Thoughts on FT STTs from PS

Not sure if there'll be anything useful in here for someone, but thought I'd share my thoughts. Been playing a bunch of FT $22 normals lately, as well as a couple of $11s and some satellites for fun.

Points I've noticed:

- Blinds start higher, at 15/30. Not a big deal, but it probably lowers the amount of times I'd be prepared to limp PF. A 4xBB raise in front kills our set odds from word go, so I'm finding its not very often I'm calling PF with PPs, and I'm more wary about limping them from EP incase I face a raise.

- Blinds increase more slowly. In that the amount they go up by is smaller each time, not the time for each increase. This has a couple of interesting effects. Most importantly, it increases the length of the middle game. In PS, the increase from 25/50 to 50/100 is really quite a big one. You go from avg 30 bbs, to avg 15 bbs in one increase. The next one if 75/150 leaving you with 10bbs on avg. Whereas at FT theres a 30/60 and a 40/80 before getting to 50/100, and a 60/120 before 80/160. This means you spend a lot of time with between 40 and 20 BBs in an avg stack. This has 2 main effects which seem at first kinda opposite of each other. First, you can afford to be patient. You're rarely short in any game until a fair way in, so can wait for hands more, on the other hand...Second, you need to steal from position more. You can still blind down if you fold too much, and those blinds are worth getting. Unlike stars where you might fold a couple rounds then get into p/f poker, you can just keep draining chips if you're not careful.

Another interesting fact that seems to occur, is that it takes longer to get to the bubble. I still have games where people throw themselves out, but generally speaking a lot of games have a really long stretch where its 5-6 handed. It can take a long time to get to the bubble. I also notice that if I do fold too much, when I get a good hand and raise, even the loose players fold to me. They seem to notice it. So you need to pick your spots, steal when you can, but still not take unnecessary risks.

- No ante's. This combined with the paragraph above makes for an interesting change. You can quite often get to that somewhat desperate stage, but still have 5 or more players at the table. Without ante's, this means you get to see a fair few hands cheaply, even if you're short. You probably dont need to make the desparate moves you would on stars. Rather than say, push ATC from the button, you might be able to see a couple more hands and pick up something decent instead.

On the whole, the standard seems about the same. Payouts basically the same. I find it frustrating that I cant register for all my games at once (stars starts a new table as soon as the last empty one has 1 registered player, FT waits until the current table is full before creating a new one), but I get over it. Software seems fine, but that Bet Pot button makes for interesting spots where people seem to overbet spots, but you dont know if theres a reason behind it, or just lazy use of the buttons. Its also frustrating when you close a table and it always pops up the tourney summary, and then you close that and it pops up the lobby, but I guess I'll get used to it.

One of my adjustments to my losing streak has been to steal from position a lot less. It seems to be working. I havnt cut it out, but I definately dont do it as often. Playing tight even through the mid-game seems to be working well.

Last time I played the duration of each level on FT was 6 min (3 for turbo) which gives you much less time on early levels

Thanks for that...the only time I played on Full Tilt was a few years ago for MTTs/cash when there was no time bank.

thanks for this post bjsaust! I played the past 2 weeks on FTP and find the 6max sng's very comfortable at 5,50 and 11 $. I also like the amount of promotions offered by ft. as I never played for real money on stars, how do their promotions compare to those of FTP? also would you suggest to give stars a try or should I stay at FTP since the adjustment to antes and the different blind structure would affect my game too much?

I liked Stars more, but now I've adjusted its not so bad.

I dont take part in many of the Full Tilt promotions, I think they're better if you have bigger roles. For the time being you probably have a Bonus to clear, so just work through that, try to build your roll up and think about it later. Stars promotions pretty much suck at lower stakes.

I played a bunch of the 6-maxes mixed in with my other games for a while, and they seemed pretty soft, but I've cut them out now to focus on what I know best.

You can check a box in options to stop the main lobby from coming up when closing other windows. That used to tilt me lol.

I think I played you BJsaust in a couple of $11s on FT.

I flopped a straight and you gutshotted a split pot I think, but im not salty.

Whats your username? Was it last night? I had a few drinks before playing last night, was being a bit more reckless than normal. I hit some major luckbox on one table but took some beats on the rest.

bjsaust....great post. I'm only playing on stars (was a party player before). The small variations you speak of definitly would change up my game. Good to know going in.

One question.....you say

I get really nitty with PPs. If I'm not prepared to 3-bet I wont call a raise in front without set odds. This depends a bit on reads/table dynamics. I've been known to fold TT to say a raise to 200 at 25/50, but I've also shoved over with 88 in that kind of spot. I'll occassionally limp at 15/30 and 20/40 with small PPs, but often I'll even fold them from EP if first to act. Much beyond those blinds and I'll raise 88+ if first to act and fold the rest. A limp that gets raised just kills your odds almost always on Full Tilt.

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Thoughts on FT STTs from PS

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Thoughts on FT STTs from PS