Standard of play on Sky???

MP33

At the lower levels I mean

Sky has been mentioned several times as being a soft target with a lot of beginners playing, but with all the advice on Ch 865 and here on forum how much harder has it got over last 2 years?

I,ve been losing for a few weeks now on here and just started dabbling on another site, mainly playing HU games for $6 and $11 and have been suprised at the level of quality in my opponents. My Sharksope now reads 26  games - 64% ROI  and abiltiy of 77 - ave stake £4 - ave profit £3

I know its only 26 games but am now considering playing a lot more on there - Its not one of the big sites but never have to wait long for a game

Does anyone else play on other sites and how do they compare to Sky in players abilty?

Also - How many games should I play to get a true reflection that I can bt that level?

Ps - Can we mention other sites names on here?    

penguin7

No doubt the standard has risen a lot in last few years. Much tougher now. But big advantage is knowledge of regular opponents. On other bigger sites there is easy money to be won  at lower levels, but moving up it gets harder.

scotty77

Its got harder in the last couple of years.

However still soft compared to the big sites.

But there are fish everywhere.  People say that the games that ran pre 2004/5 were like picking money up off the floor.  I started just after then def remember it being far far easier.

Oh and generally the advice that you get on 865 isn't enough to turn you into a winning player.  Its enough to stop a seriously bad losing player move to a slightly losing/breakeven player.

EDIT:  There are a couple of analysts that come across as massive fish.  This could probably be due to them not explaining their thoughts/comments well tho.  By far the best educational content that 865 has ever produced is the lolufold mastercash show, closely followed by James Keys' guest analyst slot.

lolufold should be a regular guest IMO.  he came across so well in front of the camera too, and with more practice/training he could easily replace an 'expert' thats on the current 865 payroll.

DOHHHHHHH

Terrible.

Especially in tournaments.

scotty77

also regardless of the site you are playing there are always gonna be fish filled tournies, especially under/around the £10 price point as those are the ones that attract the casual player/new player/learning player.

68Trebor

 Played on majority of other sites and have to say that I find Sky, along with P K R, the softest site to play on.
 There are 2 major reasons for this I believe. The big one for cash is that their are no HUD's available and the player reward scheme isn't that beneficial. This tends to eliminate the majority of regular nit pro's you find multi tabling 16 tables on other sites. The software also isn't the best in the world. MTT's structure is far too fast and prizepools too small for any really serious MTT pro's and with the structures the MTT's become a bit of a luckfest.
 For the likes of me this makes SKY a great place to play along with by far the best community online.

scrumdown

got to agree with scotty but also there so much information u can get online thourgh  site and forum,s and books and knowlege is power

CrazyBen23

The standard of play on here is completely awful, even at the higher stakes theres clowns with a few hundred quid who barely know their ar se from their elbow

TommyD

I've seen plenty of questionable plays on $215 MTT's on other sites.  My personal favourite was near the bubble on the warm up someone typing 'weeeeeee' into the chat box before cold 4betting 95% of their stack into me (I had them covered).

[X]  I had aces
[ ] They held

Then the dude types 'wow' and I'm just left there thinking 'you don't play much do you?'

CrazyBen23

lol @ tommy, it makes it even more annoying when its for big money and they get lucky, sends me into tilt town

GREGHOGG

Why be in tilt town when you can be in bink boulevard?:)

gaza559

Cant comment on the standard of the cash games, but for sit n goes the standard is definently weaker comapared to the biggers US sites. Mainly because most of the players on sky are recreational players just playign for fun, rather then your reg infested lobbies.

RedHouse

As much as it pains me to say it, I'm starting to think its a problem with British poker players generally, or a least at low stakes.

I'v only been playing freerolls lately so the play is pretty poor across the board, but playing the UK only freerolls on a few of the main sites and I notice a difference from the general international freerolls, go figure.

Could be the difference in the guarantees though I guess.

Edit: thinking about it, the time i'm playing probably has something to do with it as well. Evening here but middle of day or early morning elsewhere.

MP33

I agree after watching lolufolds analsyis that you can learn from him . probably the most sensible and disciplined player I,ve seen on here

I,m spending most nights in hospital at the moment due to the illlness of a family member, so Ive decided to take a short brk anyway and bought some Poker magazines to read while i,m up there

As someone said - knowledge is power and am certainly learning more about the game as well as finding them quite interseting.

I also tried a cpl of new forums but compared to this one they are pretty useless, so I,ll definately be sticking with this one and spend a bit more time in the poker clinic

I know a lot of ppl say having a brk helps, but when you,ve been on a downswing like i have on Sky it really does help. My confidence had pretty much gone and I was no longer enjoying it. I,m now looking forward to coming back to Sky  in the next week or so whith a much more disciplined approach and am considering keeping a log of my daily sessions - games played , stakes , time played , game types etc etc

I,m not to good with spreadsheets and databases but was wondering if ppl use these or similar methods and how much it helps?  and any tips ppl can give me for doing this  - Cheers  - MP

scrumdown

try useing holdem maneger tell u everthing about players on your table u need to know  

DOHHHHHHH

Pen and paper? lol

The only thing you wanna worry about really is your balance, is it bigger at the end of your session than at the start?

If you're looking to increase your volume, do the same with your cash for points - set targets, weekly/monthly..........

Dnt over-complicate it just aim to make money.

FlyingDagg

As a newcomer here can I give my view? I'm not a big money player and so far I have played mainly the £2 bounty hunter. I love the BH format and the blind structure is pretty good. The standard of play is certainly better than on another site I play. It's a fairly well known site that doesn't allow U.S. players and the standard is abysmal. S n G formats are pretty poor too every one feels like a turbo . I  still play some HU there and generally do pretty good but you can only take so many bad beats from complete donks. I watch 865 regularly and think it has improved my game. Redhouse mentioned freerolls and in my experience you might as well put a quid on the lottery, cos that's all they are. What I have seen so far the standard here is a big improvement over what I was used to.

Can I add how impressed I was when I saw Redmond Lee guesting as an analyst. He was superb and very natural and should be a regular (if Sky can afford him).

TRIP5

In Response to Re: Standard of play on Sky???:

As a newcomer here can I give my view? I'm not a big money player and so far I have played mainly the £2 bounty hunter. I love the BH format and the blind structure is pretty good. The standard of play is certainly better than on another site I play . It's a fairly well known site that doesn't allow U.S. players and the standard is abysmal. S n G formats are pretty poor too every one feels like a turbo . I  still play some HU there and generally do pretty good but you can only take so many bad beats from complete donks. I watch 865 regularly and think it has improved my game. Redhouse mentioned freerolls and in my experience you might as well put a quid on the lottery, cos that's all they are. What I have seen so far the standard here is a big improvement over what I was used to. Can I add how impressed I was when I saw Redmond Lee guesting as an analyst. He was superb and very natural and should be a regular (if Sky can afford him).
Posted by FlyingDagg

Excellent post...Welcome Dagg

xx

TRIP5

In Response to Re: Standard of play on Sky???:

As much as it pains me to say it, I'm starting to think its a problem with British poker players generally, or a least at low stakes. I'v only been playing freerolls lately so the play is pretty poor across the board, but playing the UK only freerolls on a few of the main sites and I notice a difference from the general international freerolls, go figure. Could be the difference in the guarantees though I guess. Edit: thinking about it, the time i'm playing probably has something to do with it as well. Evening here but middle of day or early morning elsewhere.
Posted by RedHouse

Please tell me you're not actually comparing freerolls!!!!!!

PMSL!!!

xx

RedHouse

In Response to Re: Standard of play on Sky???:

In Response to Re: Standard of play on Sky??? : Please tell me you're not actually comparing freerolls!!!!!! PMSL!!! xx
Posted by TRIP5

Can only say what I see

And these days I don't see much.

OMahonyO

The standard of play on here has risen dramatically over the past couple of years, and even more dramatically in the last few months.  I cant say for other sites as I havent played them for quite a while, but im not surprised to hear that they are still a fair bit tougher than Sky, which is pretty depressing.

I used to win on here :-(

Maybe we could try and get beaneh and lol_raise forum banned so they cant post advice in the clinic.

68Trebor

 MP33 just my twopennys worth. I have set up a really basic spreadsheet on excel that I complete after each session to keep a record of sessions , total winnings etc. I also have a thread on hear 'Diary of a Losing Recreational Player' which I post to after every session, showing session outcome, thoughts  and any interesting hands, along with my overall performance. I find this really helps keep me focussed on where I am at. Might be worth a try for you.

GaryQQQ

I don't have a broad view because I usually only play in lower buy-in daytime tournaments which have a lot of regulars in the field, but I think the standard is a bit higher here than people some people say. Occasionally I play on another site that has a reputation for being the best tournament poker site in the world. When I first signed up there I expected my opponents to be much tougher than those here at Sky, but over time I've come to the opinion that in their lower buy-in tournaments the average standard of play is no better than at Sky, if anything it's a bit lower.

MP33

In Response to Re: Standard of play on Sky???:

 MP33 just my twopennys worth. I have set up a really basic spreadsheet on excel that I complete after each session to keep a record of sessions , total winnings etc. I also have a thread on hear 'Diary of a Losing Recreational Player' which I post to after every session, showing session outcome, thoughts  and any interesting hands, along with my overall performance. I find this really helps keep me focussed on where I am at. Might be worth a try for you.
Posted by 68Trebor

I,ve read some of it Trebor. A good idea, and a good read but if I start a similar thread evryone might start doing it and the forum will be filled with ppls progress threads

Will probably use a diary I got for Christmas as they never get used anyway and maybe start posting some more hands in the poker clinic