PokerStars NL and tourney players, answer a few Qs please :)

[smoore]

I agree that ring games are tougher at 'stars than most sites but the sheer volume of tournament players guarantees some soft competition. Just play your game until your PT stats start to reflect the "game" of particular opponents.

[Beavis68]

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That's good to hear.

I was always under the impression that PokerStars should be avoided cause of all of the tighties. Must have been the review at www.pokerlistings.com. They still rate the competition as "1" because of how tough it is, apparently.

Soft competition (1)
The ring games are very tough at Poker Stars, due to its very poker savvy players. The view flop percentages are markedly lower than the online average. For example, at the 9 player no-limit Holdem tables ($1/$2 and up) the view flop percentage is often in the mid 20-ies and low 30-ies. In Omaha there are some loose games with view flop percentages up in the 40-ies and 50-ies, sometimes in the 60-ies (at $1/$2 and up). The tournament player quality is of more varying level. Of course there are mostly strong players in high stakes sit-and-go and the main fixed schedule events. However, a lot of non-experts take part as Poker Stars attracts many tournament players as the tournaments leader. In short, the competition is quite tough, but less tough in the tournaments.

I just checked out the NL100 and NL200 flop view percentage, and it seems pretty high. Party doesn't list these stats, but it seems similar to me as a player there.

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This is old info, Stars has grown a lot lately and hence softened up quite a bit.

[Isura]

2/4 6-max is really soft at stars, probably the easiest 2/4 game online. And, I wouldn't go to Stars for the tournaments unless you play the higher buyin ones, they have the worst structure.

[Amid Cent]

Don't forget that the SNG tournament structure on PS is much different from the Party skins. You get 1500 in chips vs 800 (or 1000 at $50+). Also, the blinds increase by time instead of each 10 hands. This is a HUGE advantage for the good player and you see much less of the push and pray method during the bubble stage.