BL vs. Full Tilt

[Big Limpin']

Okay, so i said i was gonna do this a while back, and never did. So today, i finally went ahead and signed up.

Backgound...This site is appealing as they are one of the few that allow you to clear bonuses via SnG play, and they offer a big bonus, 100% up to $600.

SO, this morning i signed up. First, i got some rakeback, 25% was not hard to find, check the classifieds. Then i deposit the 600.

The math: You get 7 "points" per dollar of vig. Each point is worth 6cents of bonus. THis translates to $0.42 in bonus cleared for every dollar vig...
With rakeback, another 25cents is coming off that vig, so essentially you are getting a net rakeback offer of 67% for as long as it takes to clear the bonus. Pretty schweeeet.

THe software: Is about what you'd expect.Like any new site, it takes a few minutes to get used to the interface, but otherwise, i had no beef with anything. When you signup, you get to chose an avator from a preset list. I chose the donkey. He looks like the donkey from Shrek. That guy cracks me up. At the table you can select from 4 emotions for your guy. Normal/Happy/Pissed/Confused. They really went allout on this feature. I get bored of this in about 3 seconds.
The tables look kinda "busy" to me, but you can change the background. I selet "blank". Buisiness i halved. After playing for about 10 minutes, and putting my donkey through his wide range of emotions, i turn off all avators. Buisiness further decreases, about to where i like it. Names, stacks, bets, and no more.

The games: First off, the tables are 9 player a la Stars, and stacks are 1500 And the blinds increase on a timed basis, i think its 6 minutes. 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, 60/120, 80/160, 100/200, 120/240, 150/300, 200/400....i never got higher than that.
Oh, and they dont have 33s. 11s, 22, then 55s. Meh.

The skill level: Well, i've only played 3 SnGs, but i would rate what i saw as being on par with Pacific. Perhaps below. Seriously, it was pretty sad. But small sample size, im sure theres sharks there too.

Frequency of games: Well, at 8:00 AM EST on a monday morning, there wasnt much happening. I sign up of a 22, and it takes about 10 minutes to fill. When it starts, i signup for another. THe 1st game is nearing bubble when the 2nd starts. But im sure the pace is reasonably quick in the afternoon/evening.

The gameplan: At 22s, this bonus will take about 700 tourneys to clear. Obviously much less at 55s, but im gonna play 22s for now at least. Oughta take a couple weeks.

I'll make some updates as to my progress, so a better take on the skill level can be determined, but so far, looks good.

3t: 1/0/2/0 +96
My handle there is "illa5th"

[Scuba Chuck]

Great report. You might find me there now. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Scuba

[adanthar]

The bigger problem with FT is that each tourney takes well over an hour to complete.

But yes, it's a great place to play and a good one to learn to play postflop.

[Big Limpin']

Update #1:

10t...2/2/3/3
ITM=70%
ROI=80% +176

Is this sustainable? lol.

Andthar...avg time = 48 minutes, athough this includes a 13 minute and a 8 minute. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[pergesu]

[ QUOTE ]
The bigger problem with FT is that each tourney takes well over an hour to complete.

[/ QUOTE ]
And he said it'd take about 700 tourneys...so you're doing 700 tourneys to whore $600? [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

[Jibbs]

I would guess that 45-55 min would be very close to average for a start to finish FT SnG. I have been playing there for about 3 months. Rarely have I had to play through a break (which comes after an hour).

The level of play is about what Big Limpin described. It seems pretty easy to steal your way into the money as you get close to the bubble.

Getting through the bonus with SnG play is a little tougher. It was much easier for me to rack up the bonus playing NL Holdem ring games and 3-6 Razz. If nothing else the fact that FT spreads a Razz game gets me to go back and play there at regular intervals.

[Meatmaw]

How are the $55s here? I haven't downloaded/run the software but I'm guessing they are scarce? How many are on the site at peak hours these days?

wondering if I have the time to try to clear the 10K points to qualify for the wsop tournies.. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Ogre]

wow, breaks on sngs? *hourly rate goes down the tubes*

[djcolts]

[ QUOTE ]
wow, breaks on sngs? *hourly rate goes down the tubes*

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes - but there's an "I'm Ready" button, and if everyone left in the SNG pushes the button the break is skipped. This usually happens.

I've played the 22s and 33s - I like them in terms of playing in them and learning how to play better.

[bluefeet]

I joined FT for rakeback a few days ago as well. I love the site really. Feels very 'stars' like, simple, nice to look at (I went for the blue-eyed, bonde bimbo btw, going for gender points [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ). I also like the "put me here" option. Makes multi-tabling (with overlap) a little easier by positioning yourself accordingly at the tables (top right, bottom right, etc.). The ability to change the table backgrounds on the fly, detachable chat box, 'table view' HH, etc. are kind of cool too (meh...just bells&whistles stuff).

Placed in 10 of the first 20 (a mix of 20's, 30's, and 50's). Plenty fishy. As someone else commented, it appears most are a little slow to pick up on the bubble aggression. But it does take some patence. Keeping the 'focus' needed to wade through the countless blind escalations is a bit much.

I play in the evening only. It's a little slow to start a new table, but not more than a few minutes in my experience. But they are loooooooooooong. I've had several HU games approach the 90min mark. Most of the ITM's are at/near the hour mark. Sharing an unconfirmed rumor...I hear that turbos are coming.

MTT's: Personally, I wish they had more selection. Maybe as the site grows, we'll see it. I still prefer UB and Stars' MTTs. Isura did clue me in on the nightly $24+2 $6k's. At times, the entry fees don't meet the garuentee (free money!). Deep stacked with a ton of blind levels...I suspect you could do pretty well in these.

Bottom line: If they get turbos, I'm staying (and I think they could give Stars a run for their money, with a few additional B&W's). In the meantime, I'm turbo'ing on stars w/ a couple FT's running to clear the nice bonus.