There are a number of reasons why I play ZOOM over normal tables:
1) I find that ZOOM tables are easier to beat. The players are tighter, more passive and more predictable. Often I can take down a pot with just a simple C-bet.
bluffing, floating and C-betting is less common at ZOOM compared to normal tables. Basically, everyone who plays 2NL ZOOM is a rock, and I find rocks easier to beat than calling stations.
2) I love the convenience of it. Within 5 seconds of signing into PokerStars, I can boot up 2 ZOOM tables and just start playing. With normal tables, I have to search for tables that aren’t full but aren’t empty either, I have to wait a few minutes to post my big blind and I have to organise all the tables into the correct position on my laptop screen. Also, there’s the guarantee on ZOOM that tables will always be full, so I won’t have to deal with players sitting out and abandoning the table.
3) I love the fast fold button. It makes it so much easier to play better preflop without getting tired of waiting for a good hand. Also, when I’m on the button, I can take advantage of players in the small blind who overuse the fast fold button. And I am constantly getting the action I want, rather than waiting for a hand to end when I’m not involved and not interested in it.
4) It’s much easier playing with only 2 tables at once. That way, I can see the tables much easier (bigger on my screen) and I never have more than 2 decisions to make at a time. With normal tables, I’ll be waiting ages for a hand I can play, then all of a sudden, I’ll get 4 good hands at once and I’ll be overwhelmed with decisions.
5) Players can’t take notes on me as easily in ZOOM as they can in regular tables. I don’t want the villains to know that I’m an aggressive player with a very high C-bet percentage and a high steal rate preflop, or else they will be able to adjust their play accordingly. Instead, I like them to all play in the same way as each other and I can play in such a way as to exploit the average unknown player.
With the K5s example, I actually think I’m ahead of the villain’s range more often than not. Think about it: if the villain is raising on the button with about 70% of hands, then their range must be very weak. However, I also don’t want to bloat the pot for the times when the villain does show up with a pocket pair or Ace high and decides to get sticky with it. Also, I’ve found that C-betting works more often in 2bet pots than it does in 3bet pots. If I raise to $0.06, get a caller , then I make a C-bet of $0.10 on the flop, it will work most of the time. Whereas if I 3bet to $0.18, get a caller, then I make a C-bet of $0.25, not only am I risking more money, but it actually works less often. For this reason, I like to avoid 3-bet pots postflop unless I have a genuinely strong hand. It’s so much easier to just call a button raise with K5s, see a flop, make a C-bet and win right there. Also, hands like K5s do have some equity, so they’re not completely awful in the event that my C-bet is ineffective.
I’m not sure why my WTSD% is so high. I like to think that most pots are won on the flop or lost on the turn. But I guess sometimes if my C-bet fails, we’ll just check it down to the river, since they’re too passive to do any betting themselves. Also, there are times when I have an average hand (like middle pair) and don’t think that I can realistically get 2 streets of value off the rock I’m playing against, so we just check it down.
I’ll try to tighten up a little bit. I’ll start by removing weak suited connectors (eg. 45s) from my early position range and see if that makes much of a difference. And I’ll be sure to post again once I get a larger sample size (like 50k hands). Thanks