Paradise Short Handed Tables

[banditdad]

I've been playing 1/2 6max with success at Party & Absolute. I see that Paradise offers a 5max table. how different is it than the 6 max at PP & AP?

Mike

[stripsqueez]

i've played a heap of 5 max at paradise

its more aggressive - open raising QJo UTG becomes a viable option which it isnt in the party 6 max schools

i still put in 1,000 hands a week or so in the 5 max games - there are some decent regulars but still plenty of chooks - its a tougher game to beat than the party games but still a good game

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[AriesRam]

Strips,

What is your user name on Paradise? We probably have played together. I have recently moved up to the 3/6 5-handed, but spent many months on the 1/2.

Wild bankroll swings, but very beatable.

[Zele]

I love the word "chook." Can you give me a vague definition so I can be sure I'm using it properly?

[stripsqueez]

i think i added the e and go by "strip squeeze" on paradise - a couple of regulars think i'm in the adult entertainment industry

you'll catch me playing 3/6 from time to time but more commonly 10/20 5 max or any draw game or the PLO games - usually early am EST as it coincides with me preparing dinner

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[MisterKing]

The Paradise 1/2 5-max are a lot easier to beat, imo, than the Party 6-max. While I am still not sure as to why this is the case, I have a few ideas (only 5K hands at 1/2 5max)... one of which being that it is easier to steal the blinds or run an uncontested bluff on Paradise. On Party, you have many gamboolers who just want action and will call, call till the cows come home (not that this isn't a good thing, but it requires a significant adjustment in your play).

The difference between 5 players and 6 also has a heavy bearing on second pair, I think. In the 5-max games, second pair GK is often good enough to win a showdown. In 6-max, you'll often have to do just slightly better than this, and have to take draws into account more of the time.

My advice for Paradise 5-max: shift gears constantly, and maintain an extremely loose/aggressive table image. Lots of players I've seen on Paradise just don't know how to adjust their play to compensate. If they did know how, they'd take a lot of your money with this strategy, but really for the most part they don't. I almost never enter a pot without an open-raise in the 5-max, particularly on the button and in the CO.

[stripsqueez]

a chook is just a bad player

i could get a bit deep and say a player who lacks any sensible vision about what they are doing - mindless, like a chicken

i have issues with chickens

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[stripsqueez]

[ QUOTE ]
My advice for Paradise 5-max: shift gears constantly, and maintain an extremely loose/aggressive table image

[/ QUOTE ]

i wouldnt say extremely loose and aggressive but i agree otherwise - the paradise 5 max is an aggressive game compared to party 6 max

stripsqueez -chickenhawk

[MisterKing]

To get a feel for what I'm talking about -- super aggressive play on Paradise 5-max, have a look at the following hands that I pulled pretty much at random from hand histories earlier this week:

Paradise Poker 1/2 Hold'em (4 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K/images/graemlins/club.gif, 8/images/graemlins/club.gif.
UTG folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB calls.

Turn: (3.25 BB) 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB folds.

Final Pot: 3.25 BB

--

Paradise Poker 1/2 Hold'em (3 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: (5 SB) 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 3/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, SB calls.

Turn: (3.50 BB) 2/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, SB folds.

Final Pot: 4.50 BB

--

Paradise Poker 1/2 Hold'em (5 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif, K/images/graemlins/club.gif.
UTG folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, Button calls, SB folds, BB folds.

Flop: (5.50 SB) 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif, T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, Button folds.

Final Pot: 3.25 BB

--

Paradise Poker 1/2 Hold'em (4 handed)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif.
<font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, Button calls, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: (7 SB) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif, T/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, Button folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: 4 BB

--

Now, there are a bunch of these where my (usually single) opponent shows resistance on the flop... if re-raised, I sometimes call to take one off if I might improve to a better hand, or just fold if its looking really bad. If called, I'll often fire again at the turn if there's any indication whatsoever of weakness on my opponent's part.

One example:

Paradise Poker 1/2 Hold'em (2 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif. Hero posts a blind of $1.
BB calls, Hero (poster) checks.

Flop: (2 SB) 2/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/club.gif, K/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, BB calls.

Turn: (3 BB) J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB calls.

River: (5 BB) T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: 5 BB

--

High variance, you bet your a**, but its been working for me. If people are gonna let you run 'em over, why not take advantage of it?

Some people are likely to respond by saying the goal is to win money, not pots -- and they're right. But in 1/2 5-max, on Paradise, I've found this uber-aggressive strategy to be a means to accomplish the latter by pursuing the former. You'd really be surprised by how often people just give up their blinds to a steal raise (which pays for the times where I lose 3 small bets raising PF, betting out on the flop, and folding to a re-raise, or going into check-fold on the turn when called).

Put differently, its a fine line, but its worth walking.

[Grisgra]

Good post -- that's exactly how I've been playing most of the tables as well. Not with unequaled success over the last couple of days, unfortunately /images/graemlins/smile.gif. Difficult to tell sometimes when I'm pushing too hard; unfortunately there are a LOT of people that will call the flop with any two cards, and these are the same people that will wait until the turn to raise if they've hit at all. The bastards! (Okay, that's not really unfortunate, but I'd prefer them just laying down on the flop after they miss, for predictability's sake.)

What's your name in the games, just so we can avoid each other /images/graemlins/smile.gif?