PokerListings Operator Awards: Poker Innovation of the Year

Innovation of the Year 2021

What is the best new poker product idea this year?

Poker is always evolving and new online games and variants are constantly added across sites.

But which operator came up with the best poker innovation in 2021?

This award goes to the best new product idea this year.

We found 4 nominees this year: PokerStars Learn, Battle Royale at GGPoker, Flip & Go at GGPoker and The Festival Series.

Winner: The Festival Series

The Festival Series was the odd one out in our list of nominees as it is a live poker and casino experience.

The event series was launched in September 2021 and was the first to combine Poker, Roulette, Blackjack and Sports Betting into one week-long Festival for poker and casino players alike.

It was received enthusiastically and will return in 2022 with more stops on more locations.

We might have been a bit biased but we felt that The Festival beat all the other nominations this year.

» TheFestival.com

Nominees: Innovation of the Year 2021

PokerStars Learn

PokerStars Learn is a website and program launched by PokerStars for players that want to improve their game and get better at playing poker.

The program is free and offers dozens of lessens, courses, quizzes, strategy articles and videos. PokerStars Learn is a great resource for absolute beginners but also worthwhile for intermediate players.

On top of that PokerStars Learn runs its own Scholars Leader Board where the users can put their skills into practice and win a share of prizes each month.

» PokerStars review

GGPoker Battle Royale

This summer GGPoker launched a new game format called Battle Royale. It is basically a variation of the already very successful Flip & Go tournaments. While in the latter you have to go all-in directly, in the Battle Royale you first play normal rush poker for a quarter of an hour. The 50 players who survive this phase then move on to the shootout, where the winner of the table is determined. If no decision has been made after 15 minutes, everyone has to go all-in.

The ten winners of the tables then end up at the final table, where the ten paid seats and the bounties are played out. GGPoker's Battle Royale is entertaining fun for players who don't have a lot of time and love to gamble.

» GGPoker review

GGPoker Flip and Go

GGPoker launched their Flip & Go tournament format in January this year and the format was so successful that it was part of the WSOP in Vegas.

The idea is quite simple. It is to skip the early tournament phase and start playing ITM right away.

For this purpose, a flipout is played at the beginning of the tourney, the winner of which qualifies for the ITM part of the tournament. You can buy in multiple times to increase your chances (but also your stake).

Once the ITM phase is reached, the tournaments continue in normal mode.

» GGPoker review

How the Awards Process Works

The PokerListings editorial team has worked in the online poker business for decades and here we’re presenting the PokerListings Operator Awards - casting a spotlight on the most deserving in the business.

1. Nominations

Throughout the month of November and December, our PokerListings experts present the shortlisted nominees in several different categories: Best for Beginners, Best for Grinders, Best Online Series, Best Overall Software, Innovation of the Year, Poker Operator of the Year, and finally the PokerListings Players' Favorite.

2. Voting

During this Nomination period in December all PokerListings players can vote for our category: Your favorite poker operator of them all. You will find a wider selection of nominees than the other award categories for a better choice. And you can cast your vote (one per person) on our Facebook and Twitter channels. We'll provide results on both outlets as well as our Player Favorite page - along with the other category results.

3. Winners

After a long deliberation throughout this month, we will announce the winners on all our channels at the end of December. Our winners will also be contacted and provided with their badge of honor as this year's winners.

More PokerListings Operator Awards

These are the PokerListings Operator Award categories:

» PokerListings Operator Awards Overview