Today, Full Tilt Poker, the second largest site in the industry, unleashed Rush Poker. The online poker site describes its new creation as the “most intense poker action in the world” and PocketFives.com members have been buzzing about the addition in a lively thread in Poker Discussion. One PocketFives.com member called it “one of the smartest, most innovative business ideas I've seen from FTP.” So what the heck is Rush Poker and how have PocketFivers responded? Let’s find out.

A video tutorial posted on Full Tilt Poker’s website features Poker Edge host Phil Gordon walking players through the entertaining addition to the room. Gordon folds a junky J-8 offsuit in his first hand and is instantly whisked away to another table to play a new hand. There is virtually no wait time between pots other than the Full Tilt software changing screens. In his second hand, Gordon picks up J-7 under the gun, folds, and with some space-age sound effects, is taken to a brand new table. Gordon relayed the appeal of Rush Poker: “It’s quick, it’s fast-paced, and you’re always in action.”
When you buy into a Rush Poker game, you’ll randomly be seated at a table with other members of the player pool. You don’t even have to wait around for the hand to finish. As soon as your action is over, whenever that may be during the course of the hand, you’ll be bumped to a new table where a new hand will start. Players can also click a “Quick Fold” button, which will cause them to be taken to a new table immediately, folding their hand in the previous pot.

To get seated at a Rush Poker table, look for the words “Rush Poker” adjacent to “Ring Game,” “Tournament,” and “Sit and Go” in the Full Tilt Poker lobby. Full Tilt is currently seeing action in six- and nine-handed $0.05/$0.10, $0.10/$0.25, $0.25/$0.50, and $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold’em, with up to 2,000 players competing at Rush Poker games at each stake. Gordon sums up his sales pitch by saying, “You won’t find a more action-packed and exciting game anywhere.” Here's a look at the lobby at the time of writing:

The number of hands per hour in Rush Poker games, at the time of writing, ranged between 254 and 308, making for extremely face-paced action. The names of the tables relay the insanity that lies within; they include “Lightning,” “Warp Speed,” “Supercharger,” and “Afterburner.” The percent of players to the flop ranged between 18% and 28% as players anxiously sought new hands. When you move tables, you’ll be randomly assigned a new position, although you’ll always be located at the same spot on your screen.

On PocketFives.com, a lively thread entitled “FTP got a new fish attractor” popped up on Tuesday, with paz420explaining, “They call it Rush Poker. Hopefully some of the fish will come to the real games tho!” Whether the waters are predominantly populated with fish or action-junkies remains to be seen, but members of the online poker community have test-driven the new concoction in droves. PocketFiver Faded TV shared his two cents: “I'm trying it out just for kicks. Stealing seems extra profitable because a lot of the time the SB will have already quick folded. Also seems to be less people playing speculative hands, why play a suited connector when you can fold and pick up aces?”

Given the number of hands that players are able to see per hour, some PocketFives.com members have questioned whether the days of multi-tabling as we know it are over. Matthew m4tth3w1Hall pondered, “Does this put an end to the need to multi-table cash games? Or is it still worth multi-tabling? Seems like your hands per hour could go through the roof.” One online poker player who can handle 20 tables at a time regularly told PocketFives.com, “The ‘Quick Fold’ option can really let you motor through hands. I think it would be difficult to play more than a few of these tables.”

On Twitter, members of Team Full Tilt were pumping out their impressions of Rush Poker in efficient 140-character plugs. Site front man Howard Lederer explained, “Had fun giving Rush poker a try on FTP. 300 hands per hour at one table. Cool.” Fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch (pictured at right) chimed in, “Playing new Rush Poker on Full Tilt Poker. Online poker may never be the same!”

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