I came here to play for a bit of R & R , I normally play the micros which are a madhouse. So I have challenged myself to play up from the lowest stakes here without buying chips ,within no particular timeframe but using a disciplined bankroll. ( I have had a couple of sneaky goes at stakes above my roll and got away with it !) for some reason I thought I may find it relaxing …
Im not the worlds greatest Pokerist but I understand basic strategy and think I play a reasonably solid game. However I am finding it extremely exhausting and exasperating as the play at these lower stakes make the micros look like the epitome of calm. Bingo players going all in, over and over till they bust then just when you think you are rid , back they come ! Of course I will sit and wait for a big pair to call them down but usually someone gets there first ... and starting hands dont get me started !.. I have never in my life, even in home games with teenagers seen so much junk… calling and raising, It makes me wonder if anyone has even heard of a pre flop range let alone use one . It does get a bit wearing and Im not sure how long my patience can last . At what stakes does the play here begin to resemble an actual poker game ? I have watched some of the higher stakes- 100,000 buy ins etc and notice theres still a lot of very fishy behaviour. The aggro fish seems to be an abundant species and raising with junk seems very popular.
Welcome to the world of free poker. It can be very annoying, and more often than not, takes the fun out of playing. You might have a better time playing the Multi Table Tournaments. At least in those you can just keep folding until either they, or you get sent to a better table. Plus you eventually recognize the players and can see if they are actually betting their cards, or are just full of themselves. I’m not saying you won’t ever get burned…but it does make it easier to play. Good Luck
Be glad to have these players at your table, as they will quickly increase your bankroll compared to all other profiles
Well that is probably true but nontheless can be exhausting and then exasperating when they hit that stupid straight from 2-4 off and crush your TPTK or trips etc… then you have to reset and tell yourself it will come round in the end.
Sometimes you just want to play a game where you have some kind of idea where you`re at and of course bluffing is almost out of the question as fish will call you all the way to showdown - that works great of course when you have the nuts then you get paid off but that can be a long old wait sometimes
not sure if we are on the same site been with replay since 2013 think it’s a wonderful site to play and learn to play on patience is key thank you! pokertime300
If it’s putting you on tilt then change tables. It’s as easy as that. Play the SNGs and MTTs. Join a private league here and make friends and have fun !!!
Don’t worry, be happy 
I agree with Kelvic 1414 and i understand your frustration flashycat.
Free play poker is nothing like a real cash game you have to be more patient and pay attention to the players at your table.
If you’re tilting I don’t recommend MTT, there is more variance in this format regardless of your level whereas in cash games due to the depth of the stack you will have more consistent results.
I also recommend playing at least 4 tables to play more hands and reduce the variance more.
besides, the cash game format on replay is of excellent quality 
, you can deposit 200BB instead of 100BB on paying rooms, which allows you to have an even more indecent BB/100 when you play well postflop
Not quite tilting yet ! I have played MTTs before and found them to be really horrible- not for me at all
uhhhh,there is no cash play at Replay lol
Things do get better as you move up. I haven’t hit stakes where the bingo players don’t exist, but they do start to become the exception rather than the rule.
Weirdly, I remember the 5/10 tables being pretty good, seemed like a lot of the most aggro players were skipping those stakes for some reason. That might have changed, but I would recommend looking for a table with a low Avg Pot size for the stakes if you want a calmer game
The price of playing with free chips.
Well so far so good, Im still here and getting a bit more used to seeing outrageous/stupid all in ins and clearly opening with ATC is the normal rather than the exception. Limp with any any two and see what flops seems to be the popular strategy so am I now very wary of low straight draws making it and getting out of the way when someone is repping them ( they will usually have it ) Im just sticking to folding my garbage and playing my bigger Aces , Broadways and pairs which usually works , I have moved up to 25/50 and am encountering a few more savvy players so am enjoying things a bit more now . 15 days in and just the one losing day - probably beginners luck and I`ll go down half a dozen buy ins on my next session ( Actually I wont as am limiting myself to 3 buy ins per session)
Flashy,
I get what you are saying, in spades. I don’t mind “paying up” as I’ve learned the poker experience is much higher (or seems to be) on the more expensive tables and tourneys. I really like playing with that crowd, as they have taught me so much!
jrseanev
You have to have Patience !!! Just like $$$ Poker.
I play in the 1-million chip Buy-in my MTTS and the other day somebody accused me of being a bingo player, because I made a few shoves pre flop with a small stack which eventually became a large stack.
You don’t see a lot of so-called bingo players at that level, but you see a heck of a lot of calling stations. Players I would define as calling stations never raise pre-flop, limp in with any two cards from any position, and will limp-call with any hand, then call pretty much any bet on the floor as long as they have a gut shot and an overcard.
You would think such a strategy is doomed to fail, but when several players on the table are employing the same strategy it can be difficult to overcome all of them.
In a tournament I played last night when it came to the final table of nine players, one such player, who is an uber calling station was leading with a stack of over 35,000 chips, double the average stack. However the good news is that he did not make the final five who were paid, mostly because the calling station strategy will not work very well in a final table situation where the smallest stacks usually shove pre-flop, so the limp-call strategy becomes unplayable as you cannot see a flop without committing a lot of chips.
The only advice I can give is that on RP you have to analyze what is required to win in each type of game at each level of stakes, but it is possible to do what you are trying to do.
I started on RP 3 years ago with 2,500 chips and have built my stack up to 380 million chips without ever buying any chips. All my winnings have come from sit and goes and MTTs. Nearly all MTTS but I played sit and goes in the beginning.
The only tournaments in which you will find a fairly decent level of play on RP are the 5-million chip buy- in tournaments on Sundays, but that is because the cost of admission is beyond the reach of all but a few players, and there are probably not many people who are willing to buy 5 million chips just to participate in one tournament that has no prize money.
Yes I`ve noticed that seems to be the way- call. call, call. I tried increasing my standard opening 3 bets to 5 and 7bb to try and isolate but still get 3 or 4 callers and if you miss the flop it starts getting expensive so its easier to follow the herd and limp in untill after the flop but at least I save plenty of chips folding all my junk and when I do hit the flop ,a high percentage of the time I will have the best hand .
My lucky streak continues as I move up to the nosebleeds of 50/100. I have played some low stakes SNG as well and find them quite relaxing- seems to be a case of more or less folding to the cash then get a bit more aggressive- shove a few and see where you end up- won a few placed in most but they can drag on a bit !
I agree with you about the bingo players, but my biggest complaint is trying to leave the game when you are fed up with the foolishness is
getting off the board is like a Goodbye Tour. 6 different clicks to llow you to leave is a bit much.click–Leave–are you shure? easier fix it
You can just leave by closing the table of course but it takes longer for your chips to get back to your total. A bit inconvenient if you need them straightaway
The bitter taste of defeat ! Although the day isn`t over yet ( I may or may not play some hands later ) I have suffered my biggest loss to date, down 70BBs at 50/100 though I did come back from minus 200+ BBs. Is this the end for me , have I reached my level or will I bounce back ?. I did have some shocking cards and an early bad beat- The magic low straight destroying my 2 pair…