What’s the difference between the skill of the players here compared to 1/2 low stakes in a casino?
Depends a lot on the level you’re playing here. I think elite stakes here is generally similar or a bit tougher than 1/2 or 1/3. But they play very differently, so it is hard to compare, and probably players with different styles might find the reverse, as very different styles of exploitative play will be optimal in the two environments.
I think that the point is that until you are playing here with a very substantial bankroll you, the same as me, are not able to understand the difference.
While you and I are playing with a free chip bankroll in the very low millions, it is profitless and silly to think about playing for real money.
There may be other thoughts, of course, but my feeling is that if you can’t beat free chip players then you have no chance of reading and taking advantage of loose players in a real money game.
[ETA]
Following on from that is the obvious point that people such as I would serve no function other than organ donors in a game where people actually do know what they’re doing
All the best,
Regards,
TA
I don’t think there’s a huge difference between 1/2 live and mid stakes at Replay. Online 1/2 is a different story though. Neither Replay nor live allows HUDs, and that makes a difference.
I sometimes watch a YouTube channel called Rampage, run by a guy named Ethan Yau. Say what you will about Yau, but he does have a WSOP bracelet, so there’s that.
He has since moved up in stakes a bit, but the reason I bring him up is that his earlier content focused a lot on 1/2 live. If you want to see how these stakes play, watch some of his videos and you will get a good idea of how they actually play.
The games seem to be full of tourists who really don’t know that much about the game, with a few regs grinding out steady profits. If you can identify who is who, you can do OK.
One other thing to note is that a lot of these games get pretty wild, and it’s not uncommon for there to be one or more straddles. You might sit down to play 1/2 and end up playing 1/2/4 or 1/2/4/8. It’s just something to be aware of.
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