Where are the schools of Fish at Party/Empire?

[Felix_Nietsche]

3rd try...I think I have the right forum now /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I played a month on Empire in the $100/$200 buy-in No Limit HE games. I had heard this site was a fish fry so I was looking forward to the carnage that I would create...

BUT.....I found the amount of fish to be no more than what I find at PokerStars. I eeked out a $500 profit and cashed out. Maybe there are massive schools of fish at the Empire/Party LIMIT games but they weren't swimming in large numbers at the No Limit games....

By the way, my bankroll swings were HUGE!!!! Maybe my style of play is not suited at Party. Maybe you got to be an uber rock to make the buck$......

I'll stick with Prima and PokerStars....
Anyone have a different experience? Comments?

[Sandstone]

NL100 has plenty of fish coming and going. NL200 is mostly comprised of the same group of ubertight regulars you'll see night after night.

In my opinion NL100 is the more profitable of the games, unless you have a very specific, very aggressive type of play style that can tilt the NL200 rocks.

[fimbulwinter]

mmmmmm, the $200 game is an ecosystem unto itself. there are times of day i wouldn't think of playing and times of day where i'd take a shot if i had a 25NL bankroll behind. i guess the easiest way to put it is that the sharks are sharkier and the fish are much fishier.

[soah]

I'm just curious if you guys are referring to the 6-max or the full ring games, or both. I've watched some of the 6-max tables at the 200 level and saw some pretty fishy moves (lots of people min-betting and stuff). I haven't actually tried it out yet though. Partly due to the waiting lists and partly from the idea that the fish:shark ratio is likely to not be as good (as a result of the limited number of tables, and the tendencies of sharks to seek out the highest limits). For now I've just focused on playing more tables rather than playing higher stakes. Once I can four-table the 100 games I may look to step up. =)

[meow_meow]

I've been playing the 6max 100NL mostly of late (recently switched from 6max 5-10), but taking the occasional shot at the 6max 200NL.
For some reason I seem to do much better at the latter, maybe because the amounts are larger, forcing me to be more disciplined (not that my sample size is meaningful).
Anyway, the 6max 200NL really is populated by regulars. Although I've only got about 2K hands in, whenever I sit down there are usually at least three players at the table I've seen before.
I've been thinking that it might useful to data-mine these tables. Just because someone is a regular, doesn't mean they are good, and even if they are, they might be predictable. Unfortunately, PT isn't well suited to picking out betting patterns, unless you want to replay every hand. I wish there was some way to sort hands by things like amount raised preflop (maybe there is and I'm missing it?).
Anyway, suggestions would be appreciated.

[fimbulwinter]

yeah, i datamined about 40K hands at the 200NL 6max before i jumped in. there are like 4 players total who you need to be careful of. one is the definition of TAG with huge emphasis on the T and the AG. the other three are LP-AG preflop and TAG postflop. good strat considering people do dumb things like piss away $500 stacks on overpairs etc.

If you're seeing 2-3 of these guys at the tables, then you may want to be more careful selecting your game /images/graemlins/smile.gif

there are, however, a big contingent of players who frequent the game and make a little long-term but still make donkified moves frequently that are hard to believe. for example, we all scream "NEVER CALL A RAISE WITH KJo" at party 25NL newbs, and last hand a reg called a raise, out of position, with KJo from mr VP$IP = 16.4%. he lost his $300 stack when he he flopped his jack and c/r'd all-in against the tightie's KK. i hate to quote ciaffone all the time, but the man is right when he says that the major flaw of many pros is trying to play too many starting hands profitably. a lot of these guys beat the 100 and then decide they're unstoppable and forget how to play poker.

if you're doing better at the 200NL, then by all means continue, especially if it forces you to tighten up. I personally like it as the preflop raising is a little more sane and bluffing works a little better, but then (of course) the value of your big hands goes down, as (gasp) these guys do get away from TPTK every once in a while.
fim