All-In Poker: A fast and exciting way to play cash games

January 14, 2025

Poker

by PokerStars Staff

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5 Minute Read

Life moves quickly, but there are always moments when we find ourselves with time to spare. While waiting for your train or food order, you might not have the opportunity to dive into a full cash game session or a tournament. However, that doesn’t mean you should miss out on the chance to enjoy a quick game of poker.

That’s why PokerStars has launched All-In Poker–a high-speed, straightforward, short-stack cash game experience for players seeking some quick action at the tables.

From today (Tuesday, January 14), you’ll find All-In Poker available on COM/EU, DE, EE, and RO licenses only (for now).

What is All-In Poker?

All-In Poker is a 6-max cash game where players only have two options: all-in or fold. 

No limping. No check-raising. You’re either in or you’re out.

Players start with a fixed buy-in of just 5 big blinds and pre-flop action is capped at 25 big blinds per player, guaranteeing thrills while ensuring things never get too out of hand.

This format ensures the games move quickly, allowing players to participate in more hands in a shorter amount of time. It’s perfect when you’ve got a few minutes to kill.

Why Play All-In Poker?

The main attractions of All-In Poker are its speed and simplicity. 

With smaller stack sizes and fewer decisions to make, players can experience a fast-paced game where every hand counts. This structure is ideal for those who enjoy an action-packed game without the need for deep strategic planning – making it accessible to new players.

That being said, All-In Poker is also a great training ground for anyone studying push/fold strategies. Getting short-stacked in poker tournaments is a challenge every player will face, so knowing when to go for it and when to lay it down is crucial. All-In Poker can help you hone these skills.

Available Stakes

All-In Poker offers a wide range of stakes to suit every bankroll, including:

• $0.05 / $0.10
• $0.25 / $0.50
• $0.50 / $1
• $1 / $2
• $2 / $5
• $5 / $10

This variety ensures that both recreational players and high-stakes enthusiasts can find a game that fits their preferences.

However, players should know that All-In Poker’s fast and short-stacked format means variance plays a larger role. The pre-flop cap is in place for a reason and you should only play at stakes comfortable for you.

All-In Poker Leaderboard Promotion: Jan 13 – Feb 9

To celebrate the launch of All-In Poker, a leaderboard promotion will run from January 13 to February 9, giving players a chance to win up to $10,000 in prizes each week. This promotion rewards regular players and adds an extra layer of excitement to the game.

And there’s a twist.

Unlike normal leaderboards, the All-In Poker leaderboards see points accrued by losing hands. This means they (unofficially) act as bad beat/cooler/run-bad leaderboards. 

Points are accrued on a rolling 25-hand basis where the strength of your losing hands within that run of hands will push you up the leaderboard.

So, even if you lose a few painful hands, at least there’s some consolation! Those beats might end up rewarding you…

Time to learn how to play a super short-stack

HOW TO PLAY ALL-IN POKER

In this video, PokerStars Ambassador Sebastian Huber introduces the basic gameplay of PokerStars’ brand-new game, All-in Poker.

Watch the video here.

WHAT IS PUSH/FOLD STRATEGY?

In All-In Poker, your only options are to go all-in (push) or lay your hand down (fold).

That’s not the case in regular cash games, tournaments or sit & gos. Short-stacked players can limp in, shove or raise to a non-all-in size if they choose to enter a pot.

Sometimes, however, your tournament stack gets so short that playing a push/fold strategy is optimal, especially for recreational players less experienced in post-flop play.

That’s why learning push/fold strategies is a great idea not only for All-In Poker (where it’s essential) but for tournament play too.

To learn what hands you should be shoving, you could seek out some pre-flop Chip EV charts. These will let you know which hands it’s optimal to shove when you don’t have many big blinds in tournaments, and you can then apply that to All-In Poker.

Here’s a rough sketch of what a 5-big-blind shoving range might look like:

• All pocket pairs
• All suited aces (e.g. A♠ 2♠ , A♥ 6♥ )
• All off-suit aces (e.g. A♣ 3♠ , A♦ 9♥ )
• Most suited kings (K♣ 5♣ +)
• Most off-suit kings (K♠ 9♥ +)
• All suited and off-suit broadway combos (e.g. Q♦ 10♣ , K♠ J♥ )

Learn more about push/fold strategies here.