Losing EV not changing your nickname?

[Peter_rus]

Ok, i'm not a fan of changing my well-known nick to any other one. I used to run some time ago 2 nicks simultaneously and my well-known nick run better. Of course there were not enough hands to make certain decisions (around 150K for both nicks), but since then i quit changing my nicks.

Do you think i'm giving up too much information playing 30/60+, assuming a lot of people datamine me or have decent amount of hands playing against me as well as many people read my posts?

What's your opinion?

[mmcd]

Not enough options in your poll. I think you definately lose something, but less than .5bb/100. You've posted enough about the various quirks in your game on these boards that good players should be able to take advantage. I know I've played hands diffenetly against you in order to get excessive action since I know that you're a bit more aggressive postflop than most TAGs.

I think it has much more of an impact at the 30/60 level than in the higher games, because in the higher games, the player base is small enough that people should be able to figure out who you are pretty quickly after a name change.

[MNpoker]

Very interesting question.

Personally I tend to believe I don't care if players have a DB of my stuff. Trying to figure out my thought my process based only on the hands you see will be difficult and I would expect most players will actually harm themselves with this data.

If someone wants to take the time to really analyze all 50K hands or whatever they have on me more power to them. But the information they can pull during a game situation will not help much IMO. In fact over analytical players can get so tied up in that crap they forget to play (and tend to always take the 'optimistic view'). "He bluffed with K high in the past so maybe he's doing it again" Thanks sucker /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would rather that the good players consider me a good player. If seeing my stats promotes that great.

Plus with datamining you still only 'see' a small portion of my hands. And the hands that make it to the river may not be a very good indicator of how I play.

Of course I could be very very wrong as I have never datamined. So I'm not sure what the power of it is.

Side Note:
What I do think can hurt a player is having the same name here as on the net. Now players can see not only your hands but your thought process as well. <-- This is WAY more powerful of a weapon. (IMO)

[krishanleong]

[ QUOTE ]
If someone wants to take the time to really analyze all 50K hands or whatever they have on me more power to them. But the information they can pull during a game situation will not help much IMO. In fact over analytical players can get so tied up in that crap they forget to play (and tend to always take the 'optimistic view'). "He bluffed with K high in the past so maybe he's doing it again" Thanks sucker /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would rather that the good players consider me a good player. If seeing my stats promotes that great.

Plus with datamining you still only 'see' a small portion of my hands. And the hands that make it to the river may not be a very good indicator of how I play.

Of course I could be very very wrong as I have never datamined. So I'm not sure what the power of it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are right. I have studied great players in my mined databases and just seeing hands that went to showdown isn't enough information to improve yourself as a player.

I've also asked for complete databases from experts. I've found it's still tremendously difficult to learn even from them.

Krishan

[mmcd]

I think the loss in ev has more to do with having a screen name that's identical to your 2+2 name than just not chnaging your screen name that often.

[DpR]

While certainly not proof of anything; I have changed account or screen names a total of 7 times. Each and every time I have immediately gone on a very large downswing. I cant really figure out what that means, if anything, but I now avoid switching screen names like the plague.

[Klepton]

here's what i do when i'm picking tables:

open up a table
see 5 players sitting, one of them has the name 'peter rus'
i close the table

although, knowing somebody is a 2+2er can be very easy to play against.

[elindauer]

Hi Peter,

I played under elindauer forever at party, but eventually decided that it just didn't make sense to give out that information. Why should I tell people how I play? I don't see how it can do anything but cost you money.

I voted that it's losing but probably close.

-Eric

[joes28]

I voted the middle one because I dont think it makes a huge difference. I play under a pretty well known name right now (party 50/100, 100/200, steps) and I am planning on changing it pretty soon. I think that for most people it doesnt make much of a difference (they play standard), but I think for a player like you (and me to a lesser degree) it might make more of a difference for people not to know who you are. You play uber aggro, and it is hard for people to adjust to this without having played with you for awhile. I think that if you changed names, there would be an adjustment period among the regulars where you may make more than you normally do.

[skp]

I change my handle every 6 months. I think that it's silly not to given datamining.

[catlover]

I think by keeping your handle, you lose during the play of hands because people play better against you. The fact that you know they will play better against you does not make up for this.

However, you do help yourself because of table selection. If good players know you they will avoid you, and that's a good thing.

I think of these two effects, the first one is stronger, but it's close.

[mmcd]

[ QUOTE ]
I think by keeping your handle, you lose during the play of hands because people play better against you. The fact that you know they will play better against you does not make up for this.

However, you do help yourself because of table selection. If good players know you they will avoid you, and that's a good thing.

I think of these two effects, the first one is stronger, but it's close.

[/ QUOTE ]


Maybe it's just me, but I've never opened a table and said to myself, "Oh [censored], player X is on this table, I better find another game to play in." Peter Rus is an excellent player, but I'd never specifically avoid a game he was in unless the game conditions were otherwise bad.

[Abbaddabba]

Obviously it's not going to tbe the sole deciding factor, but it would make a difference; even if that difference is marginal.

Of course, if you're at a table where another skilled opponent would use the fact that you're at the table as the determining factor to not play, you're probably sitting at a pretty lousy table to begin with.

[KellyRae]

I tend to agree; plus if Player X has good table selection skills it may in fact make sense to join the table precisely because Player X is there (although you could always be taking the seat of a fish that made the game good).

[jomatty]

as far as game selection goes i dont try to avoid good players i try to find bad players. thats where the money is. if peter is playing with a few people i know i have a good advantage over its a good game to me even if peter has a slight advantage over me. this seems so obvious that i shouldnt have typed it, especially since the "when i see peter russ at the table i close it" post may have been in jest, but since i did...
matty