Great Post on 2+2 and a couple random thoughts

It takes a lot of time, but Phil Galfond answers lots of questions on this post on 2+2. To save time, just look for every post from Jman - he usually posts the question he is answering before he replies. There are some great NL tidbits in here.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/printthread.php?t=88525&pp=100




A couple random thoughts:

Different sites and difficulty of players

I had always thought players at pokerstars were a bit tougher than full tilt poker or elsewhere. A discussion at ITH has made the reason for this obvious. Those who 12-table full time earn so many FPPs on stars that they can become supernova elite. With that, they earn approximately 50% rakeback based on the bonuses and other items they can cash in their FPPs for, and Pokerstars buys their way into two free 10K tourneys. This is pretty tough to beat. For a part-time player, pokerstars is not as ideal for me - since I spread out my play enough I won't even reach the regular "supernova" level.

Full Tilt Poker still has some 8-12 tablers playing, but not as many. This means more spots on the tables are filled by your average player or by a complete fish. That makes for slightly easier games.


A few observations about the 12-tablers at $1, $2, or $4 big-blind no-limit holdem.

They are beatable - but not for a huge margin. They will likely not adjust to you since they don't have the time to pay attention. They will know your PT stats though.

The tighter ones don't raise lightly, especially in EP.

Good 12-tablers (who still can only be average overall, since they can't adjust to how you are exploiting them) are generally good about controlling pot size with marginal hands. If there is an EP/MP raiser and they call with AQ suited - they will generally not raise on a Q high flop nor bet/raise the turn. Likewise, some will slow down with AA. They could go bust with it - but won't usually be the one pushing the action.

You can pick on their blinds more loosely than a fish. Just don't get too crazy - they might catch on to you.