This new format is a hybrid of timed MTTs and Rush Poker aimed at players short on time.

Another experimental format aimed at recreational players is currently being tested at PokerStars. After launching Bubble Rush and Win the Button MTTs, certain markets are now trialling Beat The Clock tournaments.

They are currently MTT SNGs with $1 and $3 buy-ins. They are just five minutes long with a very fast structure and begin when 48 players register. Quite simply when the event ends everyone who has survived will win a prize based on their chip stack, so there is an element of chip accumulation and also survival at play here. Prizes could be less than the original buy-in or much larger than a traditional MTT payout.

Players start with 5,000 chips with blinds at 200/400/80 with blind increases every minute.

Play is four handed and the seating changes every hand like in Rush Poker. It also has clock animations throughout which are presented similarly to what we are used to in Spin & Go.

As yet there has not been an official rollout to all markets but you can see for yourself in the PokerStars lobby if you can play, as Beat the Clock has its own tab next to Knockout Poker in the main client. You can currently see it in Russia and the UK, among others.

The four handed Beat The Clock table

Have you played this format yet? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments: