general a tight strategy is probably going to work out pretty well.

I think what people need to realize is that it's still the same game. It's still No Limit Hold’em and the fish who play the games are going to play these the same as they would a normal table - limping a lot, cold calling raises in bad position, etc. The strategy to best beat them in "normal" games is still going to be the best strategy to beat them in Rush games since the basic framework of the game hasn't changed.

PocketFives.com: Some players have reported problems with their Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) not being able to function properly due to the quick action. What did you experience?

Aaron Bartley: I don't see why it wouldn't be able to keep up. I had my PokerTracker running during the session and it imported all of my hands as quickly as it normally would. You are always at a different table, but you are still playing in the same queue of people, so over time you are still going to have a database of hands on the players at your table just like you normally would. In fact, I would say that you could make a case that HUDs are more important in this form of poker because you won't be able to say from memory, "Oh, this guy on my left was on my right 40 minutes ago and he was pretty loose.” You just won't be able to remember stuff like that, but an HUD will always be able to remind you of how people play.

PocketFives.com: Do you see the current popularity of Rush Poker tables on Full Tilt being sustained over time?

Aaron Bartley: As a player, I don't really care about what I personally like or dislike. The end goal for me is what the fish like. If the game stays well populated with bad players, then it'll be sustainable. If they go away, then obviously the regulars will go away as well. I think it's fun and can probably play it for as long as I can play a session of mass multi-tabling regular games. I can see where players would find it fun because it's so fast and obviously it's pretty new right now, so there’s a good chance that people will start playing them and stick around because they like it more than regular speed tables.

PocketFives.com: One PocketFives.com member noted, “This is possibly one of the smartest, most innovative business ideas I've seen from FTP. They're essentially going to turn a [lot] of recreational cash game fish, who normally only one-table, into multi-tablers.” Is that accurate?

Aaron Bartley: You move tables super fast, so if you stick your money in behind and get there, you never have to get berated or feel bad because you are instantly at a new table where nobody knows what just happened, so it's likely that the fish will stay around more just in that session. That is good for the regulars because it means that the fish are more likely to stay until they are broke instead of at a regular table where they might get yelled at or feel awkward and leave, taking money off the table with them.

You've got the guy who gets home from work and can play for an hour or two before he has to put his kids to bed. Before, he would have to find a table, get on the waiting list, be aware of the popup to take his seat, sit down, wait for the big blind, be aware to post it when it pops up, and then start playing hands. He is only going to get in maybe 100 hands before he has to go. Now, he can go to a rush table, sit down instantly, play instantly, and get in 400 to 800 hands before he has to go in the same amount of time. It's great.

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