Ultimate Bet vs. Party Poker

[waynethetrain]

I've been playing at both for the last year. (depending on where I have the best bonus opportunity)

I am simply amazed at how much weaker the players are at PP than UB. I find the $.50 - $1.00 games at UB MUCH tougher than the $1 - $2 and even $2 - $4 at Party.

So far this year I have a very small edge over the UB $.50 -$1.00 games and I am losing at the $1 -$2 game there (I had a few horrible sessions early in the year when I was a weaker player. I am better now).

I am beating PP quite easily at all levels.

I'm starting to wonder whether I am actually better off playing at PP without a bonus vs. UB with a bonus.

Has anyone had a similar or contrary experience? Thoughts?

[zuluking]

PP is the softest site on the internet. Its been discussed here before and the consensus is that its because of the advertising on the WPT.

[bennyk]

You are correct that the games are tougher on UB. They are still beatable, but you will not have a winrate high enough to brag about on 2+2.

For that, play on party. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

bk

[waynethetrain]

Any differences in strategy that might be helpful on UB relative to Party?

I play almost exactly the same at both.

What I find is that Party is a little looser pre-flop (though not that much), but much looser afterwards. The UB players do play some suspect starting hands, but then they tighten up a lot after the flop.

[bennyk]

[ QUOTE ]
The UB players do play some suspect starting hands, but then they tighten up a lot after the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is true. UB opponents tend to play some wierd things PF but this is not a huge strategic difference for us. I play a little tighter on UB.

Try these:
- Be more willing to pump your draws on PP, as you will frequently get 4+ players on the flop which allows you to make value raises with flush/straight draws. This is less common on UB because there are fewer players/flop. If you find yourself in the position to pump draws on UB, players will often fold incorrectly on later streets. This makes me happy.
- Value bet things like middle pair more on Party. On UB, the "clever" opponents will play passively on the flop, and you can accidentally bet their hand for them. Be more willing (but still not very willing) to release hands to unexpected aggression, i.e., turn checkraises from tight players.
- On UB, pay careful attention to the tight players (especially where their pf raises come from). The loose players will be similar to the field at PP; the tight players are not usually worth tangling with, unless you are stealing their blinds from MP. Open-raise often so you can take advantage of this.

That's where I've been starting with strategy adjustments for UB. Be aware that most of the hands posted on 2+2 deal with Party opponents, and they may not be as applicable against the wierd-tight UB players.

bk

[Cardzy]

Yep, still got over $150 worth of bonus bucks sitting on UB and took all my money out and haven't played there in over a month now and don't really intend to. I'm playing exclusively on Empire (PP) now. Just much better games to be found.

[KingOtter]

Wow, bummer... I was hoping to play on UB because I like the interface and the stats.

Oh well. I'm considering either Pokerstars or Paradise. Pacific isn't supported by PT (which I'm planning to get soon).

KO

[bennyk]

It is still worth playing, though the players are a little more challenging. The software is much, much better, if that's important to you.

You will have to get a separate program ("UltimateHistory") to automate the hand-history retrieval if you want to use PT.
bk