It was a long time coming but the players of PartyPoker finally get to enjoy some form of insurance on their bets. Through the feature that will be known as all-in cashouts poker players will play with confidence with the knowledge that their bets are not all about losing money. Although PartyPoker has just thought to introduce this feature into its gameplay, it is not a new concept; other poker providers have been offering it since 2019.
The concept of insurance in New Jersey online poker or any other gambling activity for that matter has for a long time been an issue with players and critics who argue that losing a game should not be synonymous to losing money. By jumping onto the insurance bandwagon, PartyPoker demonstrates commitment to this school of thought. Players will now have more confidence placing bets because they have the option to withdraw or insure the outcome.
Before it was confirmed that PartyPoker had indeed joined gambling companies that offer their players insurance on their bets, there had been murmurs about the spotting of asset images on the internet. It is now 4 weeks after the rumblings began and the operator has already broken the news that the company had launched an All-In Cashout feature on its betting platforms.
At the core of the design of this product is the intention of reducing the variance of post-flop all-ins. If a player uses this feature, it means that their hand has been insured against bad beats. This is a priviledge that PartyPoker has accorded all its players; hence it’s rolling out across Partypoker’s standard and FastForward cash game tables.
What we cover
PartyPoker adopts popular concept
The idea of having an all-in concept for poker insurance is not unique to PartyPoker. In 2019, GGPoker was reported to have offered it to its players. As a pioneer top-tier gambling operator, this move was at the time considered as an effort to give back to the community.
Under the system adopted by GGPoker at the time, players would choose how much of their stake they wanted to insure. They then went ahead to pay a premium on that select amount. The size was the premium was calculated based upon the amount insured and the chances a player had of winning the bet.
The second Betting provider to adopt a similar concept for cushioning their players against gambling loses was PokerStars in 2019. For this company, they did not have an insurance system that charges premiums on some or all bets. Instead, PokerStars players had the option of requesting an instant payout for their pending bets. By so doing, players could always get cash settlement when they developed a ‘bad’ feeling about a bet or needed the cash for something else.
With the new product that PartyPoker has introduced to the betting industry, bettors get to experience a new offering that leans more on what PokerStars offers in its instant payouts.
According to a press release provided recently by PokerStars, players that have an interest in the Omaha and Hold’em cash tables will be given two options once they decide to move on after flopping: cash out or continue.
How does the All-In Cashout system work?
For a player who chooses to carry on with a game without taking an instant payout, they will be allowed to retain 100% of the stake. This means that if they win at the showdown stage, they get to scoop the pot; the reverse also applies. For those players who utilize the chance for an All-in cashout, an instant payout is handed to them. The outcome of the showdown in such instances will be inconsequential to the player.
If it happens that a player grabs the All-in Cashout, and their opponent does not, it will still matter how the hand ends. This is because players that allow such chances to ride by stand a chance of winning the pot. As with all manner of insurance, party to which premiums are paid assumes loss in the event that a risk has occurred. The loss-bearer in this case is Party Casino.
Another way of looking at it is picturing PartyPoker as the financier who pays out betting rounds regardless of the outcome. Assuming that the player that uses the All-In Cashout feature wins a particular hand, they will lose the pot plus their bet and the win goes to PartyPoker. If the reverse is true and the insured faces a loss, PartyPoker steps in to cushion them, taking the hit instead.
Insurance is not cheap
While the idea that a player can place a bet without risk of losing their money is quite luxurious, it comes with a price. That price takes the form of payout that is calculated on the player’s chances of winning the round, minus a fee of 1%. An example to demonstrate this would be in the case of a player A who all-in after the flop having a 75% chance of winning and looking at $100 in the pot. If player A lets it ride, he gets to try for the $100 but he can also cash out to win 75% of the pot, minus 1% of the pot amount won.
According to a press release published by PartyPoker, the All-in Cashout feature is not supposed to override the existing feature, ‘run it twice.’ This means that players who turn down the opportunity to cash out are eligible for running the board twice, if they like.
Conclusion
Many gamblers place bets with the hope that they will win actual money that will turn their live around. This is not always the case and some players know this as early as the first few minutes of a game. Gambling insurance saves players’ bet money when they are not sure about a bet they placed or have noticed factors within a game that are working towards the flop of their bet.
