PokerStars vs Party Poker

[kem]

What are people's opinions, as far as quality of play is concerned (at any/all levels) ? About the same, one much tougher, etc.. Just starting out in SnG's, and only have experience with Party so far (don't even have a Stars account). Thanks

[BUCKS COUNTY, PA]

funny this same topic came up with a friend the other day who plays on both sites. He said, and I quote, "the $10 sng's on Stars are tougher than the $50 sng's on party".

Wow /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[kem]

[ QUOTE ]
funny this same topic came up with a friend the other day who plays on both sites. He said, and I quote, "the $10 sng's on Stars are tougher than the $50 sng's on party".

Wow /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh wow, that is pretty shocking... anyone else out there agree (or disagree) ?

[Mr_J]

I've never played at stars but I'd be willing to be my current party balance that it isn't true (about 1k).

[hotcookie42]

My first instinct after playing many SnG's on both sites is to say that this statement is correct. However, the statement is not *entirely* fair, as the Party SnG's start you out with far fewer chips. This changes the strategy for the SnG entirely and, IMHO, makes it a different game. Instead of rewarding good poker skills, the structure rewards good Party Poker SnG skills. I don't blame people on Party for seeming crazy aggressive (fishy?) in their SnG's because the structure demands it. I've pretty much stopped playing SnG's on Party because I want to practice my poker skills, and that's not a good place to do it.

If you get good at the Party SnG formular, though, I do think it's a better way to make money. It all depends on your goal I guess: is it to get better at poker or to make money?

[rachelwxm]

Well, unless you find a game that you constantly reach HU with >30bb like the old days where the blinds never increases, I think there is still some similarity between those two. Just you have to adjust alot quicker at party.

[AtticusFinch]

I cut my teeth at Stars and had a paradoxical problem which cost me a lot of money when first switching to PP because I kept trying to play "poker" instead of "party poker." Moves that were hugely profitable for me at Stars (such as my old favorite, the check-raise bluff against a mandatory continuation bet) are 100% wrong at Party. Conversely, you can expect good hands to be paid off much more frequently at Party.

The structure at Stars is certainly part of it, but in truth the player pool is just tougher there. This is best demonstrated in the turbo tournaments, where the blinds go up so fast that they're not much different from party's structure, but the games are still way tougher.

It has gone down a bit in recent months, but I'd still say that the $20 and $30 games are way tougher than the $55s I play at Party now.

I'm kicking around the idea of going back, though, because the PP style just isn't as much fun for me, although it is way more profitable.

The best approach is probably to switch off. Sacrifice some ROI by playing some at Stars to keep your "real" poker sharp, but keep your bankroll growing at Party.

[11t]

I play both and have made money on both. The games during the day on Stars are signifigantly tougher than the games on Party. However, at night I haven't noticed a signigant difference.

I don't have any stats though to prove what I have just said.

[AtticusFinch]

I should also add that Poker Stars' software and customer service are both vastly superior to Party's. So much better it's kind of ridiculous.

[J-Lo]

Wow, i beg to differ, it seems to me there are many more people on the bubble at party who are willing to call with QTo after they see me pushing 3 out of 6 hands. I have made much more money at the $15+1 on stars than the 10's or even 20's on party. Last week my ROI for 140 tourneys was almost 50% at stars.

To me the xtra chips + smaller player pool allows me to get more reads on people and these reads helps me determine how to play against them. Some on stars will raise to 3x BB and then fold to a push for only 2x BB more. While others will raise to 3x BB and call 10x more BB w/ QTs. Both of these moves are fishy, but u hafta know your competition to play against them appropirately.

[AtticusFinch]

[ QUOTE ]

To me the xtra chips + smaller player pool allows me to get more reads on people and these reads helps me determine how to play against them. Some on stars will raise to 3x BB and then fold to a push for only 2x BB more. While others will raise to 3x BB and call 10x more BB w/ QTs. Both of these moves are fishy, but u hafta know your competition to play against them appropirately.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. The structure and player pool at Stars actually afford a greater advantage to good players, and my ROI is also higher at Stars than at Party. (I misspoke earlier when I said the ROI is better at Party)

The thing is, the structure and more sophisticated play also lead to longer tourneys, which reduces your hourly rate to a sufficient extent that Party is still consideraby more profitable despite having a lower ROI.

Also, at $55 and above, you get 1000 chips instead of 800 at Party, which makes the games slightly less of a crapshoot, while still being much shorter than at Stars.

Still, it's just more fun at Stars because the added room in your stack allows you to run more sophisticated, high-variance but profitable plays, and you actually get to play poker much more often. I don't think I'll be shutting down my Stars account any time soon, though I continue to grow my bankroll more quickly at Party.