Online criticism
The simplest and purest form of the game. Lots of fluidity, sit down whenever you want, get up whenever you want. Settle into a slow grind and slowly rotate the drum over time. It’s simple, it’s beautiful, it’s classic. It’s also a nightmare.
One of the main issues with online cash is that it can be on borrowed time. Very similar locations tend to come up again and again when playing online, and newer and faster analyzers can keep up the pace. Setting this up is a nightmare for sites, and RTA use isn’t really uncommon.
Online cash has a very punishing rake structure at low stakes
The second problem with this is that cash online has a very punishing rake structure at low stakes which makes it hard to get rid of the micro. Finally, even in this case, it is one of the most difficult forms of poker. With sites also trying to crack down on fishing to protect their recreational players, you can often get caught between a rock and a hard place.
On the other hand, 100bb poker is as clean and cerebral as it gets. It feels smug satisfaction when you ignore the ability tournament and live players who can’t come close to your understanding of the game, while making four times as much money despite studying once a year.
cash living
Live games are always slicker because they move at a snail’s pace and people didn’t work an eight hour shift to flex an hour and then fold AJo into 3 bits. Although it’s slower, your every hour is likely to be a bit higher, and it’s also social, for better or worse. You also (probably) won’t encounter anyone using RTA and the game has a long future ahead of it.
Now the problems. First, you’ll need to live near a casino and actually leave the house, so that rules out hermits. Second, whaling still reigns supreme, but while online you can click tables and do it somewhat unabashedly, in live games people will actually have to see that you’re a predatory coward in person.
Another problem with many sites is that private games have sucked a lot of liquidity out of the casinos. You’ll need to soak up the hosts and the whales, playing loose in hopes of being invited back while trying not to piss anyone off too shady. Especially if you live in a country that is crazy enough to make playing cards illegal but thinks owning an assault rifle is good and amazing. But hey, OGs like Doyle Brunson used to drive around the house with guns in the trunk, and what’s old and forgotten is new again…
Online tournaments
The variable stack sizes, the need to conserve chips, and ICM mean that tournaments have to be a little safer against the relentless march of AI than cash games. This also makes it more exciting – you are constantly in unusual situations that you have not seen a thousand times before, and there is an attraction to winning a huge amount of money in one sitting.
The problem with leagues is that they don’t accommodate all lifestyles. If you’re a lazy mill, they’re actually pretty good at forcing you to put in hours at work, but if you’re like 99.99% of the population, you don’t need a job, kids, a partner, an overbearing mom, an athletic dog breed, or anything else that might get in your way. Gluing yourself to your computer for 12 hours straight.
You’ll develop an amazing ability to get things done in exactly five minutes
On the plus side, you’ll develop an amazing ability to get things done in exactly five minutes. If you see a guy who can shower, shave, and spin his tires in five minutes, that’s a guy who knows what a 25bb rejam kit looks like. Cooking, cleaning, picking your fantasy football team, calling your mom—all can be done in this time frame, resulting in incredible efficiency savings in your overall life. And yes, since you’re not allowed to have a significant other, you can even do that too.
Live tournaments
One of the ways in which live tournaments are clearly superior to any other form of poker is in their glamour. You will travel around the world – you can see Barcelona, Paris, Bucharest, Los Angeles, Macau, Coventry and Rio de Janeiro. You will be playing for huge sums of money that will change your life. You will get on TV. You can actually become semi-celebrity. If this appeals to you, live tournaments are the way to go.
One other feature that wasn’t mentioned is that you don’t have to bother too much with game selection, which as we’ve discussed, is one of the worst aspects of the game. In a tournament, you just sit back and you gotta play whoever’s out there. This is why you constantly see great players battling each other in big events, which has become frustratingly rare in cash games. There’s a bit of a choice, but here’s a quick guide: If there’s a tournament to play live, it’s a good one. fire in.
Unfortunately, there are downsides, and they are significant. First, the twists. Oh my God, he swings. Getting a bet into a big cash pot is always brutal, but it’s never that important. In live tournaments, it may change the course of your entire life. Play the big field events and you may never reach the legendary “Long Range” where skill always shines. in your whole life. This is a big risk.
Discount for flights, hotel and casino burger in Bratislava
Second, while the travel aspect may seem fun, try the following experiment. Take your edge on an average $3,000 buy-in event, for which you’ll actually need significant financing. Now deduct the amount of activity you sold. Now deduct the cost of flights, hotel and casino burger in Bratislava to your wallet, waist and soul. Still looks like he’s living the good life?
You can cut back on those, of course, but the world-travelling, card-for-life style doesn’t seem so glamorous when you’re sharing a hotel room with three sweaty millers wishing you’d brought a spare pair of earplugs and lost your sense of smell.
Sit and go
So, we’ve seen the downsides of the tournament: long courses, huge variance, and soul-wrecking rivers. Well, with the Sit & Go, you can enjoy tournament style without any of that. You’ll also get plenty of practice with end table and ICM situations, as well as play with different stack sizes if you decide to launch any big events. It’s a good, solid game and you don’t have to struggle too hard with your swings.
These are the pros. There’s just one con: It’s not 2005 anymore. Forget it. Literally nobody plays these. Becoming a professional Sit & Go player in 2023 is like becoming a professional VHS repairer, or a Philip Schofield agent. I continue.
Spin and go
It’s been an odd track for Spin & Gos since Winamax invented them in their Expresso format. It was initially meant to be a gimmick and rake until twoplustwo’s poster showed the games were eminently beatable. Now, they’ve suffered, and each site has its own version.
As long as you’re sane, the swings aren’t that bad, as you’ll usually get at least something just for spinning the big jackpots. Many stables have targeted these recently, but the games still suck. And you can get in and out fairly quickly, like a cash game.
It’s like saying you’re a professional filmmaker when you install CCTV cameras for a living
There aren’t a lot of serious downsides to these, but…come on, 15bb poker? To achieve a return of 2 or 3%? grow up. Imagine the scene: you are at a party. “Yeah, I’m a professional poker player.. Yes, No… No… No, Spin & Gos.” This is like saying you are a professional filmmaker when you are installing CCTV cameras for a living.
Omaha
One thing about non-Hold’Em games is that even though the poker boom is long gone, it’s never been easier to get a good game. Anyone today benefits from plenty of content they can find for free, affordable training applications, and easy access to workaround solutions. Step away from NLHE and you are somewhat on your own – there is much less material available to learn.
However, Omaha is by far the most popular option, and there are usually games available, which are definitely softer. The contrast is much higher, but that’s what makes the fish bite.
However, you will need to be a certain kind of person. Card stocks in Omaha may come close to them in Hold’Em, but when it comes to customers, the opposite is true – this is a very polarizing game. It just needs either absolute gamblers who play nine pecks in depth or more exotic poker. Nothing in between.
Oh, and let’s not even talk about the five-card, six-card Omaha. Failed quads? This will be a fold without a direct redraw.
short deck
Yeah, that never quite worked out the way everyone said it did, did it? I mean, maybe if you played in big games in Macau because you owe a couple of million dollars to the Laotian mafia or something, sure. Take your time.
mixed games
gitting gud can’t be bothered? Well, if you can get a reasonable efficiency, you should have an advantage in mixed games, or so the theory goes. And it seems to work – by being a jack of all trades you’ll have an advantage over the field who have no idea what they’re doing on some variables.
Most casinos will not post games live either, so you will get stuck playing online.
The problems are similar to Omaha – lack of training material and fluidity compared to Hold’Em – but dialed up to 11. Most casinos won’t post games live either, so you’ll be stuck playing online.
Also, I’m not sure why, but for some reason there’s a totally weird fashion sense that goes along with being a mixed player, like golfers do. Just know that you’ll be laughed at at any WSOP 8 event unless you’re wearing a T-shirt that’s so loud it makes Bubba Watson sound like Karl Lagerfeld.
