Thinking of moving to PartyPoker 1/2

[lautzutao]

Ok, I know this exact post must get put up once a week by others contemplating the same thing but...

I've been playing Party Poker .50/1 and PokerStars .25/.50 and have been doing very well. Including the bonuses I've received I'm about double my starting bankroll(I'm at $475 and change between both sites.)

The big question: given my lack of experience(I've only played about 8k hands online up to this point) should I even attempt to take a shot at 1/2 or just stay where I am right now and be happy, gaining more experience?

I've read Tiltaholics thread about making the leap to this limit, and am somewhat undecided.

This I do know:

1. I can afford to blow this entire bankroll if that's the way it plays out.

2. I don't see the PartyPoker 1/2 games to be as tough as possibly other sites(Pokerstars...)

3. Playing at somewhat tight tables at Pokerstars has taught me to be a little more aggressive around the button when it comes to stealing, and feel confident in my ability to defend against these attempts from my blinds, something that Tiltaholic stated I believe as a major change between these limits.

You think I should go for it, or become more accustomed to the "ABC's" of Poker?

I say go for it when you can find good games. I made the mistake when starting to move up to 2/4 and 3/6 of playing with little thought to game selection, and it was a big mistake.

[deception5]

Why not take a stab and if you drop say $200 move back down to .50/1 where you'll still be sufficiently bankrolled?

[Saint_D]

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(I'm at $475 and change between both sites.)
...
(I've only played about 8k hands online up to this point)
...
1. I can afford to blow this entire bankroll if that's the way it plays out.


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I am making this move myself now. I have a bigger BR, and 20K hands behind me. I took a beating in my first 5000 hands, but things are looking better now.

There is no doubt your poker game will improve as a result of this move. So you have to figure out what your goal really is.

1. Improve you poker skills as rapidly as possible, regardless of losses.
2. Maximize your earn from online poker.
3. Have fun, improve your game, but keep playing with other peoples money.

Number 1? No brainer go dump 150-200 BB at 1/2 and see if you can crack it.

Number 2 or 3? Get 50K more hands at .5/1 and play a few 1/2 tables to get a feel for it and keep you focused on improving.

Some tips for 1/2:
When defending blinds, most people are not stealing at 1/2. They have a 10% or better PF hand when they raise. Domination is not fun. K6o is worse defense hand than 98s.

There are more decent players here, but plenty of bad ones. Worry less about table VP$IP than getting position on the bad players and not playing out of position to a TAG.

The bets are doubled, so one bad night could easily take out 1/4-1/2 of your online cash. You might be able to afford a $100 reload every 2 week, but do you really want to?

Variance will make you her bitch whenever she wants. And with as few hands as you have, I would say you aren't prepared to for what it's like. I sure wasn't.

GL
-D

P.S. Please don't pwn me too much when you see me at 1/2.

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Number 1? No brainer go dump 150-200 BB at 1/2 and see if you can crack it.


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Yeah especially b/c it sounds like you can always redeposit if you take a beating. If you're beating .5/1 you can beat 1/2 with good game selection


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Some tips for 1/2:
When defending blinds, most people are not stealing at 1/2. They have a 10% or better PF hand when they raise.


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I can't stress this enough. I think the default at 1/2 is that people do not steal that much with weak hands. Unless someone is stealing all the time and is obviously doing it with any two. However, at this point you should no longer be sitting at the table. At 1/2 it is so easy on Party to find loose games where blind defense situations are rare. Steal from the weak-tighties though when you get the chance.

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There are more decent players here, but plenty of bad ones. Worry less about table VP$IP than getting position on the bad players and not playing out of position to a TAG.

The bets are doubled, so one bad night could easily take out 1/4-1/2 of your online cash. You might be able to afford a $100 reload every 2 week, but do you really want to?

Variance will make you her bitch whenever she wants. And with as few hands as you have, I would say you aren't prepared to for what it's like. I sure wasn't.



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All great advice. Good luck.

[lautzutao]

Sold [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[bnorthro]

I moved to $1/2 about 1 1/2 months ago. I had about 4.5K hands at the .5/1 GBP tables at Crypto (so soft and easy) and another 2-3K at $.50/1 at various sites. I had a bit larger BR than you. My big driver was the Crypto sites changing their wagering for the bonuses.

1/2 at Crypto was a rock garden. I moved most of my money over to Party (MultiPoker) and promptly started losing, about $200 and change after maybe 2-3K hands. I was kind of running bad before the switch, but I stuck with it. After some adjusting, I started winning. Now after about 10.5K hands, I'm a 3BB/100 winner and $1/2 at party seems like a fishing pond.

Try it out. Don't try stealing the blinds every time becuase you've read that you need to start stealing blinds more - I did this and didn't really know what I was doing at first. Get a feel for it, it's the same game, just a little bit different.

Good luck.

[RiverTheNuts]

I say move to .5/1 6 max first, run it up to about 350 bets or so for 1/2 and go straight to 1/2 6 max. It is ridiuclously profitable.

1/2 players are just as bad as .5/1 players, you wont learn much IMO, maybe others will prove otherwise

[Taxmanrick]

I just made the move to 1/2 from .5/1 Party about 3 weeks ago. I tried one time before unsuccessfully. My bankroll the first time was only about $350. Lost $25 the very first session, freaked out! Went back down for about 2 weeks and ended up building it back up to about $550. Decided to take another shot and haven't looked back. I think the biggest adjustment for me was that I got so used to the stakes @ .5/1, that when I saw taht I was laying out so much money @ 1/2, I freaked the first time. The second time, I made a decision to ignore the $ amount. Easier said than done at first, believe me. But after a few winning sessions, I realized these are the same idiots playing, I'm just making more money!

Stick to SSHE and give it a try. Like more than one prson has said here before, there's no shame in dropping back down for a while.

I also started posting here a lot more.

I'm at the exactly the same crossroads as the OP, but I'm pursuing D's #3 road. Also, my overall win rate has declining steadily for a while, not from bad losses, but from lack of much winning or losing at all.

I'm figuring that by the time I've bonus-whored another $150-200 I'll not only be fully bankrolled with house money for $1/2, but I'll also have had time to work on my leaks so I'm comfortable playing as aggressively as I need to at the higher level.

As for switching to 6-max, keep in mind that the strategies and variance are somewhat different than full tables. You might want to stick your toe in the waters first and see if it's right for you. I've tried it out, and I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.