UB vs FTP (vs PS)

[RemyXO]

A little off topic here, but I'd greatly appreciate your help!

I've been playing on PokerStars since the Armageddon, cleared all my stacked bonuses. Been running SICK hot lately too, which is nice. So, it's about time I signed up with UB or FTP (signup bonus, free books, etc, all the good stuff).

Now, which one in your opinion is better at micro stakes (.50/1 and 1/2)? Please, shed some light on:

- Number of tables running at these levels
- Level of competition
- Number of sharks/bad players
- Bonus clearing speed
- Reloads frequency
- Comparison of the above vs PS
- Anything else (software, support, etc)

Gracias all!

[Buzz-cp]

sorry to answer your longish post with a quick dart, but I think PS pretty much rules in all of these categories.

Buzz

[marchron]

Full Tilt, AINEC. 1/2 at UB is a ghost town. Not only is it tough to find a 1/2 full-ring game, as of right now there's not even a 1/2 short game going.

FTP, on the other hand, was one of the bigger beneficiaries of the UIGEA. They're a lot busier than they were when I left a couple years ago. The bonus is a bitch to clear. It's a bitch at UB also, but theirs never expires.

Still, I'd hit up Full Tilt and stay there until you're 'rolled for 2/4, then hit UB.

[BigBadBabar]

ftp's number of games offered at these levels beats ub by a loooong shot.

ub's games when they run are probably a bit softer now that most of the tags/bonus whores have left because they recently changed their bonus structure to be sucky (it was dreamy which is why it was my home base for a long time).

rakeback is about equal.

ub has more reloads than ft. initial deposit bonus about equal. clearance rates are both pretty crappy. it depends how much of a grinder you are. if you're not putting in serious hands it's gonna be a while before you even finish the initial deposit bonus on either site. i would suspect ft might be a bit faster now on bonuses. you might want to check bonuswhores but i'm not sure how accurate they are.

i've not played much on stars but stars beats both of these sites in support, software, and number of games offered. stars only has those four small reloads a year, and no rb, so either ub or ft will be more profitable overall for you.

stars fr games are probably more nitty however than either one of these. ft is aggro lately at these levels and ub is a mix.

i think frankly if you plan to multitable a fair amount and be a 'real grinder' as it were then it has to be full tilt by default.

pm me for my screenname so you can ship me some money for this exhaustive analysis [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] also for like 10 bucks i'll grind a few hours on each site for you and give you exact bonus clearance rates on whatever game level you want.

[BigBadBabar]

buzz, stars wins in some categories but in others like bonuses, rb, quality of the fr games at those levels, they don't come close (or don't have it)

[Buzz-cp]

I think it's been said before that FT+RB ~= PS

[RemyXO]

Reading though the answers - excellent stuff, I appreciate it! FTP it is, then.

One question - since PS didn't have rakeback, never bothered to investigate it. Is it worth it at these levels? To get RB, do I have to sign through bonuswhores or some such as a referrer (and then I can't for example, get 2+2 freebies if they were the referrer)? What's the percentage they offer?

[RemyXO]

[ QUOTE ]

pm me for my screenname so you can ship me some money for this exhaustive analysis also for like 10 bucks i'll grind a few hours on each site for you and give you exact bonus clearance rates on whatever game level you want.

[/ QUOTE ]

BBB, you so cheap! What'd you do for $20? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Buzz-cp]

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's been said before that FT+RB ~= PS

[/ QUOTE ]

to clarify:
[i]
[23:02] BBB: I think it's been said before that FT+RB ~= PS
[23:02] BBB: what's that mean
[23:03] Buzz: full tilt w/rakeback is about the same as pokerstars
[23:03] BBB: same what
[23:03] BBB: winrate all inclusive ?
[23:04] Buzz: regardless of winrate
[23:04] Buzz: the rake on ps is better than FT
[23:04] Buzz: also if you buy stuff from FT store it deducts it from your MGR
[23:05] BBB: true

[Buzz-cp]

Also another factor is support, which ps excels at. Check the zoo. There are a lot of gripes about FT regarding support. Stuff where money matters.