Help my horse (and me)

[Matt Flynn]

Hi all,

I am trying to help a buddy out with small stakes nl. What are the best sites to play now for $0.50-$1 and $1-$2? (And is $2-$4 small stakes?) Are you finding bots and/or set farmers are hurting the games much? We're only interested in sites that pay quickly and without hassle. How are FTP and Pokerstars nowadays? Is PokerTracker still the best software? Should he use overlays?

(For those of you who are curious, I gave up online poker last spring. The video game + poker addiction aspect was interfering with sleep -- I couldn't sleep well after playing -- so I quit. And for those of you who have to hear it, yes, I won a lot and still could easily.)

My guy plays ok and has control and some clue about the math of poker, but does not know how to play JJ and AK, when to play 76s, when to fire a second barrel, what circumstances make 55 a good play, and so forth. The plan is to beat the book's techniques into his head and see what he can do. You'll be getting updates, but we won't be starting until after Tunica.

Play good, 'cause I may see you online and post your hands.

Any help is appreciated. PMs are fine.

Thanks!

Matt

[Vammakala]

PokerStars is fine, I haven't played at FTP for a while but I hear the games are quite tight there. Could be wrong on this.

[DMoogle]

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PokerStars is fine, I haven't played at FTP for a while but I hear the games are quite tight there. Could be wrong on this.

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FTP is definitely tighter than PokerStars, but the rakeback makes up for it (if he chooses a site that allows it, make sure he gets rakeback!).

Games are tight like you wouldn't believe. I'd have him start at $.25-$.50 or $.10-$.25. And $2-$4 is considered medium stakes, not small stakes.

[Matt Flynn]

What is the best site for rakeback?

When you say tight, what kind of VPIP are we talking about for full ring and 6-max? We'll be starting at 0.50-1.

[4_2_it]

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What is the best site for rakeback?

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There is a rakeback forum sir [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Stars doesn't allow RB, so FT would be best if those are the two sites you've decided to play (They are the two largest open to US players by a huge margin).

[Matt Flynn]

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What is the best site for rakeback?

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There is a rakeback forum sir [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Please don't ban me. I'll be good. ;-)

[llleisure]

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What is the best site for rakeback?

When you say tight, what kind of VPIP are we talking about for full ring and 6-max? We'll be starting at 0.50-1.

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Two I looked at for rakeback - which I don't have damnit and I'm not sure what to do about but thats a whole nother damn subject - are:

www.raketherake.com
www.thisisthenuts.com

They both offer I think 27% on FTP. I've been playing FTP just a couple of weeks (used to play on Party pre them running away little a scared little girl) and I have found some of the games are WAY too tight for my liking. Seems like 6 max is a little more looser but I've even sat in 6max where VP$IP is like 15% - and thats with me contributing 40% lol. Seems like you can find suitable games but you have to look for them sometimes.

I use PokerTracker and PokerAceHUD and they're great - PokerTracker helps a great deal and using the notes feature to note what you did well or badly in sessions helps too.

[MasterLJ]

Some people like PokerOffice, some like PokerTracker. If you are of the opinion that PokerTracker *was* the best, you are still going to like it better than PO.

Having PT and not having an overlay program is like marrying Ms. America and never touching her.

[PBJaxx]

Of course this thread spawns this, but I can't resist. Are the games at Stars that much jucier than at FTP. I play 1/2NL at FTP, and there seem to be plenty of donks for the taking. RB + datamining = yay. No resizable tables = nay.

[DMoogle]

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What is the best site for rakeback?

When you say tight, what kind of VPIP are we talking about for full ring and 6-max? We'll be starting at 0.50-1.

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I only play 6-max, so I'm not sure about full ring. But there's probably an average of three 20%-25% VPIP (which is arguably ideal) players at every 6-max table. If there's on particular super-fish at a table, then the rest of the table is going to be a bunch of TAGs.

Best site for rakeback? Not much of a difference, really. I'm at FTP and I enjoy the site. The sign-up bonus took me about 15K hands to clear at the $.50-$1 level (I think). But rakeback makes a HUGE difference. Playing 20K hands a month with FTP's 27% rakeback yields an extra $700 or so a month.
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Also...I didn't mention in my PM, but have your buddy practice judicious table selection...biggest pots, most players to flop, etc.

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This is also very important, or else he's likely to end up at a table where everyone's VPIP is under 30%.
[ QUOTE ]
Of course this thread spawns this, but I can't resist. Are the games at Stars that much jucier than at FTP. I play 1/2NL at FTP, and there seem to be plenty of donks for the taking. RB + datamining = yay. No resizable tables = nay.

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I played at PokerStars a week ago to clear the $150 reload bonus, and there IS a noticable difference, but not enough to switch me over (unless I had Supernova right off the bat, which I don't). Even though I can 9-table instead of just 4-table without overlap there, rakeback is just too much better. Can't wait for FTP's resizable tables though!