GGPoker recently introduced its new feature to the players and opinions are split. The new “Time Bank Card” charges players one big blind if they need extra time to make a decision, adding a strategic cost to tanking. Some players are furious that they have to pay for more time to make a decision, while other players support it as it speeds up the game and curbs potential Real-Time Assistance (RTA) usage.
How Does the New Feature Work?
Players will have their standard time to make a decision (10 seconds for preflop and 15 seconds per street). After that time expires, their time to make a decision will extend for an additional 30 seconds, and one of their time bank cards will be consumed. Players will get a one-time bank card per hand, and it will cost them one big blind to use it.
The one big blind that a player uses to pay for the time bank will be redistributed to the others at the table. The feature is automatically turned on, but players can customize how their Time Bank Cards are used through GGPoker’s settings menu. There are four different options under the Auto Time Bank Card setting:
- Always – Automatically use your Time Bank Cards on every decision, until they’re exhausted.
- When you have money in the pot (Including Blinds/Ante) – Use your Time Bank Cards only if you’ve already contributed to the pot, including the blinds or antes.
- When you have money in the pot (Excluding Blinds/Ante) (Default) – Only use your Time Bank Cards if you’ve voluntarily put chips into the pot beyond the blinds/ante.
- Never – Use your Time Bank Cards manually. This gives players full control over when extra time is consumed.
The Goods and The Bads of the Time Bank Card Feature
The first good thing this new feature does is speed up the play and force players to make faster decisions if they don’t want their win rates to suffer. This also helps rakeback/leaderboard grinders, as their goal is to play as fast as possible to play more hands and collect more points in a shorter time (Players collect one point for folding, two points for calling, and five points for betting/raising).
One of the more important implications of this new time bank mechanic is that it stops players from using RTA while playing. For example, they don’t have enough time to run their hand in the GTO Wizard, or if they do, playing one big bling per hand will make it less worth it for them. This comes in the wake of recent controversies like the one involving ACR pros Nacho Barbero and Ebony Kenney, who were heavily criticized for an Instagram story showing ACR tables open with a GTO Wizard chart visible in the background. While GGPoker’s new feature isn’t a silver bullet, it’s a step toward making RTA far less practical.
The theory that this feature will significantly reduce the number of tables people can play feels like a bit of a stretch. GGPoker already caps fast tables at four and regular tables at nine, so most regular multi-tablers won’t be impacted. The only group that might get affected by this are the rare “unicorn” grinders who max out tables across multiple stakes; for example, you can play only nine regular tables at one stake, but you can add nine more tables of different stakes, but this would be less than one percent of players.
This feature’s downside is that it reduces the quality of players’ decisions, which will reduce the edge for thinking players.
Reactions of the Players
A few players complained that they didn’t have enough time to make decisions; one of them was X account Niall Farrell, who tagged GGPoker and asked them to undo the change. The GGPoker responded with a longer post:
“Sorry to hear you don’t like it, but we had considerable feedback from players who were frustrated at the game being slowed down purposely, so we decided on the Time Bank Card enhancement. We understand it might take a little getting used to, but here’s why: based on the feedback, we thought it made sense. They give players more control.
Instead of being rushed into a decision that could impact your stack, you get the breathing room to think clearly when it matters most. They keep the game moving. By limiting the number of free cards and capping paid usage to one per hand, GGPoker ensures that play remains fast and consistent. There’s no risk of players endlessly stalling. They balance fairness with flexibility. The redistribution of the Paid Time Bank Card cost ensures that everyone benefits when a player chooses to buy extra time. It’s a fair trade-off that rewards everyone.”
GGPoker’s Time Bank Card system is just one piece of a broader push to protect the integrity of the game. In collaboration with GTO Wizard, GGPoker recently banned 31 player accounts found to have violated its Fair Play Use Policy. These players won’t just be banned from the site, but they also won’t be able to play at the 2025 World Series of Poker.
Some people also thought that the one big blind would be taken by the house, so they complained about it, but the money is actually redistributed to other players at the table. All in all, there was not that much negative feedback, and it looks like this change has far more benefits than negative sides to this change. Want to try the feature yourself?
