Winamax Game Formats: Expresso, Space KO, Cash and MTTs (2026)
Winamax built its reputation on formats you will not find elsewhere in the same form. Expresso and Space KO are the signature products, but the huge French and Spanish tournament fields are what put the room near the top of worldwide traffic rankings. Here is how each part of the lobby works.
Expresso and Expresso Nitro
Expresso is a three-player hyper-turbo Sit & Go in No-Limit Hold’em or Pot-Limit Omaha, with buy-ins from €0.25 to €500. Before the first hand a random draw sets the prize pool from 2x the buy-in upwards; from a €2 buy-in the top prize is €1M, and at €500 the jackpot reaches €2,000,000.
Standard Expresso starts with 500 chips and levels of 90 seconds, while Expresso Nitro uses 300 chips and one-minute levels. Small multipliers go entirely to the winner, whereas big draws are shared among all three players.
Space KO
Space KO is a knockout tournament with an Expresso twist. Each player starts with a token whose average bounty is half the buy-in, and every elimination triggers a random draw based on the eliminated player’s token.
Half of a won bounty goes straight to your balance and half is added to your own token, which levels up and raises the stakes of your next knockouts. Bounties can reach five or six figures, so variance is high even by knockout standards.
Cash games
Cash tables cover No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha from micro to mid stakes, plus a fast-fold pool branded Go Fast where it is running. Traffic is much thinner than in tournaments, and higher limits can be quiet outside French evenings.
The upside is a recreational field, a well-designed table view and the right to use trackers. If you mainly grind cash, compare traffic at your stake before committing.
Tournaments and series
The daily schedule ranges from low buy-in events to regular high-roller tournaments, with knockout, turbo and deep-stack variations. On Sundays Winamax runs flagship events such as the Sunday Surprise, where the winner takes an extra prize that changes week to week.
Several times a year online festivals such as the Winamax Series pack the lobby with guaranteed events, and fields of many thousands are normal. Satellites from a few cents let micro-stakes players chase these prize pools.
From online qualifier to live felt
The Winamax Poker Tour is a free-to-enter live circuit: you qualify online, play a regional live stop, and the best players reach a Grande Finale in France. In Spain the room partners with a national live circuit, and the Winamax Poker Open stages festivals with large main events.
- 1Open the tournament lobby and filter for the qualifiers of the live event you want.
- 2Play the online stages, many of which start with free or very cheap entries.
- 3Check the ticket or seat in your account and register for the live stop or festival.
- 4Plan travel and budget in advance, because expenses usually are not included.
Choosing what to play
Expresso and Space KO are fun but swingy, so give them a separate part of your bankroll. For steadier progress, classic MTTs and cash tables reward skill over a sample that is easier to measure, especially with a tracker.
FAQ
01What is the difference between Expresso and Expresso Nitro?
Nitro is the faster version: 300 starting chips and one-minute levels instead of 500 chips and 90-second levels. The random prize draw works the same way.
02Can I play Omaha on Winamax?
Yes. Pot-Limit Omaha is available at cash tables and in Expresso, although Omaha traffic is smaller than Hold’em traffic.
03How do I get into the Winamax Poker Tour?
Through online qualifiers in the client, then a regional live stage. The best players from the stages earn a seat at the Grande Finale.
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