Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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I havent seen much difference in the jackpot and non-jackpot tables. I play the jackpot ones because I want the games to be 10-handed.

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Why don't you just play regular the 1/2 ring games? In my experience, most of those are usually full games (or almost full).

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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Why don't you just play regular the 1/2 ring games? In my experience, most of those are usually full games (or almost full).

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I do when I can find one, there are very few 10-handed 1/2 games at party though, most tables at the limit is 6-handed. So when I cant find one with space I take a jackpot table instead.

k

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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Why don't you just play regular the 1/2 ring games? In my experience, most of those are usually full games (or almost full).

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I do when I can find one, there are very few 10-handed 1/2 games at party though, most tables at the limit is 6-handed. So when I cant find one with space I take a jackpot table instead.

k

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Weird -- I sometimes have to wait, but I can usually get one right away or within a minute or two at the most.

Maybe we just play at different times...

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

I'm in the same boat you are in, Scott.

I was working my way up to 1/2 from .50/1 around Mothers' Day when I cashed out a big part of my bankroll to buy the wife a new digital camera. The day before Mothers' Day, my PP account stood at $250. Over the next two days, I went on an incredible downswing, dropping all the way down to $70, which is incredibly hard to do at the .50/1 level in such a short period of time.

June and the first half of July were very good to me, as I diligently worked my bankroll back up to $600. I then jumped back up to 1/2. After taking a couple of days to get used to the higher pot size, I began increasing my bankroll steadily at 1/2.

Over the last couple of weeks, breaking and staying above the $1,000 barrier has been a huge psychological hurdle for me. My high point has been $1,051, but I have never actually finished a session above $1,000. I have wanted to simply shut the computer down a few times after breaking the $1,000 mark, but I know that is no real reason to leave a table, so I have resisted the temptation.

The last week or so has been incredibly frustrating, as I have dropped about 100BB. It's not a huge amount, and I know bad swings happen, but it has been difficult to deal with. The last 3 days in particular have been tough. I have been in a pattern where I will sit down for a session and promptly go at least 50 hands without winning a pot. Yesterday afternoon, I only won 1 pot in the first 225 hands I played. Lots of sets over sets, KK v. AA, flush beats at the river, etc. I am usually good at managing my emotions, but trying to stay about $1,000 has been a hard barrier for me to get over, and for some reason it is really bothering me mentally. Maybe because I could see the proverbial light at the end of the 1/2 tunnel and was looking forward to making a run at 2/4.

I have noticed some of the same things you have about the play at 1/2. Lots of bluff re-raising on the flop, and lots of slowplaying with top pair, where players will call a bet on the flop and then pop you on the turn. However, unlike you, I have had a difficult time earning free cards with my strong flush draws and straight draws. People have really been making me pay to try and hit draws.

It seems like advancing through the 1/2 level on Party has been difficult for lots of posters here.

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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Weird -- I sometimes have to wait, but I can usually get one right away or within a minute or two at the most.

Maybe we just play at different times...

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That might be it since I'm from Norway. I think my normal playing hours are close to mid-day in your part of the world.

That being said, I'm not the most patient person in the world when it comes to this. I'm sure I can get a table if I wait a little, but I just figured the extra rake isnt that bad.

k

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

I've been playing 1/2 for a couple weeks now, and haven't found it to be too bad. I agree, there is a bit more trickiness... slowplaying of good hands, bluff raises, etc. But so far PT says I'm at about 8BB/100. That's only for a bit over 1000 hands, so I'm sure it won't last like that. But it at least indicates that things *can* go well at 1/2.

I think table selection is more important. Often, I'll find myself at a tight or tricky/aggressive table, and that makes things difficult. If you can find a loose 10 person table, that makes things considerably easier. Last night, I was playing 3 tables and all of them had 4 to 6 people regularly seeing the flop, so that made for a good night. I've tightened up quite a bit compared to .50/1 as well.... at the lower level I was about 24% VP$IP, at 1/2 I'm at about 19%.

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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I've been playing 1/2 for a couple weeks now, and haven't found it to be too bad. I agree, there is a bit more trickiness... slowplaying of good hands, bluff raises, etc. But so far PT says I'm at about 8BB/100. That's only for a bit over 1000 hands, so I'm sure it won't last like that. But it at least indicates that things *can* go well at 1/2.

I think table selection is more important. Often, I'll find myself at a tight or tricky/aggressive table, and that makes things difficult. If you can find a loose 10 person table, that makes things considerably easier. Last night, I was playing 3 tables and all of them had 4 to 6 people regularly seeing the flop, so that made for a good night. I've tightened up quite a bit compared to .50/1 as well.... at the lower level I was about 24% VP$IP, at 1/2 I'm at about 19%.

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Glad to hear that at least someone is doing well. I'm trying to convince myself that this is just a bad streak.

Now that the PP hand histories seem to be fixed, I might give the weekend a shot before bailing since it's usually softer.

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

I started out pretty rough at 1/2 as well, with a 120 BB downswing (blech). I made some adjustments to my game, and in particular started being a lot more diligent about table selection. I am a lot more willing to leave a rock garden when I find myself in one. After some searching last night, I managed to land a table with 6 or more 1/2 players seeing every flop. Now, at 2k hands in full ring and 4k in 6-max, I am averaging 3.5BB/100 hands.

By the way, I get the feeling some are intentionally avoiding the 6-max tables. Is there any reason for this? I find them as loose as .5/1, but with more maniacs. Yes there can be significant variance, but ultimately they seem quite profitable.

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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Now that the PP hand histories seem to be fixed, I might give the weekend a shot before bailing since it's usually softer.

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Are they fixed?

Last two nights playing 2 tables, I would request a hand history and one table would show up fine and the other would not.

If I played one table only, history was fine.

Cant contribute much to the 1/2 conversation though, but I did have a plenty bad first experience at the .5/1 level.

Re: The PP 1/2 blood, sweat and tears thread
 

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I started out pretty rough at 1/2 as well, with a 120 BB downswing (blech).

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[img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] That's one helluva 1/2 swing. I probably would have dropped back to .5/1