In 2025 we reported on Poker Races, a new Sit & Go tournament format at ACR Poker that aimed to speed players through the early stages of a larger tourney for a faster shot at the prize money.
Now that idea has been expanded upon with the launch of Skip-It MTTs, available now in beta and at stakes of $1.05, $5.25 or $10.50.
As with the previous Poker Races format, Skip-It MTTs use AI to rapidly thin the field, removing 80% of entrants in minutes as part of the ‘race phase’ and leaving the remaining 20% to play it out in a more traditional tournament setting.
Once those who survive the race phase have been whittled down to 10% of the field, they advance to the weekly Day 2 — held each Sunday — where all players start in the money.
The format follows in the footsteps of innovations such as fast-fold poker and jackpot sit & go tourneys as a structural adjustment to speed up the game.
In a world where attention spans are on the decrease and the competition for consumers’ time has never been more fierce, ACR Poker’s latest new game is a bid to engage those without the time or patience to grind through a large tournament field but still want to play for meaningful prizes.
How it works
Starting flights for these two-day tournaments run multiple times a day throughout the week, with more available on days immediately leading up to Sunday’s Day 2.
Day 1: Race phase
Day 1s start with a race phase, where players are represented by AI Racers who play on their behalf. Aside from cosmetic differences, all Racers are identical in terms of their profiles and abilities, and it’s possible to back multiple Racers in the same tournament.
Players can watch their AI Racers rise and fall during the race phase, which takes under five minutes to complete.Throughout the race phase you can watch highlights of big hands your Racers play, and view their progress as they rise in chips or are knocked out of the tourney.
This race phase takes under five minutes to reduce the field to 20%, at which point players take over control to play down to 10%. Multiple Racers backed by the same player will see their stacks combined.
Day 1: Controlled phase
This more traditional tournament phase generally takes around an hour, as players take the reins and play down to 10% of the field.
The second stage of Day 1 tournaments hands control back to the players (if they want it).Players may enable the AI to continue playing on their behalf, although ACR Poker does not recommend this — the AI powering the decision-making is not designed to play to a high standard, for reasons that should be obvious: humans should have an advantage over those letting the AI do the work for them.
Day 2: In the money
Once the field reaches 10% play is paused and stacks are carried through to Day 2 on Sunday, with all remaining players in the money. Multiple starting flights can be played and stacks combined for Day 2, and players may also buy in directly to Day 2 for $26.25, though they will start at a chip disadvantage.
Add-ons are aso available for all players at the start of Day 2 tournaments, which generally take around four hours to play through to a winner.
Day 2 tournaments are held weekly, each Sunday.
The next big thing?
Many previous efforts to speed up the poker experience have been successful — fast-fold and jackpot sit & go formats are still widely available and popular today. The recent rise of mystery bounty tournaments is another indicator that, for many players, time is a precious commodity.
Skip-It MTTs appear to have some similarities with ‘flip-out’ tournaments, placing a large emphasis on luck for the early stages and focusing on skill for the latter parts. However, through the use of AI these new Skip-It MTTs bring something new to the table that’s only possible in online poker.
Will these new games be the next big thing to help bring more recreational players into the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
