PokerStars $.50-$1 - are there normal tables??!!

[RemyXO]

Finally signed up with PS. Been playing elsewhere since legislation. Now, I hop into $.50-$1 two days in a row, and what do I see? 10-handed tables flop % is in 20s or low 30s at best. Tables I sat and played at were TAGGy with almost every hand raised preflop. Most pots are fiercely contested HU. Players are tricky and smart-aggressive.

How in the world do you guys make money there? Is this normal, or did I happen to log in at bad time of day? Makes me weep and lament about good old PartyPoker fishtanks. Where is good micros action nowadays?

[imnotgood]

PS .5-1 gets pretty fishy later in the American night. It's not uncommon to see up to 70% of people seeing the flop.

[BionicComma]

I've noticed this too. I went back to Stars because my normal site doesn't have enough games and blew $80 on 1/2.

The best tables I could find usually had 2 or 3 TAGs, a LAA for kicks and a few call stations.

Real tough games. Maybe I will try party after I build my roll back up?

[OziBattler]

at these 25-30%VPIP tables your seat selection becomes more important because youll typically find a maniac, lag or callin station whom you want to be able to take advantage of.

Also be prepared to table hop. even though I play offpeak (maybe I get the drunks before they fall asleep) where there are less tables, I regularly check the lobby for a better table and if there is one Ill close one of the worse tables Im on. Dont stay at a bad table just because you are 10BB down there....if its a bad table, leave it. If your seat position all of a sudden sucks then consider standing up and getting back on the waiting list for a better relative position.

for me the toughest players in these games are the supposed LAGS with VPIP 25-30% and PFR 10-15 with apparently decent postflop games.....the tighter players (of which I am one) are more predictable and less tricky.

watch for the slowplay at 0.5/1, it seems common there, moreso from the stations....very very rarely, unless you have a (maniac) read, is that turn (check)raise a bluff in my experience. Best advice I can give is that you shouldnt be a calldown monkey every time it costs you 2BB to see*
Disclaimer: Yep, of course it depends...there are no hard and fast rules. lol.

Heres a suggestion, if you are finding those games too tough or just dont want to get stressed out...then play a session or two at stars 0.25/0.5. There seems to be quite a difference between those two levels. You should be able to play ABC never bluff poker and win there. Lots of bad players there who pay off your monsters even if its your first hand played in orbits

ozi

[RemyXO]

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PS .5-1 gets pretty fishy later in the American night. It's not uncommon to see up to 70% of people seeing the flop.

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I dunno ... It's 1:30 AM CST and plrs/flop at .50-1 are 20, 27, 34, 29, 22, 28, 32, etc. Not very exciting [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[RemyXO]

Assie, props for a good and complete answer! Where do I send you a Christmas present? (I got a cool one for ya - preflop hands chart, lol)

Table hopping is something I got used to a while ago, no more stacking off just to win my $5 back at THIS particular table. Good point though!

Slowplaying point taken - I noticed it myself pretty fast, after making a couple of calldowns that I probably shouldn't have. I got a read on one player though, I saw him try C/R bluff on the river a couple of times, so when i had a chance I indulged him and took home extra 4 bets.

All in all, I have played about 500 hands there so far, winning at about 1.5BB/100. But boy, are these tables tough or what. No freebies there. I can totally expect to drop all that in one session.

I am reluctant to go to .25/.50. The bonus is utterly unclearable at that level, plus it will be hard to play for three hours and show up one dollar profit [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I'd rather SNG with much better ROI. Maybe multitabling at .25/.50 ... ?

How about 6-max at .50/1? Never played 6-max, maybe it's time to get my feet wet. Start at .25/.50 6-max and work my way up to .5/1 ... at least the time will be well spent learning something new.


Sorry for long post! Just thinking out loud! TL/DRs are acceptable!

[OziBattler]

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Assie, props for a good and complete answer! Where do I send you a Christmas present? (I got a cool one for ya - preflop hands chart, lol)

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ty but what makes you think I need a preflop chart? I have one...it has dust. lol.

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I am reluctant to go to .25/.50. The bonus is utterly unclearable at that level, plus it will be hard to play for three hours and show up one dollar profit [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I'd rather SNG with much better ROI. Maybe multitabling at .25/.50 ... ?


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oh, you are clearing a bonus...yeah then dont bother with 0.25/0.5. Let me be clear, the main reason for suggesting a drop to 0.25/0.5 was if you need a break from the "tough" games (I dont think the stars 0.5/1 are that tough, its just that you dont get paid off as well with big hands and going to far with marginal hands can be costly...back to 0.25/0.5, maybe Im biased...ive only been playing 0.25/0.5 when Im drunk/tired because I love to 4 table low limits with low stress on my laptop and only party and stars have resizeable tables.....and im running >10BB/100 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

the ROI for SNGs is better, that is true. I recently finished clearing all my stacked bonuses at stars so im no longer whoring there.

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How about 6-max at .50/1? Never played 6-max, maybe it's time to get my feet wet. Start at .25/.50 6-max and work my way up to .5/1 ... at least the time will be well spent learning something new.


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stars would be a great place to learn 6max since you can now start as low as 2c/4c

[nerdking]

the funny thing is, that rockishness has been filtering down to .25/.50 now. The last couple days I've been at tables where all I've seen were perhaps the button and the blinds involved in a hand and that was it.

[OziBattler]

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the funny thing is, that rockishness has been filtering down to .25/.50 now. The last couple days I've been at tables where all I've seen were perhaps the button and the blinds involved in a hand and that was it.

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well I did drag this kinda offtopic (not 0.5/1) [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img], but this is what I see just about everytime I check the lobby so I am going to have to disagree. I just took this shot before I posted which is considered offpeak time. Tables with these stats ARE VERY VERY BEATABLE.

what Im trying to say is that 30%VPIP tables should NOT be considered rockish (had you asked me a year ago if i though 0.25/0.5 tables where tough - I Was playing 0.05/0.1 at the time - I would have said yes cos my first shot at those tables when I was fish was horrendously bad, yo). rockiness seems to be a relative thing IMHO

[nerdking]

I'm not saying that those tables are always rockish. It was just an isolated incident. The .50/1, on the other hand, are looking pretty nasty. I just looked at the lobby and of the 11 tables currently going, 9 have players per flop under 30%, 8 of which are under 25%.