888poker launched its new game, Flopomania, on Sunday, three weeks after accidentally activating the Flopomania tables early (and that was the second time 888poker jumped the gun). The game is official now, though, and it seems that so far, players have been eager to try it out.
A Flopomania game plays just like a regular poker game most of the time with one significant exception: there is no pre-flop betting. Instead, the hole cards and flop are dealt right away and betting starts with the flop. From there, everything proceeds as normal.
There are no blinds, either. Everyone antes up at the beginning of the hand. The player to the left of the dealer is first to act and is called, appropriately, the “First to Act Player,” since there is no small blind or big blind.
Flopomania is clearly designed to create action, which could both keep players engaged and generate more rake for 888poker. In a normal Hold’em game (Flopomania games are Texas Hold’em), most players fold pre-flop. When everyone sees the flop, though, several people could hit a piece of it and decide to continue to the turn, growing the pot. You can see where this is going.
There is also a version of Flopomania called “Push or Fold.” In this game, there is a set “push” amount that players are allowed to bet once and only once. I haven’t played the game, but I would assume this isn’t an actual “all-in” amount (unless a player has very few chips), but rather some figure that is high enough to make betting a real decision, but small enough so that this isn’t just an all-in fest. If a bet has been made, the player whose turn it is to act must either call that “push” amount or fold. If no bet has been made, the player who turn it is to act must bet that “push” amount or check. When a player has bet, that’s it – he or she can no longer act and must wait until showdown to see what happens.
According to a blog post on 888poker’s website, Flopomania did very well on its opening day. 50 percent more players tried Flopomania on Sunday than did those who tried BLAST poker, one of 888’s more recent new games. There was also an 11 percent jump in the number of active players on Sunday compared to “the average in recent Sundays.”
“Flopomania also set the all-time record for the number of flops seen in cash games in a single day, not surprising given the nature of the game,” wrote 888poker’s Chad Holloway. “Furthermore, the average number of hands in an hour was 15% higher when compared to other 6-max tables.”
In another “best,” Sunday, April 20th, saw 888poker enjoy the most simultaneous cash game tables this year.
