Cash Game I had forgotten how bad online play money poker is! :D (1 Viewer)

[Beakertwang]

Thought I'd play a little P* over my lunch. Saw about 20 hands. These two wiped me out. First one, I raised 3 limpers to 800, and got 3 callers. AQ raises the flop, cutoff shoves.

Second hand, all the chips were in preflop. I knew I was going to lose. I just participated in the lunacy anyway!

 

[dkersey]

yeah, sometimes I wonder if playing with "play money" is bad for my poker game.

 

[upNdown]

Well you know what they say about 4 2 off.

 

[WedgeRock]

I see K9 and Q7 both got it in... They must've known the double-paired board was coming, they just weren't sure if it was the 7 or 9 that was going to hit on the river..

 

[Beakertwang]

I see K9 and Q7 both got it in... They must've known the double-paired board was coming, they just weren't sure if it was the 7 or 9 that was going to hit on the river..

I'm sure they were using some sort of new advanced poker theory that none of us have heard of yet. They're trying it out at the play money tables before taking it to Macau.

 

[Nex]

Matches my own experiences.

Sometimes I consider it...
- get randomly busted by braindead but lucky idiots in play money
OR
- fight with a bazillion of Russians, Ukrainians, and third world country 24/7 grinders even in microstakes fiercely over every single real money cent.

Ultimately though, real money still wins. But finding a table with enough fish/few enough grinders that does not already have a waiting list as long as my... uh well, you get it - is like winning in a lottery nowadays, or at least that's what it feels like to me.

 

[Beakertwang]

Well you know what they say about 4 2 off.

No, I don't. But I bet it rhymes!

 

[Beakertwang]

Matches my own experiences.

Sometimes I consider it...
- get randomly busted by braindead but lucky idiots in play money
OR
- fight with a bazillion of Russians, Ukrainians, and third world country 24/7 grinders even in microstakes fiercely over every single real money cent.

Ultimately though, real money still wins. But finding a table with enough fish/few enough grinders that does not already have a waiting list as long as my... uh well, you get it - is like winning in a lottery nowadays, or at least that's what it feels like to me.

Of course you know that we can't play for real money here in the US.

 

[WedgeRock]

I sometimes play STTs when I go to bed. I usually fall asleep and get blinded off...

 

[upNdown]

No, I don't. But I bet it rhymes!

I have no idea. Hopefully somebody comes up with something clever.

If you're looking to amass pokerstars chips, I've found the PLO8 tournaments to be very winnable. I feel like since people chose to play PLO8, they're taking it a bit more seriously than your average NLHE donk, but there's still very little talent out there.
Only other tips I'd have is late register for any free tournaments - generally the later the better. And never ever ever play the rebuy tournamnets.

 

[Darson]

I used to have a real money P* account but that's long gone I guess. I just created a new P* account a couple weeks ago and play the play money cash tables since I want to join the PCF tournaments - have taken my 15k to 1.1 million. After I got to 100k, I moved to the 50k buy-in tables.

Almost everyone calls the flop, no matter how much you bet and if they catch anything or have a draw, they will call you to the river. I play 4 tables at the same time and usually end up with a couple busting out due to river suck-outs and others with triple the buy-in. If you play TAG you will win in the long run on these tables. Not sure if it's good practice of if it's teaching me anything...

 

[Schmendr1ck]

yeah, sometimes I wonder if playing with "play money" is bad for my poker game.

Yes, it is. Play money games are nothing like real money games, even microstakes.

Here's one of the reasons why:

I knew I was going to lose. I just participated in the lunacy anyway!

Players that literally have nothing to lose will play so much differently that it's effectively a different game.

 

[TheOctagon]

Play money games are definitely bad for real money play skills. Though they do have one specific benefit: I can help players get an understanding for the mechanics of a new game e.g. PLO8 or limit stud without having to spend money or be embarrassed in front of other people when learning the rules.

Once they get the ante, bring in, bet structure, and pot mechanics - I say get outta that game and get over here for some real action.

 

[Nex]

No, I don't. But I bet it rhymes!

Popular name for 42 is the question/the answer ("In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the computer decided that the answer to everything in the universe was 42 ").

But I think especially for 42o, and in this context, 420 aka 4:20 / blaze it was meant. A reference to getting stoned. Here, playing stoned, judging by the decisions.

Of course you know that we can't play for real money here in the US.

Sure I know. But I do have the choice...

 

[Jimulacrum]

I play PokerStars play-money games every once in a while, usually the 6-max 1M buy-in or higher NLO8 games. The games are quite beatable, and there are some total donkeys, but there's enough of a balance of skilled and unskilled players that the games are fun and not unduly frustrating.

I used to play the Big O8 games a lot too, but the stakes cap out pretty low.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I play PokerStars play-money games every once in a while, usually the 6-max 1M buy-in or higher NLO8 games. The games are quite beatable, and there are some total donkeys, but there's enough of a balance of skilled and unskilled players that the games are fun and not unduly frustrating.

I used to play the Big O8 games a lot too, but the stakes cap out pretty low.

IIRC you can get into bigger play money games by either winning or buying them with real money, right? In that case, there is some investment (time or cash) once you get into the bigger games.

I should probably caveat my earlier comment by saying that I've only ever played low "stakes," and I didn't do it very long. Almost every hand was limp x 5, shove, call/reshove x 5, board runs out, luckbox drags a pot, five players reload.

Chatbox: NH! GG! WP! NH! Wow!

 

[Jimulacrum]

IIRC you can get into bigger play money games by either winning or buying them with real money, right? In that case, there is some investment (time or cash) once you get into the bigger games.

I should probably caveat my earlier comment by saying that I've only ever played low "stakes," and I didn't do it very long. Almost every hand was limp x 5, shove, call/reshove x 5, board runs out, luckbox drags a pot, five players reload.

Chatbox: NH! GG! WP! NH! Wow!

Yeah, you can either win your way up or buy your way in. I won my way up through a mix of NLHE and other games. Oddly enough, considering it's play money, one of the main tricks is bankroll management. Gotta play under your bankroll so that you can afford to reload with reckless abandon, as the games will be very high-variance at the low stakes, never mind the rake. Got somewhere around 50M now. Almost exclusively NLO8 when I play these days, but once in a while I hit some of the draw and rotation games, or—GASP!—sit for some NLHE.

You can usually tell the people who bought their way into the higher stakes. They are often the worst players, and they show up at the highest stakes they can cover. You'll know because they either buy in short or buy in full but never reload.

It must be a special kind of hell to be hooked on play-money gambling. Play-money chips aren't exactly expensive, but they're not cheap either, especially if you buy and lose them regularly. And you can't win, obviously. I'm pretty sure there isn't even a secondary, off-the-books market to sell them anymore.

 

[upNdown]

IIRC you can get into bigger play money games by either winning or buying them with real money, right? In that case, there is some investment (time or cash) once you get into the bigger games.

I should probably caveat my earlier comment by saying that I've only ever played low "stakes," and I didn't do it very long. Almost every hand was limp x 5, shove, call/reshove x 5, board runs out, luckbox drags a pot, five players reload.

Chatbox: NH! GG! WP! NH! Wow!

Oh my god, the chats in play money poker are the worst.
NH!
Not it wasn’t! I mean occasionally is was. But usually it’s either a suck out or a ridiculous pre-flop shove that some idiot called.
It’s very painful.

 

[WedgeRock]

Chatbox: NH! GG! WP! NH! Wow!

I've literally never seen that in a P* charbox...

 

[Nex]

I've literally never seen that in a P* charbox...

Maybe not on P*, but I can confirm this is the case on mostly social play money sites with no affiliation to real money online gambling (like WSOP and Viaden/Celeb Poker). WSOP even provides "quick chat", i.e. one click to send a predefined sentence, for the real degenerates that can't even be bothered to type.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I've literally never seen that in a P* charbox...

I played a few open sessions on P* several years ago (not talking about private play money games), and that was only a small exaggeration for comedic effect.

A couple of players would always say "nice hand!" in the chat after a big pot even if it was a multiway AIPF-fest with trash hands (which it often was because of the ease of reloading for little to no cost at the time).

 

[Darson]

This made me laugh last night

 

[Beakertwang]

@Darson, did coladog714 lose a couple coolers earlier?

 

[Beakertwang]

I played a few open sessions on P* several years ago (not talking about private play money games), and that was only a small exaggeration for comedic effect.

A couple of players would always say "nice hand!" in the chat after a big pot even if it was a multiway AIPF-fest with trash hands (which it often was because of the ease of reloading for little to no cost at the time).

Back when I would play on Zynga, I would occasionally end up at a table that was mostly friends. Every hand was limp, min-raise, and call to the showdown, followed by all those inane comments directed to the winner (nice hand, hon!). It wouldn't take long for me to become the bane of the table, just playing normal poker. When they started directing comments at me, I would realize they were all friends, apologize for ruining their game, and exit. According to them, I either was an @$$hole, playing bingo, or thought I was some superstar poker pro. Sometimes all three.

 

[AceFour]

Hell, seems like a 1-2 live game. I had one guy follow me all the way to the river with A-7 offsuit. He had nothing but a big ace on the turn and contributed $100 total to the pot. River comes an ace, he checks to me and I look at him and flip over pocket kings and ask if he caught his ace. Answer was obvious. Board was garbage, no straights or flushes. Shrug it off and move on . . .

 

[Darson]

@Darson, did coladog714 lose a couple coolers earlier?

Probably - since I play 4 tables, I don’t pay a lot of attention to the hands I’m not in.

 

[Vice]

A few years ago I was playing 2-4 at the Flamingo and realized it was like playing on-line for play money. Almost everyone saw the flop and most stayed to the river. Hard for premium hands to stand up to all those players. Somebody is going to make their draw with 7 or 8 players staying to the river. I swore only no-limit or at least 4-8 from now on.

 

[Jimulacrum]

A few years ago I was playing 2-4 at the Flamingo and realized it was like playing on-line for play money. Almost everyone saw the flop and most stayed to the river. Hard for premium hands to stand up to all those players. Somebody is going to make their draw with 7 or 8 players staying to the river. I swore only no-limit or at least 4-8 from now on.

Games like the $2/$4 game you described are insanely profitable relative to the stakes (as long as they're not raked to death).

The problem a lot of people have with them is not being able to adjust their perception. Yes, your AA and KK hands won't stand up and win the pot nearly as often as when you can get it heads-up in NLHE. When they do win, they'll pick up a massive pot almost every time, so that's one thing.

But more importantly, beating loose LHE games isn't about waiting around for powerful openers. You won't have to rely on your big pairs and strong aces as much because you can profitably play a wider variety of starting hands than is prudent in NLHE. A lot more speculative hands become worthwhile when there's so much dead money padding every pot, and you can see so many more draws through to the river because (a) it's often only one bet and (b) your opponents are likely to play more passively than they should. To top it off, you'll also have a whole field of players paying you off when you hit anything big.

It can be frustrating, sure, because draws do come in more often, but they come in for everyone—yourself included. It's just a very different approach than NLHE calls for.

 

[TheOctagon]

You guys make me want to get into a casino limit game more and more when you talk like that.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

You guys make me want to get into a casino limit game more and more when you talk like that.

DO IT

Disclaimer: This is not actually a casino limit game. Results may vary, and any wins represented by this image may be wiped out by a single hand of big-bet poker if combined with over-consumption of alcohol.