Boston-based DraftKings has added a new and unique poker game to its iGaming offerings. Electric Poker is a proprietary digital card game that is available to Michigan residents only.
It’s Electric!
Amid little fanfare or publicity, DraftKings has launched Electric Poker in the Michigan market. It is the first proprietary online poker game to hit the market in nearly 10 years and will be part of the multi-state internet gaming agreement (MSIGA), which allows tournaments involving poker players from other U.S. jurisdictions where mobile poker is legal, including Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
The MSIGA was specifically designed to increase the number of players and the size of the prizes. However, those other four states will have to approve Electric Poker before it can assimilate to their markets and become a multi-state offering.
DraftKings’ unique online poker offering will join PokerStars, BetMGM Poker, and the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which are all currently operating in the Wolverine State. Michigan is one of the most fertile markets for iGaming, as it delivered the state’s fourth-highest revenue total of $191.4 million in July.
Electric Poker will be part of the DraftKings Michigan casino app, which means there will be no requirement for existing or future DK users to download a separate poker app. The convenient all-in-one feature is expected to be a boon to its poker business in Michigan. DraftKings has already reaped over $1 billion in iGaming revenue in the state, becoming the third such online casino platform provider to do so.
How to Play
Electric Poker is not for those who have the patience to play tight and strategic. An average game consists of just three players in a hyper-turbo Sit-N-Go peer-to-peer mini-tournament that lasts an average of only six minutes. There are currently four levels of buy-ins, including $1, $5, $10, and $25, all with a 7% house rake in a winner-take-all format most of the time.
Before each tournament, a random spin of the digital wheel determines the prize for that particular event. The minimum prize multiplier is 2x, which means for a $1 tournament the prize is $2, for a $5 tournament the prize is $10, and so on. This minimum multiplier occurs 47.78% of the time. The 3x multiplier occurs 35.9956% of the time, while a 4x multiplier occurs 11.1133% of the time. In all these scenarios, only the winner is paid.
However, 5x (4.60%) pays first and second, as does 10x (0.50%). But the big multipliers guarantee all entries get paid: 100x (0.01%): 70%, 25%, and 5% – 1000x (0.001%): 70%, 20%, 10% – 10,000x (0.0001%): 70%, 20%, 10%.
For the 2x–5x multiplier games, blinds start at 10/20 for two minutes and increase to 15/30 after two minutes, where it then goes to 20/40, which is the last blind level, until the game goes electric after six minutes, requiring all-in hands the rest of the way.
Electric mode doesn’t start as quickly for the higher levels: 10x (8 minutes), 100x (10 minutes), and 1000x-10,0000x (12 minutes).
A $25 game getting a rare 10,000x multiplier will pay $250,000, with the winner getting $175,000, 2nd place receiving $50,000, and 3rd place fetching $25,000.
Although the 10,000x multiplier is extremely rare, it is certain to generate plenty of interest.
