Re: Ratholing NL08.
Seems that in the last few months there are more curious onlookers who sit down at NLO8 tables at the 100 max and 50 max tables. I think there are enough players who are finally tiring of the 2-card square dancing that used to be such a thrill ride, and are now looking for the next big thing, call it NLO8's crystal meth to NLHE's pill popping. And like with those drugs the new NLO8er will become a lifer or come off the rails much faster. I've seen triple the number of completely clueless NLO8 players sitting down at tables with 3-5 regulars who now show their iron man chips next to their avatar getting run down like some victim of a gang-war drive by. I wasn't playing these games regularly long ago so I can't draw a fully informed comparison, but it isn't a dry game, maybe you just need a keener eye to spot the dead money.
I also think there are enough different styles that multi-table programmed play is bordering on being fairly exploitable (at least 200 max and below). Just exploit newbies and lower stakes players with your skill, and exploit the discipline of higher stakes multi-tablers with well-timed moves and you can double your win rate.
It seems to me that on FTP anyway, the choice games fluctuate wildly and unpredictably back and forth between NLO8 and PLO8, sometimes session to session or day to day, sometimes week to week. More than ever (keener eye) table selection is key. Some tables' stats look oh-so appealing, but the cast of characters may not be right, or you sit down in the wrong spot, or your chi is just tuned to PL when you're playing NL and you have to HAVE to know how and when to switch formats.
Perhaps the biggest thing to ensuring continued NLO8 success and exploitability is the willingness to start a new table and subject oneself to the inevitable hit and run or ratholer until a few people sit down (ratholers will help the table stats so you don't wait long). I frequently start out losing a half stack during my biggest up sessions, primarily due to this factor. But eventually your notes catch up with the prime offenders and you take them easily. scsmall I'm talking to you.
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