[bigpooch]

I'm consistently beating the Paradise 1/2 draw game and am looking to move up.


Well, it's not really that hard to beat the 1/2 game on a
consistent basis. For example, I can't see any decent
players having even one losing week in 100 given the level
of play. Also, if you can play three tables, you can
average almost $1000 a week if you put in full time hours as
long as you are somewhat selective of the tables.


Anybody think there is much of a difference between the 1/2 and the 2/4 game or just a higher limit?


It's almost the same except that the rake is brutal in the
2-4 as opposed to the 1-2 and that's one of the reasons to
play it less often. In the 1-2 there are many unraked pots
when it's heads up with the BB or when it's unraised before
the draw. On the other hand, in the 2-4, and in the 3-6,
the rake punishes the players to such an extreme that you
actually have to make adjustments to your opening hands and
often that means less opportunities to play an exploitive
opening strategy. The 3-6 is even worse and the blind
structure requires that you play closer to "Wiesenberg 101".
Now, playing the minimal (and subminimal) Zadeh hands gets
you in serious trouble. Nevertheless, the games are still
beatable, but not nearly as autopilot as the 1-2.


If it plays differently, in what ways? I know there is much less table selection available.


The players do play better and most of the time, the opener
will raise as opposed to the better 1-2 tables where you
often get free plays in the big blind and cheap plays in the
small blind. Also, many of the players know to reraise with
hands like AKK22 whereas in the 1-2 players often don't
protect their trips by only smooth calling. In addition,
you won't see as many blunders such as playing shorts or
defending the blinds with clear losers. On the other hand,
there are still a lot of errors and money left on the table
in the 2-4 and 3-6 tables. And an occasional live one does
sit down to compensate for all the other negative factors.

The 5-10 goes even less often than the 2-4 and 3-6 and many
times it is only four-handed or less. The ante structure
difference is small and the rake is reasonable. Also, the
players are not significantly tougher than the players that
play the 2-4 or 3-6.