[soda]

The .50/1 game is very beatable with straightforward play. Most pots were multiway, allowing me to play smaller pairs in late position. But, mostly I just played ABC. Uber tight up front, typical with my raising hands. Didn't find a lot of value open raising from middle position with ATs (for example) because players were too loose in general, ie. open calling seemed the better EV play to me. Then just play better after the flop. Lots of money to be made in this game, even though it's only .50/1.

The 1/2 games were, of course, tougher. The main things I noticed were some players were players and some were nonplayers. The players tried all sorts of fancy stuff and would become real aggressive in steal situations and with good hands. The nonplayers, were either tight passive or typical loose calling stations.

I used StatKing to find out player tendencies. Sat in one 1/2 game with 4 players taking less than 17% of the flops. This game was amazingly good. Every third hand was a blind steal opportunity. Oh, yeah, blind steals became very important in the 1/2 game. Players play well enough that an AT open raise from middle position was likely to get heads up with a blind or win the money. They didn't, however, play well enough that I had to fear a steal reraise from the CO or button.

I'm now working on the $2/4 game. Main difference is that this game can get very aggressive. Often times loose aggressive, much like the 20/40 at Commerce if you've played that.

Some quick tips, get StatKing and check the table preflop frequencies regularly. Some people are playing 3 or 4 games and waiting for aces or better before they play - you should make a small amount of money off these players by stealing from them when they miss their AK or in the blinds. Others are playing over 50% of the flops.

Also, I do a quick 5 hand report every time someone calls me down to see what they had. Gives me great insight to their play. Oh, and value bet, alot. People don't trust people online even more than they don't trust in the casino.

Say hi if you see me,

soda