Are Online Games Too Nitty on Stars and Full Tilt?

Like many players out in the general poker-playing public I play primarily at two poker rooms, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. With both sites offering VIP programs and one offering rakeback (Full Tilt), their traffic dwarfs the competition. However, since the inception of the UIGEA many regular cash game players feel like each level’s action has gotten progressively “better” in the sense that the players are generally more tight and aggressive than they were years ago. With the ability to massively multi-table (for example 24-tabling on PokerStars) to simply grind a small profit and enjoy the cash bonus rewards, players have all the incentive to play super nitty poker and make good money. Those that don’t – or can’t – play 24 tables for 12 hours a day 6 days a week, are left grinding a modest profit and generally play tight poker themselves.

For many cash game regulars on either one of those two major sites, it’s hard to argue that during non-peak weekend hours, finding 6-9 good tables can be a bit of a chore. During off-peak hours the ability to find 6 full ring tables with table VP$IP (Voluntary Put $ Into Pot) over 20% can be darn near impossible at the $0.50-$1 blind (or more) tables. What are the reasons that cause this phenomenon?

1. The UIGEA killed a lot of the regular action from recreational fish that used to come on the site, dump a few grand, and come back for more losses. The wild action these players created is simply a thing of the past.
2. Players that haven’t lost their bankrolls are simply getting better and better at poker. With popular community forums and online poker schools, there have never been as many immediate resources to become a better player quicker in the history of the industry.
3. The blind structures of the cash games might be outdated for today’s action-centric culture when combined with the ability to bring in big profits from VIP programs or rakeback.

Maybe this article is simply a call for a return to “the good old days of Party Poker in the USA” when table VPIPs at full ring were 35+, but the fact remains that many think the full ring (and even 6max tables) are too nitty for their own good and that the games are drying up – if they aren’t dried up already – on these two sites. Many feel moving to one of the lesser trafficked sites like iPoker or Cake can really be a benefit in terms of easier competition and more fish. Others will say that even the games on Cake, for example, aren’t what they were a couple of years ago at the higher limits and the perception of massive fish at those sites is simply false.

So what can sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker do to potentially increase the action on their sites? Many players who host regular cash home games like to alter the blind structure of No Limit Hold’em games or even add an ante, similar to what they do on the popular High Stakes Poker television program.

Let’s look at some ideas we’ve researched around the net and consider some of the possibilities that a poker room can put into place to create what we will call “Action NL Hold’em Tables” that offer up a looser and more exciting brand of Hold’em poker.

1. Create a one-half small blind ante from all players. This would immediately create a larger starting pot, forcing players not to sit back and only play the top 12% of their hands.
2. Instead of one small blind and one big blind, the table could offer one small blind and two big blinds. Given the antes in the last suggestion this creates a lot of money on the table for each hand dealt.
3. Allow a single player to play on no more than 4 to 6 “Action NL Hold’em Tables” at a single time. This way a player can’t simply sit back and play on 12-20 tables waiting for the nuts, but they would be forced to play fewer tables, forcing their attention to the action they are in and not letting them wait around to peddle for the nuts.

If we look at a potential table at $0.50-$1 the start for each hand could look like:

9 Players all ante $0.25 = $2.25
1 Small Blind of $0.50 = $0.50
2 Big Blinds of $1.00 = $2.00

Each hand dealt starts with $4.75 in the pot (almost 5 big blinds) which tremendously adjusts the odds for each player’s starting hand. Opening raises would have to be adjusted from the $3.50 to $4 they are now at these tables to about $10-$12 creating even more action. All this would mean bigger pots, more action, and a lot more rake for the sites. This might create a situation where everyone benefits – players get bigger pots and more action and the poker rooms drive up the potential rake for each hand.

Could it be possible? We hope so, but this is purely an article of speculation and so far there’s been no formal acknowledgement from any poker room to adopt the suggestion of our idea of an “Action NL Hold’em Table” now or in the near future.