Strategies for Party Poker 1/2

[mookie]

I have just switched from Pokerstars to Party and the difference is unbelievable! Playing 1/2 (Party) I am amazed by the ridiculous betting, bluffing and especially betting out on second and third pair. Examples such as the board holding 9,10,J,Q,4 and I had one person bet, another called and both called raises to my K,Q. Another person was betting in to me with pocket 33's with an A and Q on the board.

It has taken a bit of adjustment as I have lost $100 I guess through a run of bad cards and giving up the winning hand. I am playing now and am up $68.

Any advice for these loose, aggressive tables?

Thanks Mookie.

[crockpot]

obviously you begin by tossing all bluffing out the window. if a lot of people are calling, it can be correct to put in a lot of bets with a draw getting good odds to do so. put more emphasis on hands with a small chance to win a big pot, like 44 or 76s, than on hands like AJo that don't play well multiway unless they hit two pair or better. very important - when you do have a hand like top pair, try to confront the field with a double bet, and consider waiting until fourth street to raise, like it says in HFAP. i was skeptical of that advice at first but it's very useful for loose low-limit games online.

as for when the other players are being aggressive, the key is to know when to dump a hand that is likely to be behind, and if it is not it can be easily overtaken. remember, reverse implied odds really work against you in this game.

[Webster]

OK - Pretend you are in a battle field and the other 9 guys at the table all carry machine guns and are just spraying the field randomly

YOU - on the other hand are a sniper. Just sitting there, quite, waiting. When a target appears BLAM, then go back into hiding.

Just site back and wait for the right time. Don't become a calling station because sometimes only st8s and flushs are winning because 7 guys are seeing the flop.

Sit and wait and pick'm off when they appear. suited connecters go up in value and pairs go down.

[Vee Quiva]

I find the most common problem for me is trying to get sophisticated in an unsophisticated game. Bluffing, stealing blinds, and check raising rarely work in these games. If you feel like you have the best hand raise. If you don't fold, especially in multiway pots where the chance go up a bunch of some idiot sucking out on the end.

Be patient. Waiting for good starting cards is something most of the Poker Party 1-2 players have not mastered yet.

[Jezebel]

[ QUOTE ]
check raising rarely work in these games

[/ QUOTE ]

in these loose aggressive games, learning when and how to checkraise is a VERY powerful play. Keep in mind that when you checkraise to wreck your opponents odds, you don't mind them calling as long as they are making a mistake. Just because they don't lay their hand down doesn't mean it didn't work.

[ChipWrecked]

[ QUOTE ]
sometimes only st8s and flushs are winning because 7 guys are seeing the flop.


[/ QUOTE ]

True. Showing down TPTK will get you massacred.

[AliasMrJones]

[ QUOTE ]
True. Showing down TPTK will get you massacred.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? Pokertracker says 1 pair has shown a profit for me from $.50/1 up through $2/4 on Party.

No fancy stuff, little (but not no) semi- and bluffing, good basic poker strategy has made me money at all the micro/small limits on Party.

[squiffy]

I don't know why people act like this is a revelation. I have seen others say and and I will say it again myself. I have consistently made a lot more money, a lot faster at Party than at any other site. I absolutely cannot understand why people play anywhere other than PARTY. IT IS THE FISHIEST AND THE BEST, IN MY EXPERIENCE. Whenever, I visit a non-Party site, my experience just does not match the positive non-Party experiences people often claim to have had.

[crockpot]

excellent point. the key to beating a loose game is to induce the opponents to make mistakes, and check-raising is a good way to do that.

[Webster]

Check-raising is great if not done to often - it's powerfull.

1 pair is a huge losing hand for me - I win 32% at show down and I'm thinking it's a leak - I play 2/4 for 4.5 BBs an hour and a pair sucks.

If you are raised you NORMALLY are beat unless you know for sure you are better. I've learned to RESPECT A RAISE - 90% of the time there is a good reason for it even if it's not obvious. some guy really DOES have 72s and has 2 pair!

[HajiShirazu]

Absolutely. I'm afraid that eventually Party will become un-fishy, and I'll have to play at a table full of decent/reasonable players, like I see at most other poker sites. For example, I look at UB, and every limit holdem table over .5/1 has flop %'s in the 30's. That would be unheard of at party-if a table doesnt have at least an average of 5 seeing the flop for one bet or 3-4 seeing it for two, I immediately go to find a better table, and it never takes long to find one.
And the play at shorthanded tables is even worse-people check calling to the river with TPTK, then checking the river when checked to. People calling to the river in mulitway pots with small pairs on broadway flops. People calling double bets in small pots with a gutshot, then bluffing the river when they miss, then calling your raise. The list goes on and on. I know that online poker cannot possibly stay this good, and it worries me, because I know I am not really much of a player, I am just good at taking advantage of awful opposition.

[Webster]

geez - you mean you might have to learn to be good? OH MY! LOL