Another one bites the dust (long)

Due to an unbelievable bad beat run, I a regret to say that I am quitting Paradise Poker ring games. I have recently posted that the conspiracy and bad beat posters may be wrong and came up with a couple of plausible reasons for it. At the same time as my posts, I was experiencing a huge down swing, losing 23 hands in a row with AA-QQ, AK's, AK, AQ. A few were no doubt my own doing, such as a slow-play on the flop heads-up with trip A's (any comments?) and a couple of other questionable plays with other hands. I hit the flop many times and still was pitifully out drawn. I have no questions that 23 is such an unbelievable number, that even a novice should win many of these hands. The result of all of this is a depleted bankroll and a flat out disgust of Paradise Poker players and the many problems that are obvious with the site. I have been a slight winner (+$1800) over the last year, although minimal at least I was having fun playing the game I enjoy.


The increase in obvious "crews" and unbelievable suck-outs has led me to seek a fairer playing field, I now welcome the 1.5 hour drive to the card room. At the risk of sounding weak, I am leaving this game a MINIMAL winner. I will continue to play in a few LL tourneys, as I have seen little of the same type of questionable games that are common in the Hold'em games on Paradise. I enjoy playing on PP and will continue to do so on a very minimal and selective basis as stated above, only to keep poker on my mind. I only hope to get an e-mail from Paradise explaining the new and improved format to make these ring games something they are not. I am just another poker player that knows when he in the "wrong" game. It is just too easy to cheat and not face your victims, a cheater is simply ignored or at best banned. Nothing is done to prevent more and a new "crew" takes the place of the old one (or maybe the same one). I enjoy this forum and will visit daily, as usual.


Not all PP winners cheat, I know a few legit players who do very well and I am happy to see it. I however, am unable to beat the odds against me. Thanx and I hope to see a few of you in the tourneys.


Thank you and Good Luck to us all!


G.

Good idea, at least a good start for PP to get some confidence back in many of of its players. Although game selection is an important part of poker, it is more so for the not-so-honest players.


G

I seem to remember that one of the sites didn't let you choose your seat - they just sat you at a table, of your money level choice, randomly, when you logged in.

Obviously, this would not be desirable in the normal course of things, but if there are so many cheating crews about, it would be an added security weapon for a site, to ensure that colluders could not choose to sit together.

I recently entered the online poker competition at PP, and have now logged 24 hours in various games (mostly hold'em, but also Omaha, O8, & stud) ranging from 1-2 to 5-10 in limits. I first noticed that the level of competition even in the 1-2 games was tougher than the 6-12 game in which I often play at an LA casino. The 10-handed, 2 blind 1-2 game had an average of 27% of players seeing the flop and cranked out over 100 hands per hour while I was in it. In contrast, my local 6-12 game with a single blind usually has close to 50% of players seeing the flop, and less than 30 hands per hour are usually dealt.


Despite the tightness of the holdem games at PP, I find them to be beatable due to the modest rake and a sufficient number of weak opponents. I've noticed that many PP players tend to play tightly before the flop, but become loose-aggressive afterward. Have others observed this?


I have not noticed any collusion or unusual runs of cards. I "ran good" for the first few hours of play, and subsequently experienced a very bad run of cards lasting several hours. Overall, I did not experience as many terrible beats as I do in live play due to the generally superior level of competition.


I found the Omaha and Omaha/8 games at PP to be looser/softer than the holdem games. I also played at a couple of 3-6 tables with a 5-player maximum which had more players seeing the flop than any of the 10-handed hold'em games I found at PP. Do the 5-player max tables usually attract looser players?


I have entered the online competition cautiously due to my concern about collusion, and I may not risk playing any higher for this reason. Due to my concerns, I initially chose to join PP games with a relatively low "pot size" to "% players seeing the flop" ratio and a relatively high "hands per hour" statistic, believing collusion would be less likely in these games. However, I am beginning to feel reasonably comfortable with the integrity of PP games at least up to the 3-6 or 5-10 level.


Regards,


Mike

Mike,


I strictly play the 1-2 and 3-6 short handed games. There is alot of money to be won at these games but you must play fairly tight. You can loosen up to a point depending on your oponents. Suited connectors and any pocket pairs are money makers. The key to these games is your post-flop play. Due to the game being short handed, you can call many more hands but must be able to release them after the flop. One more thing about these games, your bankroll must be able to handle some huge swings. Good luck.


regards


jazzman