Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

I've played some hands this morning and some yesterday evening of the 1/2 6-max games on the skin network (i.e. not Party-- Euro/Empire/whatever) and here are some preliminary thoughts:

-- not many tables available. Right now (12:30ish EDT) there are only 11 tables going at this level and only one with more than 6 players. If you play full ring, good luck finding a game. A benefit of a small player base is that, if you pay attention, you will rarely sit at a table where you don't know anybody; since players at SSNL generally don't mix it up much, good reads on the static styles of your opponents will add a lot to your bottom line. Playing a mediocre player you know can be better than playing a bad one you don't.
-- I see fewer loose-passive fish but more bad LAGs (maniacs). This isn't surprising and doesn't really bother me. I feel like I'm pretty good at countering maniacs and letting their aggression work against them. I don't need to bet at calling stations all day to turn a profit. There does not appear to be an increase in the number of 'tough' opponents; just increases in rocks and bad LAGs.
--The games are still good. Based on the threads in the Zoo, you'd think all the skin tables would be -EV but there are still plenty of bad players. Is it as soft as Party? Probably not (from what I've heard-- haven't tried Party yet) but if you are getting rakeback on the skins but not on Party, you would do well to figure out how much better the Party games would have to be to compensate financially for the rakeback loss. I doubt anybody beating the games before the split would not be able to beat the skin side now.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

I really can't see Empire holding any edge over Party in the longrun from this point onwards, especially with rakeback deals that may start this week. The game selection on Empire looks very dismal.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

yeah, game selection is the big thing for me. I prefer full ring, and there's just not a whole lot going on at Empire.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

I forgot to mention that they still seem real soft to me too. I'm down 3 buy-ins today b/c I've had every set I've hit today get run down by a donk. So they still seem plenty good to me.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

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The game selection on Empire looks very dismal.

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Is this based on there being too many 'bad' tables or just an assumption based on the fact that there are noticeably fewer tables to choose from? I'm no NL expert but I've never sat in a game with more than 4 players that wasn't soft below the 2/4 level. This doesn't mean every game is equally good, but I suspect a lot of people are panicking just from the look of the lobby with fewer tables to choose from.

Above 2/4 (400NL), I will admit that the difference appears much greater. There are next to no games that big running on the skins.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

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yeah, game selection is the big thing for me. I prefer full ring, and there's just not a whole lot going on at Empire.

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I think this will hurt full ring specialists more than anyone. There has only been two full 1/2 tables max going yesterday and this morning. Normally, there are at least 3 even at 8 AM Boston time with over 10 going at peak hours.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

avg vpip, pfr etc + the minimal amount of people playing 200 atm is just ugly. There is currently 13 games running on Empire and 33 running on Party, I love short handed games but I also love good game selection.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

Don't take this the wrong way as I know you're beating these games, but table averages don't tell you the whole story about how good a game is.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

100NL was soft yet crazy today on party, I am liking it very much. I figured id try out party after reading this post and it has been excellent and game selection was fine.

Re: Some random thoughts on the good and bad of the Party split
 

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Don't take this the wrong way as I know you're beating these games, but table averages don't tell you the whole story about how good a game is.

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Yea I know, maybe I should of tried for the games for a week or so, but at this point I think Party is where the best games are going to be. If I change my mind my Empire account will always still be around.