What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I'm considering opening an account on the PokerRoom network. I understand that they offer 5-max.

1. Are the 10/20 games good?

2. What are the game availability and game selection like?

3. I don't know much about this network. What else should I know?

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

1. The games are excellent.
2. The game selection is very poor (there are very few games, but there are incredibly bad players in all of them).
3. I don't care for the software, but I'm used to the Party software I guess.

I just did about 5k hands at this game and its at least as good as Party. Usually can't get in more than 2 tables though.

FWIW,
Jim

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I would say it is hit and miss, with table selection I certainly wouldn't consider it remotely close to the party games. I played all 4 tables of the 5/10 that where going last month alot, they could be good, ie someone rand $50 up to $200 playing 2/4 and sat down maybe there'd be a few of them, or they were full of same multitablers. I played the 10/20s occasionally but never found them to be good at all, though i only probably put in less than 2k hands at them.

You should know the rake is ridiculous at lower limits, I'm sure even at 5/10 it was high.

I can guess why you might be moving there and I wonder if a few more might move in on that deal in the not too distant future.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

the game selection is hit or miss imo. i found the best time to play there is during the daytime hours (i'm on the east coast). there are usually only from 1-3 (maybe 4) games to choose from. one problem i've found is that you'll occassionally run into a v. good TAG, and he's usually on ALL the tables to choose from, so the fish/tag ratio is cut down some (2:3 at 5max instead of 2:4 at 6max). hope this helps.

- happy holidays.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I just opened an account, and have been playing 5/10.

my comments:

the software can be pretty bad. tables dissapearing, stuff like that. the graphics on the tables are terribly distracting, and even with a table mod I find the action hard to follow.

PT support is good, although it requires a bit of 1 time setup. ditto for the table mod.

all the 5/10 games I've played in have been pretty good. lots of vpip >35 types.
overall: meh. I may leave after I get done the depsoit bonus.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

[ QUOTE ]
the software can be pretty bad. tables dissapearing, stuff like that. the graphics on the tables are terribly distracting, and even with a table mod I find the action hard to follow.



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yeah, i definitely agree here. the waiting list effing blows... you get like 10 seconds to sit down before the next person on the lists gets a shot. i've had some weird disconnects where i'll only get back on 3 out of 4 tables.

i'm probably not staying there much longer either.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

Oh yeh i forgot about the software, 4 tables was maximum on my dell 9300 laptop, and I often had lag or timing out problems it was very very frustrating with PA-hud turned on which seems to only worsten the problem at this site. Software was awful awful now that I remember it and added even more to my frustrations at the time.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

Indeed, look closely at the rake. Over the hands I played, pokerroom + rakeback was just about a wash versus party without. Reminded me of my old Italian/Jewish friend who'd joke that he'd steal your stereo and sell it back to you.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

Games are loose and pretty good.
Rake is high.
Fair amount of games, but definitely not enough.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

"Over the hands I played, pokerroom + rakeback was just about a wash versus party without."

So your saying that even with rakeback you are still paying the same amount of rake that you would playing PP? Yikes, I knew it was bad, but I didnt know it was that bad.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

The games are OK. Very LAGgy, with lots of 55/25 sorts of guys and much fewer 40/8 guys. 5-Max seems to send some into silly aggression, and it will have a different tempo than Party or some other sites -- lots of flinging chips into the pot with authority and little else (besides an authoritative fling). But there are several solid (post-flop) guys that stat-wise are somewhere like 40/25 or 35/25.

Game selection leaves a lot to be desired. Weekend nights there might be 4 or sometimes 5 games running. Weeknights might be 2 - 4. And there might be 2 games running with each waiting list being 2-3 deep, but if you sit at an empty table and wait for others to join, it's the rare bird that sits and gets a game going. To compound the game selection challenge, even when there are 4 games running, there are only 20 seats, and very often one or two different LAG/TAGs who play well post-flop or are at least good hand-readers and player-readers (pound on fishes, don't push hard against solid) are sitting at each table. In other words, you might find no more than 17-20 different players at peak times and 7-10 at low-volume times. The one upside is that the 5-max games are played on a 10-seat table, and you get to choose which of the 10 seats you sit in, despite the table being limited to 5 players -- this means of course that you have a lot of flexibility on seat selection even when table selection is lacking.

I don't know much about the network either. I play there occasionally, but it is a long way from being a preferred destination for me. The rake is slightly worse (but not dramatically so) at 10/20 or higher than other sites, but not the horrible rip-off that others often describe here at 2+2 (which description sounds like it might be appropriate at lower levels). The method of computing MGR isn't terribly favorable to the player with incentives, though, so even a flat rake isn't necessarily as attractive as it might be on other sites.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Over the hands I played, pokerroom + rakeback was just about a wash versus party without."

So your saying that even with rakeback you are still paying the same amount of rake that you would playing PP? Yikes, I knew it was bad, but I didnt know it was that bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's worse at the lower limits. I was playing $.20 a hand in rake at 3/6. Party is $.12

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I must be intepreting these things wrong because I just spent 30 minutes comparing the rake and different levels and PRs seems to be only slightly worse and that was only when the pots became larger. When the pots stayed smaller in relation to BBs the rake actually seemed to be better. I must be reading something wrong, because ti seems like with rakeback it owuld be a good deal.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

http://tinypic.com/j809wi.jpg

At 3/6, say the pot is $12, they are raking $1.20 That's 10%, which = sick

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

1) I just began playing there few weeks ago. My experiences are mostly from little higher levels, but I played little 10 20 aswell. The games are good. But don't bluff. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Most of the opponents I have had are pretty loose-passive, so in many occasions when I have been value betting 2nd pair decent kicker on every street it turns out opponent is just calling down with top pair good kicker kinda hand.

2) Many games and all good.

3) I play at http://www.bayoupoker.com/ they offer 50% rakeback. But it's as unlimited neteller deposit bonuses, those "bonuses" are credited to your account once a day.
Cashouts seem to be fast and reliable.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I'm not sure about my math but .1 of a BB at 3/6 should be .60 which is should means it'll cap at .5 which is 4% Which is not so bad though...

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I compared the rake for PokerRoom 10/20 with Party.

First off let me remind some of you that BB = Big Blind.

PokerRoom is significantly cheaper for heads up play, saving $0.50 in many raked pots. You never pay more than Party.

PokerRoom is completely awful for 3-handed play. You'll pay an extra $1.00 in most 3-handed pots. This is absolute murder on game starters and quite possibly a major factor in the lack of game selection you guys are reporting.

PokerRoom, if you are reading this let me say that a $2 max rake 3-handed is just idiocy. Do you hate your own business? People who will play 3-handed are to be treasured because they are the ones who create new tables and save dying ones. I play a lot of 3-handed poker against the right opponents at other rooms, but I will definitely leave any Pokerroom table that goes under four players.

PokerRoom is slightly better than Party 4-handed. You will save an occasional $0.50 when the pot is under $40. For most of us this only happens when you play an unraised pot out of the blinds and take it down with a flop bet.

This tiny pot advantage still exists 5-handed but it is heavily outweighed by having to pay an extra $1.00 on all medium and large pots (>= $120 = 6 big bets).

PokerRoom has a large advantage over Party with 6+ players. You save $0.50 or $1.00 on a wide range of pots. Of course PR offers 5-max so most of you don't care.

But I care. I spend a lot of time at sites where you should stop being fussy and play whatever game the fish are playing today. So I'm used to the idea of mix-and-matching my tables.

How is the game selection for 10/20 full-ring at PokerRoom? Is it 9-handed or 10-handed?

What are the next steps up the ladder? I've sort of gotten the idea that you have to jump all the way to $25/$50.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

Edit: BB = Big Blind...

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

Yeah the bayou bonus is pretty sick, but I heard from another forum that cashouts are sometimes a little tedious. Check out totalbluff.com, they have a ton of threads of exactly how the bayou bonus works. Its a little weird from what I understood.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

[ QUOTE ]
How is the game selection for 10/20 full-ring at PokerRoom? Is it 9-handed or 10-handed?

What are the next steps up the ladder? I've sort of gotten the idea that you have to jump all the way to $25/$50.

[/ QUOTE ]

Full handed selection is usually worse than short-handed. Right now (11:10 PM Tuesday night) there are two full 10-tops vs 4 5-tops. Off peak times there is frequently no full ring game going.

There is one full 15/30 game going and one 1/2 full 25/50 10-top going. One heads-up table at each of those levels going, and one heads-up match on a full ring table at 500/1000. That's it above 10/20

15/30 and 25/50 seem similarily spotty as far as I can tell, with a game or two going most times, rarely more.

B.

Re: What is PokerRoom 10/20 5-max like?
 

I played the 10/20 5 max on the pokerroom network for a month or two, and I think the players on average are worse than those on party. I think the games are better. however, i think you will burn more time searching for a game. and if you like to multitable 4+, you are not going to like it. they usually have around 5 tables for this limit, but sometimes there are only 3 with games going.

if i was you and wanted to play the 10/20 there, i would make sure that i played the 15/30 there as well. this would give you the additional table selection... and in my limited experience the 15/30 wasnt much, if any tougher.