PP tourneys Vs. Ring games

Hello all! I started playing Low limit tourneys after my recent retirement from the PP ring games and I must say that I am very impressed with something I noticed.


First and foremost, I have noticed that after a few tourneys, it seemed very rare that players would hit the "miracle card" on the river. The better hands seemed to hold up all the time. I was so used to having a big pocket pair and getting slayed. My tasty AK and AQ preflop raises held up when I caught a little of the flop. The usual AQ preflop raise gets beaten out by someone holding T8o by catching runner-runner 88 never materialized.


I know that tourney play is VERY different from ring games and I was hoping for some feed back as to others' experiences with the two games. Maybe I have found my niche on PP and will be able to play with confidence.


There is waaaaay too much money to be made in a PP ring game on an hourly basis is you are playing an angle. Who wants to spend 45 minutes playing in a tourney with a $1-2 entry fee and the most you can make is $100 if your whole "crew" take 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd.


I know I am trying to justify my not playing in those games, but read that last statement again . . . it's true. The people who are after the money are not going to waste time in a tourney for the money. I just want to play, if I was trying to make a living (as some of you do) playing online poker, I would feel compelled to "do onto others before they do it to me." For all of us who love playing cards, I am happy to continue this little experiment.


I also might add that in comparison to our skills, these players are at best counting on luck to win. I won't get too much better, but I get to play cards free of the Jack-ass "Mystery Men" cheating us honest players out of thousands of dollars every week and ruining the reputation of Paradise Poker.


See ya's soon!


G.

Goes in periods, I reckon (which may also be why I reckon that Paradise really do have randomized cards).


There have been long periods in my PP 'tournament career' where it seems that dominated hands win these all-ins you get at the end close to every time.


Believe me, there will be times when you are just as frustrated by the Paradise tourneys as the Paradise ring games. :-)


lars

Thanx for the feed-back. Do you normally play in the tourneys? Do you find that you are usually the better player at the table? What tourneys do you typically find the softest? Just a few questions, I hope you don't mind.

Tournies rock, but the luck factor is often amplified. I didn't place in 11 tournies straight at one point last week when my luck was running bad, despite holding good leads and better cards. The 2 or 3 outer can destroy you time and time again.


Then i have good runs and i'm unstoppable. In the last 7 tounries i have played i have finished 1st 6 times, with one no placing.

G.Walker

I think you have a great point, I noticed that too, and mostly play tournaments now, but your point is correct starting with $20

and up tourney. You absolutely right that for cheaters playing tournament doesn't make much sense. I just wish PP would have NL tournaments - must be hard for them to adjust software.

Tournaments are generally a fair degree tighter. You don't get those crazy multiway pots around Level III and up. Usually the first guy in the pot is raising and there are a lot of raiser vs BB confrontations. Not the kind of stuff that tempts a ploppy to call a bet on the flop with a low pocket pair to spike a set.


Having said that, you will find guys that will not lay down a hand once they've committed to it, and you will get knocked out in 4th by having your AJ lose to KJ with a K on the river. It happens, so better be ready for it /images/smile.gif


M.