Best times to play internet hold-em

[hotsauce615]

First I want to say hi, and these forums and website have kept me sane at work. I'm fairly new to poker, only turning 21 a few months ago, so no casino play. My extent of play has just been small games with friends. I've done my share of reading though, and I've been taking a lot of advice on pre-flop play from Hilger's book. Right now I'm playin the .50/1 games on party, because of my measly bankroll I started with. I'm doing well, and up 100's,but what gets me is when I play.

Like tonight for example, I won't botehr going on because I find myself being sharkfood, however when I play at like 12 in the afternoon eastern time I tend to clean house. It's been consistent that I'll lose or break even at night, and always make money in the morning. Coincidence or better players?

Thanks guys, and pardon my amateurism(sp?)

[smb394]

Ha, guess you took the advice in the General HE forum to post here.

I think primetime U.S. EST (8pm-midnight) is the best time to play. Their is higher traffic (i.e. better table selection) at these times. I'm curious to know over what amount of time (weeks, months) you've noticed that you make more money during the day, and especially if you know how many hands you've played in each timeframe?

And welcome to the forums. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[hotsauce615]

Hey thanks for the reply, and everyone these forums have been real nice so far. I can't explain the number of times I have posted on a forum, and made a mistake like I did in the general, and get barraged with "Newb!!"

I play roughly for about 2 hours a day, and I guess I see about 90ish hands. I also see about 30-40% of the flops, however I've been getting that number down and winning less, but also losing a lot less. This has only been for like 3 weeks, but it seems that it happens so often it has some kind of correlation. Like I said I'm pretty new to online play, but my self criticism of myself is forcing me to take notes on my hands, and go back and constantly figure out what I did wrong.

[Tk79]

Hi hotsauce and welcome.

Most ppl will tell you that evening games from maybe 7p to 12a EST are the best games since there is the most traffic. I find the best games for my particular style to be from about 2a to 8a. I find much more passive players at those times and it allows me to play more hands. I think the afternoon games are good too since they tend to be much more weak tight. Im speaking of the 3/6 pp games so the .5/1 may be different. I also think that different types of games are better for different styles of play.

[smb394]

The fact that you are taking notes and analyzing your play is an indication that you are clearly going in the right direction.

What you'll get barraged for here are questions that can easily be answered by looking at sticky FAQs at the top of pages, or stuff that is easily searchable.

30-40% of flops? That has to get lower.

Winning less, losing less...this means your variance is smaller. Variance is the often nasty aspect of playing limit poker. Don't be discouraged if you lose 30BB (i.e. $30 at $.50-$1) in one night, b/c it happens.

It's what you average in the long run (while taking these swings into consideration) that's important. Check out pokertracker, and both read the boards and post hand histories in the appropriate place (e.g. Micro-Limit).

Oh yeah, most important thing... Start bonus-whoring! Best way to build a bankroll playing low limit. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[hotsauce615]

Thanks for the info guys. Yea I'm trying. I took a hard shot at this with just a 70$ bankroll I had laying in paypal, but I hit some good runs and grinded it to like 280 right now. I've been at the 280 area for a long time though as my play has really plateud in eveness. I'm thinking of moving to Empire Poker since I have a feel on the Party players. Thanks for the advice and I'm going to stay attuned to these boards.

[MicroBob]

agreed.

obviously 30-40% is way too high.

when I see a player hovering around 35% on one of my tables I think 'oh goodie. me thinks me finds a fish.'

although there really isn't such a thing as 'shark-food' onb the .5/1 tables.
If you play around 20-25% of your flops (or VP-18 or so if we AREN'T counting your 'free' looks from the BB) then yopu should be able to win fairly easily.


You need to re-study your pre-flop selection.
Hilger's standards should NOT have you playing this many hands pre-flop.

Also consider Getting Started in holdem by Ed Miller (as well as SSHE).

Keep posting and keep reading and keep studying around here (particularly in the micro-limit strategy forum , here in the internet forum, and also in the Beginner forum) to get better.

[mosta]

after 3 shots of bourbon and cheeseburger. (also, get your flops seen under 20%).

[slipoker]

I think the best time to play is during US hours during the day. Seen a lot of people on poker sites who are playing while they are at work, and don't pay nearly as much attention as they should be. The only thing that sucks is when the boss comes and they sit there for 30 seconds while trying to hide the poker room on their computer screen /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[smb394]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the best time to play is during US hours during the day. Seen a lot of people on poker sites who are playing while they are at work, and don't pay nearly as much attention as they should be. The only thing that sucks is when the boss comes and they sit there for 30 seconds while trying to hide the poker room on their computer screen /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Damn, where the hell do they work? This is the only site that gets through my work's firewall (and only if you put the "forumserver" in front of twoplustwo.com)