New player online - is this normal?

[Quadflop]

While I am by no means a new poker player, I recently started playing on Party. Unsure of how and what type of opponents are playing online, I started off on a micro table .50-1.00. That was frustrating, to say the least, because everyone and their brother apparently thinks every hand is a winner and I suffered several early losses by virtue of being outdrawn on the river with total junk showing on the table. In hopes of finding a tighter, more reasonable game, I moved up to 2-4 and 3-6 tables and spent some time at each. I spent an entire day playing, and finished ahead several hundred dollars. I am finding that by spending as little as a couple of hours there each night I can usually bring in at least another $50-100. Is this normal for online play? I am not bragging, nor do I think I am the next pro. I am a rank amateur who studies the game and plays only when I feel I can take a pot or bluff one in my favor. As my experience is only 2 weeks old, I am curious if it's been a very good week or if folks are that eager to donate their hard earned money to strangers? Be easy on me, folks, I am a newbie here [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[pudley4]

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As my experience is only 2 weeks old, I am curious if it's been a very good week

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Yes

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or if folks are that eager to donate their hard earned money to strangers?

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Yes

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Be easy on me, folks, I am a newbie here

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Welcome to the forum

[Zele]

Online games run faster than B&M. 60-100 hph (hands per hour) full ring and 80-150+ short-handed. So if you're playing 3-6, and you're a super-duper expert (at 3-6), you might average $9/40hands. Hence if you played in an 80hph game, and you played 3 hours a night, you'd expect $54 an hour or so.

Remember, this is assuming you are one of the most skilled 3-6 players online. Assuming you can beat the game like your average Joe Expert, knock it down to $6/hr. If you're just good, further down, and so on.

In short: Yes, online games can be very good, and you can play lots of hands quickly, which is good if you're a winner. On the other hand, $50-$100 every night is almost certainly due to luck. I'm not saying you're not an expected winner (with those results your odds of being one are greater than a priori.) But you're in the good half of the distribution.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[AliasMrJones]

With your super small sample size, all you can say is you played poker. You need many more hours before you can say anything concrete about your play. Be prepared for the downswing, it will come no matter how good you are. If you can beat 2/4 and have the bankroll for it, great. But, if you can't beat $.50/1, I don't think you're ready for 2/4. Party $.50/1 is about the softest game on the planet.

[symphonic]

Just watch out for those Pattern Mappers, they'll suck you dry.

[davidross]

Playing 1 2/4 or 3/6 table for a few hours and making $200 a night is running very well, even for the best players in the world. The games are beatable, but I would think 2 big bets an hour would be an exeptional result. WHat you experienced at the micro limit will happen to you again at all levels, there is no price limit on people willing to chase bad hands to the river, and some days they all get there against you.

Good luck, and ride that wave as long as you can.

[Aragorn]

After you have around 1,000 hours in a game you should have an idea of a typical hourly rate.

[David Steele]

...everyone and their brother apparently thinks every hand is a winner and I suffered several early losses by virtue of being outdrawn on the river with total junk showing on the table. In hopes of finding a tighter, more reasonable game, I moved up...

Likely you were just running good.

D.