Americas Cardroom launches The Playpen

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Here's to doing damage at the tables without doing damage to your bankroll.

Americas Cardroom has announced The Playpen, a micro-stakes time-based cash game in tournament format modeled after The Cage. The Playpen, a survival-based event that lasts just 52 minutes, will run Sundays and Wednesdays for the next two weeks.

“We're excited to bring the thrill of The Cage to players with much smaller bankrolls,” stated Michael Harris, spokesperson for Americas Cardroom. "For just $10+0.50, players can experience the edge-of-your-seat action offered weekly in The Cage without doing damage to their bankroll. It's the same do-or-die excitement that Cage players are familiar with, all for the price of a couple beers."

The Playpen is based on The Cage, Americas Cardroom's time-based cash game that runs every Wednesday at 7pm ET. Just like The Cage, The Playpen arms players with 1,000 starting chips. And much like The Cage, after players bust out, it's game over (there's no opportunity to buy back in). However, unlike The Cage where the buy-in costs $1,000+50 and each chip has a $1 cash value, The Playpen costs just $10+0.50 to get into and each chip is worth a penny.

When players enter The Playpen, they'll have 52 minutes to survive the tables. The Playpen consists of four levels with increasing blinds and antes along the way. The first level features 5/10 blinds. The second level jumps to 10/20 and adds a 1 unit ante. And levels 3 and 4 feature 15/30 blinds with 2 unit antes and 25/50 blinds with 3 unit antes, respectively.

When the clock hits zero, all remaining players receive cash for their remaining chip stack. That means a player who finishes with 20,000 chips would win $200. Just like The Cage, The Playpen will likely see multiple big winners.

The lower buy-in and faster structure of 13-minute levels means that Americas Cardroom is able to offer The Playpen on a more frequent basis. At launch time, The Playpen gets underway Sunday, Jan. 17 and 24 at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. and Wednesday, Jan. 20 and 27 at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. (all times ET).

High Five Tournament Series
The High Five is Americas Cardroom's signature five-day online poker tournament series, first launched back in 2013. This year's series gets underway on Jan. 20 and runs through Jan. 24. The schedule includes a total of $840,000 in guaranteed prize money, including a $420,000 Main Event on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 4 p.m. ET. Games offered include Texas Hold'em, PLO and PLO8.