Party .5/1 vs 1/2

[Ogre]

I have been playing Party .5/1 for some time now and I have just started to play 1/2 full. I was wondering if there are any major diffrences in the games or how I would need to change my play.

[bisonbison]

What have you noticed?

[JSD]

Ogre, I'm in a similar situation to you and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the differences. Here are mine:

1) You're more likely to have 4-5 decent, somewhat tight, sort-of thinking opponents at your table instead of only 1 or 2 (or none) you find at .50/1. Theres still some pretty big fish though. Fewer LAGs who bet and raise everything.

2) Of the tighies, about half seem to be pretty weak-tight and about half are aggressive. If you pay attention, you can pick up on who is who pretty quickly. Against the weak-tight players, plays like semi-bluffs and steals become viable, whereas in .50/1 semi-bluffing is almost always a bad idea because you're unlikely to get everyone to fold.

3) Games move more quickly with opponents who at least sort of know what they are doing and fewer people seeing the flop (more like 40% average than 50% in .50/1). When someone takes time to think about a decision, losers don't type "zzzzzzzzzzzz" in the chat window. I find the pace of 1/2 to be much more to my liking - moves quickly, but you can take your time to make a decision if you need to.

4) You can actually start thinking and trying to put your decent opponents on a hand.

I'm actually finding that I like 1/2 a lot better than .50/1. The latter seems like its become almost mindless lately. I found it difficult to force myself to think about decisions when it was just as likely for my opponent to have 72o as AA. Furthermore, I think my BB/100 took a real hit at .50/1 when I tried getting too tricky - semi-bluffing and so forth. Sure there's easy money at .50/1, but for me, poker is a learning experience as much if not more so than a money maker. I want to improve. I want to think. I want it to be a challenge the way bridge is, not a mindless exercise in jamming flush draws or praying your AA holds up.

I still split my time between .50/1 and 1/2 (with a little 2/4 on the side) but I'm finding myself spending more and more time at 1/2. I've got the bankroll and I enjoy it more.

YMMV.

[thirddan]

i only have about 1500 hands at 1/2 single tabling, but i haven't really noticed much difference in the play between .50/1 and 1/2...