The online poker world tends to be divided into two factions: tournament players and cash game players. Loads of players overlap and each faction is divided into different groups, but to keep it simple, those are the two sides. Tournament and cash. One thing tournament players have enjoyed for years is various promotions that offer tournament leaderboards. These leaderboards offer prizes and a further sense of competition for people who are already working their way toward some promotional or contest goal. There are even tournament leaderboards for every day play on some sites. Cash game players are often left out (though not always – there are cash game promos, too). This week, partypoker has brought cash game players in from the cold with the launch of its new Cash Game Leaderboards.
Two leaderboards, four tiers each
There are two leaderboards: Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. Both are mostly the same. All cash game formats except for heads-up count towards the standings. That means fastforward games are eligible, as are Short Deck games.
What’s nice about the Cash Game Leaderboards is that they are further divided into four tiers so that people of all bankrolls can have a chance to win something. The tiers are Micro ($1 to $10 buy-in), Low ($25 to $50), Medium ($50 to $100), and High ($250 to $1,000).
Upon first glance, the difference between Low and Medium may be confusing, as both include $50 buy-ins. Looking at the tables on partypoker’s website, it looks like the Low $50 buy-in is the $0.25/$0.50 blind level in Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha games and $0.10/$0.25 antes in Short Deck games. The Medium version is $0.50/$0.50 blinds in regular games and $0.25/$0.50 antes in Short Deck games.
Players earn Cash Game Leaderboard points simply by playing poker. One leaderboard point is earned for every cashback point earned in cash games.
Fabulous prizes!
Depending on the tier, the leaderboards pay up to 250 places and up to $2,000. The Micro and Low leaderboards pay to 250 places, Medium pays to 80, and High pays to just 20. Naturally, the High leaderboard has the top prize of $2,000. For comparison, the top prize on the Micro board is $200.
Prizes on both the Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha leaderboards appear to be the same.
One of the great things about having different buy-in tiers is that low-stakes players (like me!) can actually compete for something. Normally, there is no way they would be able to stay with high stakes players, as high rollers generate more rake. But what about the ultra high rollers?
Partypoker has excluded Diamond Club and Diamond Club Elite members from the four-tiered leaderboard. These players play so much and usually for high stakes that they would crush everybody. They are already getting rewarded handsomely for their play. These players actually have their own Cash Game Leaderboards. The top 15 points earners on both the Hold’em and Omaha Diamond Club/Diamond Club Elite leaderboards will win from $500 to $4,000.
Leaderboard point tallies run Monday through Sunday.
