UB vs. Party Poker: should I make the move?

[babigm]

I was in almost the exact same situation as you. I had started out on the UB play money tables, then moved from .01/.02 to .25/.50 to .5/1 to 1/2, building up an ~$700 bankroll in the process. After this I wanted to bonus whore some of the other sites, so I took out most of that money.

Let me say this...I thought people here were exaggerating the bad play on party for effect, or for ego reasons. They probably got on one juicy table and then got sucked out on, so they call everyone a maniac.

I was so wrong.

Coming from UB, I signed up for Empire and jumped in to clear my bonus. After my first session I was in shock; I sincerely think a good portion of the play money tables at UB played tighter, more "common sense" poker then what I saw at the 2/4. The site is just on another scale then UB, it absolutely blew my mind how the clintele could be so incredibly different from one site to the other. At UB there's kind of the one or two crazy guys that everyone else preys on, on Empire/Party you feel almost hopelessly outnumbered by the crazies.

It's not easy though. You will have to adjust your style, at least I did anyway. You have a lot more variance, and you simply can't make the same plays that you can at UB. A lot of the bluffing, and check-raising and representing hands just isn't effective; you're reduced back down to mostly ABC poker. Honestly I found it more boring, even if it was more profitable. Also, your big hands will hold up less, though when you do win the pots will be bigger; that took getting used to. I ended up moving back down to the 1/2 because I had trouble dealing with the variance, especially on a short bankroll (300BB really feels excessive at UB...but not at Empire). Apparently the 1/2 is tight for Party standards, but I found it perfect...I'll take loose/passive over loose/aggressive any day. I'd suggest going to the 1/2 first, at least to get used to the place and software.

Speaking of the software, it's a step down from UB. Their servers are more stable then UB's, but as far as usability and the asthetics of the interface, UB is a lot better and you'll probably start missing the software soon. If you're going to bonus whore however, most sites seem to copy the party "style", so you might as well get used to it, why they couldn't have stolen ideas from UB I don't know.

All in all, I think UB will make you a better player and more ready for higher limits. Party will make you a more profitable player, and more ready for lower limit, live casino games. Which is more important to you should decide what you do.

Hopefully that's helpful.

[MiloBloom72]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of the software, it's a step down from UB.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree, but there's one respect in which UB really falls short operationally compared to other sites... hand histories. Hand histories on UB are cumbersome to get... there's absolutely nothing automated about the process... and when you receive them they will be in one of at least 3 different formats, all of which have to be massaged differently if you're planning to import them into Poker Tracker. If you're serious about tracking statistics about your own play and that of your opponents, you can do it at UB. But they make it more of a hassle than practically any other site.