Is Party all that it's touted as being?

[Cerril]

I started online at TruePoker, due to a friend's suggestion (figured if he said it was a 'safe' game I might as well). Not so bad but a little slow.

Then, after reading the articles over at Poker Pages, I signed on to PokerStars and found that this was a much better setup with a whole lot more going on. The games seemed better too, but it was probably just the opportunity for game selection. I moved from 2/4 to 3/6 to 5/10, where I still don't belong (small bankroll) but am doing well enough that I only drop down when the games are terrible. Aside from boundless confidence (/images/graemlins/grin.gif) I don't have the long term results to show I belong in any poker room, much less a decent limit. In fact, a +8BB/100 over the last ~800 hands (since I learned about tracker; yes, I know it's almost literally nothing with that small a sample) makes me feel like I may only be getting inordinately lucky and I'm due to crash soon.

Anyway, point is, just about everyone here plays Party it seems. I downloaded it and the UI didn't immediately grab me, so I discounted it for the moment. But everyone's talking about how good a site it is (and that's even if I eliminate the outliers and assume a higher average because very few of the ones who lose there post).

So is the general agreement that due to the advertising blitz (or perhaps other features), Party is the site I should be playing primarily now? From my perspective, if I feel I'm a reasonably winning player at PokerStars 5/10 what would that equate to at Party? With a slim (let's say 200 BB at 5/10) bankroll (and let's also assume I can't throw more money at my account no matter my confidence), what sort of plan of attack would you suggest?

Thanks!

[ProfLupin]

I have not played at pokerstars, so I can't do any comparisions for you. Party has the most players playing and therefore you will find more juicy tables there than anywhere else. That is the reason everyone plays there, not because of how cool the software is.

At the 5/10 limit the vast majority of party games are 6max tables and the variance is HUGE. So I would advise you to stay away from 5/10 at party unless you have over 300BB to handle the swings. I think you'll find the 3/6 games to be very beatable. Again, I haven't played at pokerstars, but I'd bet the 3/6 party tables are as soft as they get online for that limit with the possible exception of Pacific Poker.

[Cerril]

Yeah, I recall now noticing the 6-max thing. Another reason I don't have money there yet. That would explain why there are so few talking about playing 5/10 at party. I suppose then the tactic would be to play 3/6 until I have a bankroll for a higher limit?

[4thstreetpete]

Let me be totally honest with you.

I've been playing at paradise for quite a while and loved it. The software was great, prompt payouts, plus after a rough start I was winning regularly. With that I won a very large tournament so I had a decent bankroll.

There was absolutely no reason for me whatsoever to leave. However all this time I've been reading at RPG how easy the games at party was. I did downloaded the software a while back tried it and was totally unimpressed. So I stayed at paradise. I was still making good money so I was happy.

Like I was saying there was no reason whatsoever for me to leave, so what finally made me? Here's where it gets interesting. All this time in the back of my mind I've been thinking to myself that I might be missing a good opportunity by not playing at party. People always say that the games at paradise is very tough and so is pokerstars. But how tough could it be if I was winning regularly? Am I missing something here?

Another thing that was bugging me was that as great as paradise was they didn't really have a frequent player reward system. I mean I was playing there for ages and they hardly have a reload bonus or any special promotions. I played there so much and generated so much rake and they didn't really have a frequent points program like pokerstars.

Anyways one day I stumbled along empirepoker and found out that it was a skin of party except the fact that they have a vip players point program. This is exactly what I needed!!! So I finally decided to give party...or rather empirepoker another try..........and man oh man, it was the best decision I have ever made. I will never go back.

I finally understood what people meant when they say the games at pokerstars and paradise were tough. Good god, the players at party are absolutely horrible.

I remember a hand that I played that I had 3 raised preflop and someone called the 3 bets cold. We went to the river and he opened up with 10-2 off. I was like WTF???? This was a $15/30 game. I couldn't believe what i was seeing.

I noticed now that the players have gotten a little bit better but it is still very juicy. What stopped me from signing up at party before was that they rake a lot higher than other sites so I wasn't too pleased with that.

Now I look back and it was the best decision I have ever made. Party just seems to get more and more popular. That being said, YOU WILL get some really really bad beats. The swings I have sometimes at empire are crazy. I've never experienced it at paradise as much as I do here.

I remember the first few weeks when I first signed up at empire. I had a monster first week, and then I got hit really hard. I finally adjusted my game because I was still playing like I did when I played at paradise. Meaning I folded a lot hands that turned out to be winners. I find it at empire I call a lot more than I did at paradise but now I don't have to be right too often in order to be profitable. Meaning I'm taking a lot of marginal hands to the river that I would've never have like i do in other sites and a lot of the times it turns out to be good. Very bizarre...

Now I know that there will be no other place I play other than empire. It's very profitable providing if you are mentally prepared to take the swings. Having said that, it's not all that bad. Good luck, I definately recommend that you at least try it.

[Billman]

Thank you for making me feel better. I've been playing Paradise for quite some time and I took a small chunk out of my bankroll over to Party figuring I would play $2/$4 and build that up until I had good size bankrolls on both sites. I got so hammered on Party it wasn't funny. I'm still trying to adjust to the game but comparing Paradise players to Party players is almost an apples and oranges comparison. The party players all seem to be bluffers and far more aggressive than the Paradise players. Playing $2/$4 - $5/$10 on Paradise I not only know when I'm beat in a hand, I also have a pretty good read on what I'm up against. On Party, like you said, you got guys calling three bets cold with hands like T2o. You can't put them on a hand and that has just seemed to drive me crazy.

Any other advice on how to adjust your game for Party if you're used to Paradise players?

[Williams21]

[HajiShirazu]

Hey, he had the "straight draw" on the flop. And then on the turn, you might be bluffing, so a pair could give him the winner. Finally on the river, he "sucked out" against your "AQ" so he had to call.

[Blarg]

Exactly.

Besides, winning one suck-out is worth losing half a dozen other hands, easy.

[4thstreetpete]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for making me feel better. I've been playing Paradise for quite some time and I took a small chunk out of my bankroll over to Party figuring I would play $2/$4 and build that up until I had good size bankrolls on both sites. I got so hammered on Party it wasn't funny. I'm still trying to adjust to the game but comparing Paradise players to Party players is almost an apples and oranges comparison. The party players all seem to be bluffers and far more aggressive than the Paradise players. Playing $2/$4 - $5/$10 on Paradise I not only know when I'm beat in a hand, I also have a pretty good read on what I'm up against. On Party, like you said, you got guys calling three bets cold with hands like T2o. You can't put them on a hand and that has just seemed to drive me crazy.

Any other advice on how to adjust your game for Party if you're used to Paradise players?

[/ QUOTE ]


One thing I notice is that a lot of the players there play a lot of the short handed tables hence why they are more aggressive and bluff a lot. The reason whty you're being hammered like I was is probably because you haven't fully adjusted to the players on party than on paradise.

More than ever now I rely a lot on my player notes. I mainly play the $15/30 tables now so I'm pretty aggressive but I remember when I used to play the $3/6 and $5/10 I never really bluffed that much because I know that if they have anything (ie a bottom pair) chances are I will get called. They may be right to do so because I find at party you only have to be right less than 30% of the time to be profitable because lots of people bluff and go to the river to catch their gut card or to make their draw.

I don't know how it is now but someone posted the other day that there were 54,000 players playing at the time a few days ago. So I can only imagine that there's a new influx of players hitting party.

I know that party is getting more popular from all the advertisements and such because even on my other forum that I post a lot (it's a trance/electronic music forum that I'm a regular on), I notice the sharp spike of people who are introduced to poker and are playing there. When just within the last two years these regular joes had no idea of what poker was.

So yeah, poker is getting more popular than ever. There's new blood coming in. This might sound like cliche but play only strong hands and play at a level that you're comfortable with so that you won't let people bluff you out of a pot. I see a lot of bluffing in the 5/10 level for example of people semibluffing with their flush draw on the turn in hopes that you'd lay down your top pair. At paradise I folded that a lot. At party, I just rely on my player notes and just call and try not to bluff too much.

[pokerjo22]

I played on the 5-10 bad beat tables at party last night. One guy had the 'call all' button checked preflop. Over two hours of play he had a VPIP of 93%. Thats why you should play on party!