Party much tighter?

[Pokey]

Peter:

It sounds to me like you need to get PokerTracker. This little program watches your tables and tells you all about your opponents; most players here swear by it. With PokerTracker, you won't need to rely on the "pot average" number reported in the lobby; you can actually open up the table and find out who's there. Also, it's been said before and it remains true: <font color="green">there are no loose tables; only loose players.</font> Knowing WHO you are facing is therefore very helpful. An obvious example: if there's a "loose" table that's loose because of the one player whose seat you just took to get on the table, then your table isn't loose anymore. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

If you truly want the loosest of the loose games, my suggestion is this:

Indian gaming casinos.

From what I've seen, most low-stakes games at the tribal casinos garner 6ish players per flop. I realize this isn't a pat answer for what you're seeking, but it does give you an idea of where you could go to truly see SSH apply perfectly.

As to Party network, I consider a "good" table to be one with VPIP &gt; 30%; that means that, on average, the players at the table will (V)oluntarily (P)ut money (I)nto the (P)ot at least 30% of the time. Including the big blind, this should get you an average of about four players per hand. At this point, the table is loose enough to use SSH to solid effect.

My suggestions:

1. Get PokerTracker and start using it religiously.
2. Before you sit down, open up some tables and "scout" where you want to be. Putting in 10-20 minutes of "scouting" can make the rest of your session many times more profitable, since the difference between a good table and a bad one is vast sums of money.
3. Play "speculative" hands less frequently from early position, especially if there's the risk of a raise from frisky players sitting behind you. Speculative hands include suited connectors under JTs, pairs below 8s, suited kings and queens (with rags), and unsuited connectors below KQ.
4. While fewer players see flops than you might prefer, I find that on an even remotely loose table you will likely get called all the way down to a showdown. As a result, bluffs tend to be minimized in value at the low-stakes games. This is another area where PokerTracker can help, by letting you know WHO you can bluff, and who will simply pay to "keep you honest." In general, though, be prepared to show your cards almost every time you play on the party network. While your reduced bluffing may cost you a pot or two here and there, it should save you money in the long run.

Just a few helpful suggestions. I hope you find them useful.