will hill

[Ben Wah Balls]

Stars has the most players and is very good for tournaments, especially multitable sit and go's as they fill up quick and are very soft with most of the players playing the opposite of how they should (they play ultra loose and don't fold anything to begin with and then tight when the blinds are high and they should be getting aggressive). Full of Germans who are all horrendous especially heads up. Cash is not as soft, bit mixed. They do have some 6 max tables now but no real rakeback. Very good for multitabling. I've won the most money there. The customer service and security is generally considered the best around.

This is my stars sit n' go graph (actually mainly 45 man and 180 man tournaments, I have barely played any 9 mans).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v367/2hats/psgraph.jpg

On a slight downswing at the moment but I'm sure I'll recover.

Party is not as soft as it was. Software would be ok but it's always crashing for me, bonuses are pretty good.

Ladbrokes is good for cash, few too many scandies but standard is probably about average. Had a very good sign-up bonus.

Pacific is very soft but has terrible software. Very little 6 max last time I played there.

Pokerroom has some good tournaments, not played much cash there though. Standard is average.

Sky poker is the softest site due to the tv exposure which is good as I love playing bad players but the software is awful, no proper hand histories and very slow if you play more than 2 tables.

UB has very quick tables but didn’t have real hand histories last time I played there. Pretty good for cash and good rakeback and bonuses.

Wpex has the best rakeback but toughest players, far less fish and more regulars.

Overall I like stars best but I should probably find another site for playing cash

[Barry Scott]

I still play several times a week $10-$30 sngs and mtts along with 25/50 Cash Games.

Is that 25/50 dollars or cents Barry?

I’m on the 25/50 (cent) tables at the moment and turning on average $100 profit per night, which makes for nice pocket money.  I used to player the $1 and $2 blind tables but quit for a while started again and had completely lost my discipline and concentration and was haemorrhaging cash so started from scratch on the 15/30 cent tables and I’m slowly working my way back up.  Got a few more thousand hands at 25/50 at before sniffing at the $1 tables again.  

Not a big fan of tournaments.  Sit & Go’s are ok for a laugh but the large tournaments particularly those with re-buys are a tedious and the end rarely justify the means unless you actually scoop the jackpot.  I’ve won a couple of big free rolls and low stake big games but these days it’s strictly cash games only.

Ben as you play the entire spectrum of mainstream sites do you have a preference?  I’ve played Pokerstars before and a few others but always go back to Ladbrokes for its simplicity and 6 table games.  I did find the standard lower on Pokerstars but I’m not a big fan of the 10 seat table so mooched back.  Ladbrokes does seem to have a lot of Scandinavians who tend to be a far higher standard than your average Brit or Yank.

Deffo up for a tournament.

Yeah only 0.25/0.50, thought it'd be self explanitory!

I rarely turn a profit i'm sad to say. I've up overall, but sadly i only play for fun. I can control my play quite well, but failure to really control my emotions ruins me. The same is true at real tables as well i'm afraid. I go all Mike Matusow and throw myself and my game in the bin. Although without the language or abuse.

Making $100 a night sounds nice, are you a gambler, or do you play the odds? I'm curious, my poker is getting worse and worse and my confidence is pretty shot, what's your secret?

Ben, I remember when you started, i can see you're making healthy profits, does Hold'em genius help? Do you just play a fairly standard Tight Agressive, or are you a bit of a gambler? How'd you play, what's your secret?!

[Ben Wah Balls]

I'm somewhere between tight aggressive and semi-loose aggressive. I generally raise preflop if I'm playing a hand, whether I have suited connectors, pocket pair, broadways or whatever. Also raise the same amount whether I have a very strong or medium strength hand. Just makes you very tough to read if you do that. I'm not a fan of just calling preflop especially if it's folded around to me and especially in 6 max.

I'm pretty tight in early position and from the blinds but a lot looser if it's folded to me in late position, if I'm playing players who I think are likely to make big post flop mistakes I will raise a lot of hands if it's folded to me on the button. Very much depends on the game though, if they're reraising a lot then I wouldn't raise so much but position is hugely important in no limit.

In turbo tournaments it's mostly about knowing when to fold preflop and when to go all in since there is very little room for any post flop play and at the start, play pretty tight and let the fish knock each other out. A lot of players make big mistakes like raising with a small stack and then folding to an all in when they are getting the correct odds to call against nearly any hand and just generally limping way too much.

Heads up which i like a lot, I raise maybe 75% of hands in position but play a lot tighter out of position and very aggressive post flop, value betting any time I think I'm ahead even if it's just bottom pair or whatever.

[Barry Scott]

Your game sounds similar to mine, but is clearly fuck all like it with my record!

If i'm in a hand, i'm raising, i hate calling with a passion and often rely on my aggression, preflop play and table image in steal pots.

I get outplayed on the flop quite alot, as i tend to live by the axiom of "If the flop don't fit, fold". If i'm playing the flop the pot will be big, as there's almost no slow play to my game, just pot sized bets, raises and reraises. I rarely get away from a big hand, but have so very few showdowns, i think people perceive me as a bluffer and go for my throat with long draws, hence getting some foul beats.

I'm now trying to make more calls (less raises), more value bets, add more slower play to my games and dilute the aggression a bit, hopefully that will start to sort my game out.

Does holdem Genius help your play?

[Dazzza]

Nice one Ben those are quality stats.  Did you pull those stats out of Holdem Genius or off Poker Stars?

I’m really an odds player until I get a feel for the table and then try and mix it up.  Table selection plays a big part and I’ll sniff about until I find one that has the right feel.  Once I have a healthy stack and a good feel for the other players I like to really mix it up and limp in with weak hands and even get caught on a few low cost blatant bluffs to get players calling and being a bit more aggressive with their bets.

My biggest problem is keeping concentration and reading the cards correctly, which is why I use watcher software as an insurance policy.  Watcher software is good to a point but you can become too reliant on it if you’re not careful and base your play on the software rather than the table, which can be a bit disastrous.

It sounds like people are reading your game a bit there Barry and if you’re constantly aggressive post flop eventually players will be far more inclined to take a punt at you with the strong opportunity of the outs making up a killer hand.  That’s where Holdem Genius may help as if they ‘re calling you and then raising a dirty great bet you can see how likely they’ve got the nuts.

I find a bit of fishing often helps.  I’ll often make the best pots with a little cunning slow play and limping in and calling then heavily re-raising on the turn or river dependant on the risk involved.  Players are always cautious of good slow players and it’ll help with your image at the table and with any luck make them think twice about calling your aggresive play with just a chance of making a hand.

Again Holdem Genius will show what odds and risk there is of a player making a hand and if you watch the players betting pattern and style you’ll be able to get a good idea of what they’re holding or if they’re on the make.

[Ben Wah Balls]

The graph is from sharkscope, www.sharkscope.com. Good site but it's only sit n go's and not every site is covered, pokerstars is covered well though.

The main software I use is poker tracker, pokerstove and poker ace.

Poker tracker is really useful, tells you exactly how you play, which positions you win from, your aggression, your opponents play and loads more. Well worth the money. Poker ace projects your opponents playing style on to the table (eg. how many hands they are playing and how many hands they are raising and the percentage they bet or call post flop.) using the stats from poker tracker. Also very useful.

Pokerstove calculates the equity of your hand against your opponents hand, or you can give them a range of hands. Useful for looking at hand histories later to find if you made any bad calls and to see how hands match up pre flop, eg it will tell KK is a 94.6% favourite over K2 all in preflop. Jack ten suited is a 57% favourite over a random hand all in preflop, useful stuff to know for tournaments and it's free.

I don't actually use poker genius, I've always been good at mental arithemetic and I've played a lot so I can work out the odds as I'm playing pretty well now.

[JanAageisGod]

I'm a micro stakes donkey, count me in if you are planning a tournament or summat.