but in the long run,
There's still time to change the road you're on Led Zeppelin
When I first started playing poker online (four years ago) I began by playing Texas holdem no limit cash games (ring games) on Fulltilt Poker. This was in the days when I didn't have a proper bankroll management plan and I jumped into the 10c/25c games and bought in for $US25. I played in these games three times in a row, losing my buy-in each time within a matter of a few hours. After that I decided that 'cashies' were not for me and moved on to playing tournament poker. The cash games at this level were a lot tighter than I had expected, with a lot of hands being decided pre-flop. After that the only cash games I played online were fixed limit poker variants and pot limit Omaha.
But now, after getting plenty of poker playing experience under my belt, I've started playing no limit holdem cashies again. Once again I'm playing at the same level as before, but this time $25 is well within my buy-in range. I could have started at a lower level but I felt confident enough in my abilities to have a crack at the 10c/25c games. I figured I'd just start out nice and slow, playing cautiously and feeling my way. As I mentioned previously, I have accounts with both 888poker and Pokerstars, so I thought I'd play one site for a month, then the other, and see how they compare.
To say that Pokerstars was a 'different kettle of fish' would be misleading, because fish are actually hard to find on this site. At the 10c/25c level there are a large number of games available, probably in excess of twenty (I didn't bother to count them) with a lot of players moving from table to table or playing multiple tables. One of the features on Pokerstars is the 'find this player' tab, which allows you to see if a player is also playing on other tables. But there is also a 'hide' function that allows you to prevent others from conducting such a search. Nearly every player I checked out was hiding other tables but I moved around enough to see the same names cropping up over and over on table after table. So there is clearly a lot of multi-tabling going on. As for me, I just stuck to one table.
These tables are a lot tighter. Typically in these games hands get folded around to the button, there is very little limping in, and hands often end without anyone seeing the flop. I didn't do nearly as well in these games. There is also a lot more raising and re-raising pre-flop. Although I kept my head and avoided most difficult situations, I always seemed to get caught out playing big bets with very good hands up against monster hands. So I would win a few small pots here and there and then lose one big one. I played five games on Pokerstars: I lost two, won two and barely broke even in the other. In the end I came out $14 ahead.
Finding the right table to play on is quite a challenge on Pokerstars. In the game lobby there is a list of games which includes information on the percentage of players who see the flop. This is generally a good indication of the looseness of the table: the higher the percentage, the fishier the table. The players-to-the-flop percentages on 888 are typically anywhere between 15% and 40%. On Pokerstars, the percentages range between 5% and 25%. But tables over 20% are rare and most of them are under 15%. Like me, there are a lot of players looking for the loosest tables. So the higher the players-to-the-flop percentage, the more players there are on the waiting list. A table with over 20% might have as many as seven players waiting to get in on the action. So you essentially have a bunch of sharks circling the fish ponds. Of course, as soon as a couple of the tight players make it on to the table the percentages go down. If you're number five on the waiting list you're going to find yourself on a table full of sharks with a 5% average.
Nevertheless, I managed to find tables within a decent range of 10-15% and kept an eye on the stats for my current table. You just have to be ready to jump ship from time to time to stay in the right zone. Now and then I would see a particularly fishy player at my table, and they would usually find themselves busted out in fairly short order. It's clear to me that there are a lot of 'grinders' multi-tabling at this level. As a result, the competition is pretty tough.
After two months of play my decision was easy; I'll be playing on 888poker from now on. Ideally, I'd like to play on a site with a few more games available, but that consideration is outweighed by the easier, more profitable games. So I'll be playing 888 over the next few weeks, one table at first, and then I'll take a shot at playing two tables, provided that they are available. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the good results.
I reckon a little research goes a long way.
