Level is now harder to beat

[StealTheButton]

I have been very successful at playing 6max Turbo $20 NLHE tourneys on pokerstars PA.
There has been a mix of regs as well fish. My pockets have really enjoyed the extra cash over the last year.

It seems in the last month the demographic has changed. Maybe everyone goes to their summer cottage in Cape Cod, or who the heck knows. All the regs are gone- haven't seen them once. Some of these other fishy player have been around for a bit, and some are new.
I've gone from crushing the games to breaking even.

Some of the players are loose aggressive, some are calling stations, and all have zero sense of odds and pot size, etc. Players will call raises on the button and call your bets and as soon as you check lay down pot sized bet. They will often call with mediocre holdings OOP and again make a pot-sized bet if you check.

If I try to decrease volatility and just limp I will get a huge raise and have to fold. They love squeeze plays with mediocre holdings. They love to call all ins with little pocket pairs.
My pre-flop raises or all in's are called way too frequently and I'm entering the hand as only a 50-60% favorite, and these are all situations where I would have won the pot without a contest.

This is all great right? Players that will pay you off right and donk off their stack. I just have to adjust my play. The issue is that these are turbo tourneys, and that is all that is offered on the site for Sit and Go's. If I tighten up my hand requirements and I enter pots less often the blinds just come around too fast.

Seems the only solution is to go up in stakes? That is certainly an option, but I am plagued with SERIOUS connection issues. I also am not able to play on my desktop at the moment because of connection as well as geolocation issues. Does anyone have any input?
I really think the only solution is to move up in stakes.

 

[CowboyStomp]

It's generally a bad idea to go up in stakes until you're ready and have the bankroll to cover it. Maybe the money would be better spent on a new router/ISP for your connection issues first?

 

[flail1]

I think I would consider doing the opposite and drop down to find your previous win rate and get the rhythm going again. Return to your regular sit n go when all the aggressive donks have busted and moved on to the casino.

 

[StealTheButton]

It's generally a bad idea to go up in stakes until you're ready and have the bankroll to cover it. Maybe the money would be better spent on a new router/ISP for your connection issues first?

It's not a router issue per se, it's a Pokerstars issue. In the middle of a game they tell me they can't locate my position. I have to shut down the App and restart. This takes anywhere from 45-90 seconds. This happens pretty much every tourney at least once. Always seems to happen with two or three players left and everyone is shortstacked. Blinds come around a few times and chew me up. It's because I'm in a rural area and there are so few wifi networks around. I've contacted support they won't help me. There are no broadband options where I live, so I use a mobile to play. Puts me at a serious disadvantage.

I've got over $1,200 in my 'roll right now, so I can dip my toes in $30 games and see what happens. I've looked up my stats and I have done significantly better in the 20 dollar tourneys than I have in the 10 dollar ones. I'll post a screenshot next time it happens.

 

[CowboyStomp]

I'm assuming you have checked these articles

https://www.pokerstarsmtairycasino.com/help/?stm=geolocation&br=pokerstars

I also found on the internet PS PA wants you to have 2 "available" wifi sids nearby.


Do you ever play on mobile and have the same issues?

 

[fundiver199]

In general online poker got a shot in the arm in the spring of 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns, which made the games unusually soft for a while. The last few month volume has really gone south, as COVID-19 restrictions has been lifted, and of course the most casual players have generally been the first to leave, so the games have now become tougher across the board.

As others have suggested, this is an environment, where you might consider moving down, if you find yourself struggling, or maybe even cut back on the amount of time, you spend playing, and go to the beach or the bar like everyone else. At least during the peak of summer, which has always been the worst season to play online poker.

 

[CowboyStomp]

Sorry, I missed part of your reply where you answered what I needed to know (drinking while posting, guilty). With the way PS PA (and every company that uses the same software) does geolocation it looks like you will continue to have issues. I did see where someone talked about a wifi extender to see if you can pull in more networks but that seems to be a longshot in a rural area.

FWIW I installed a weatherproof router outside by my pool area and that picks up many more "other" networks than all my inside routers. You could get one at Amazon and see if it helps and return it if it doesn't. I was lucky to already have ethernet cable runs in my backyard. I'm an IT guy so the setup was easy. If you really want to get fancy LOL

Your only other choice to play on a network without geolocation to not have disruptions

 

[StealTheButton]

I'm assuming you have checked these articles

https://www.pokerstarsmtairycasino.com/help/?stm=geolocation&br=pokerstars

I also found on the internet PS PA wants you to have 2 "available" wifi sids nearby.


Do you ever play on mobile and have the same issues?

I only play on my mobile. It's been about 2 months since I have been able to log onto my desktop. I have been through all of these articles. I usually don't have any SSID's visible, sometimes I have one. It's possible a neighbor changes his wifi setup and this is why I cannot get on anymore.

What I need is some kind of outdoor, omnidirectional antenna that will pick up far away wifi signals- just enough to pass geolocation. They can be weak. I just need to figure out a way to do this short of drilling a hole in the side of my house to run a cable.

I am kicked of my mobile phone a couple times an hour. When I close the app and log on again I pass geolocation and I can play. Of course I have all the issues of frequent misclicks and stuff on the mobile, which isn't cool

 

[StealTheButton]

In general online poker got a shot in the arm in the spring of 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns, which made the games unusually soft for a while. The last few month volume has really gone south, as COVID-19 restrictions has been lifted, and of course the most casual players have generally been the first to leave, so the games have now become tougher across the board.

As others have suggested, this is an environment, where you might consider moving down, if you find yourself struggling, or maybe even cut back on the amount of time, you spend playing, and go to the beach or the bar like everyone else. At least during the peak of summer, which has always been the worst season to play online poker.

The issue is not that the game has become too tough. It's quite the opposite. It's like playing penny stakes ring games. Nobody folds, ever. If most hand have to go to showdown, the only strategy is to play better cards. The issue is that if I wait for cards, the blinds just chew up my stack in the turbo stakes. I think my only solution is to move up in stakes.

 

[CowboyStomp]

I only play on my mobile. It's been about 2 months since I have been able to log onto my desktop. I have been through all of these articles. I usually don't have any SSID's visible, sometimes I have one. It's possible a neighbor changes his wifi setup and this is why I cannot get on anymore.

What I need is some kind of outdoor, omnidirectional antenna that will pick up far away wifi signals- just enough to pass geolocation. They can be weak. I just need to figure out a way to do this short of drilling a hole in the side of my house to run a cable.

I am kicked of my mobile phone a couple times an hour. When I close the app and log on again I pass geolocation and I can play. Of course I have all the issues of frequent misclicks and stuff on the mobile, which isn't cool

I posted a link to one wifi antenna in my last post but found cheaper ones on amazon getting decent reviews. Don't think Wifi is omnidirectional but it's Amazon and you can always return. Make sure the couplings fit your router.

They also have flat ethernet cables that pass under windows for outdoor routers. I used one near a window where I didn't want to drill for a security camera.

 

[akgross]

You are lucky to be able to play and not lose your money at poker stars. I assume that this is one of the rounds of variance in your case and it can continue for a year.

 

[fundiver199]

The issue is not that the game has become too tough. It's quite the opposite. It's like playing penny stakes ring games. Nobody folds, ever. If most hand have to go to showdown, the only strategy is to play better cards. The issue is that if I wait for cards, the blinds just chew up my stack in the turbo stakes. I think my only solution is to move up in stakes.

If you are going to move up stakes, you need a better reason than this. Playing against better opponents mean, you have less edge, not more. And this makes it more difficult to win, not easier. Its not a problem, that "nobody fold". It just means, you get paid more, when you have big hands. According to your sharkscope profile, you are currently in a bit of a slump, but its not even a real downswing more like a bit of sideways motion. And this can easily just be a result of normal variance. It does not nessesarely mean, the games have changed at all.

Presuming you have sufficient bankroll for the next higher limit, then the main reason to move up will be, that you think, your hourly winrate is going to be higher even with a lower ROI. Or if you are a purely recreational player (which seem to not be the case), that you will enjoy the higher limit game more, and you can afford to lose.

 

[JimTheBadger]

The issue is not that the game has become too tough. It's quite the opposite. It's like playing penny stakes ring games. Nobody folds, ever. If most hand have to go to showdown, the only strategy is to play better cards. The issue is that if I wait for cards, the blinds just chew up my stack in the turbo stakes. I think my only solution is to move up in stakes.

I think the you should move down after reading this and your other posts. Study the game a bit more. You're not understanding how tournaments function if this is your prevailing mindset.

 

[Bnobob]

Turbo-Holden

sit for 10 minutes and analyze the players and play for them or against i like to play for you you said they are always betting so your hit rate could be higher:joyman:

 

[StealTheButton]

Here you can see a graph of my winnings over the prev 18 months. The anomaly on the right represents the previous 5-6 weeks or so. 3500 tournaments is not a small sample. Does this fall under "variance?" I'm not ready to drop down a buy in as I've fared MUCH MUCH better in the $20 tourneys vs $10. Pokerstars no longer seems to host $30 tourneys, and I don't have the 'roll to play $50 games.

 

[fundiver199]

Sideway motion over a few houndred SnGs is totally normal, and the fact, this is the first time, you experience it, might actually indicate an extreme sunshine run until a few weeks ago. I would not worry about this at all but just continue to play my game.