I've played on both sites quite a bit (Full Tilt a little more) at the $10-$20 range and I haven't a noticed a difference between the competition. You'll find tons of inexperienced players at both sites in that range. The only difference is the structure of the games. The regular speed games on stars increase blinds every 10min while the ones on ft increase every 6min, so the turbos on stars are the same speed as the regulars on ft. I guess it comes down to personal preference because they're both very similar.

Full tilt... no point in playing that low without rakeback on Stars... it'll kill you in the long run.

You played against one of the few good players in that range, so don't worry about that you'll find tons of bad players at either site.

alright I only play on stars so I don't know much about the competition on fulltilt, but one of my friends, that won 5k$+ on stars at HU moved to fulltilt to clear a bonus, and he complained about the games beeing a lot harder on fulltilt. he said he was gonna move back to stars and that even with rackback fulltilt ain't worth it. you might consider this, but again.. that's what he said.. I know nothing.

I wouldn't worry about rakeback or FPP's playing that low, if you're at least decent you should be kicking some serious butt at these stakes.  The regular speed at Stars is more skill based, it's a better format to learn the game, once you do then you can decide what you want to do there.  You also want to consider how hard it will be to get money out of the room, if you're from the U.S. you're in the much either way I guess, FTP has a lot better options if you're not.

As Cobra mentions, Stars regular speeds are an excellent structure to get your foot in the door.Your "not easy to see" leaks won't be exploited as much in those games, as a lot of players can win with a fairly tight/nitty style in a structure that allows 10 minutes at each blind level: perfect for exploiting overanxious and big leaky fish.The faster structures (FTP regular speeds, Stars turbos, FTP turbos) require more skills in my mind, as winners in regular speeds on Stars are so much more prone to tilting when they see their prospective ROIs cut in half in the new structures.  Things also move faster and end game is much more important in the non Stars regular speed structures.  And end game is usually a more difficult area of the game to learn competently (aside from 10bb or less type push or fold areas), so there's a lot of tougher variables when you play a faster, smaller edge structure.And something I didn't specifically mention, but is very important to realize: The lower your edge, the more negative variance that you'll experience.  Be prepared to handle it and try to focus solely on your play, not results.  If you can't do that, choose a slower, higher edge/less losing streak structure to play in the meantime and work on the mental aspects of the game.

I don't think regular speeds are much tougher, though there may be more grinders there.But in reality, the regular speed regulars just look tougher because their stats are prettier.  For every tough grinder in the regular speeds you'll find at least one or two tough opponents with worse stats.  Think back to what I said about people being much more prone to tilt or have weaker per game results in the faster structures, not to mention that it's tougher to recognize and play highly skilled yourself in those areas of player compared to the slower and deeper regular speed structure.All in all, I recommend just playing whatever you are comfortable with in the low stakes (aside from super turbos).  The playerbases are fishy, the hourlies should be similar and they will all be good enough to teach you the skills that you need to move up, none much better than the others.If you're particularly prone to tilting and don't mind longer games, regular speeds are a better bet, but I'd just focus primarily on trying not to tilt rather than working with it.

just moved to stars and Im having a great time!!! hope o achieve supernova sooooooooonnnn

thanks Doc, much appreciated.  feel free to comment on the vids with your questions/comments/feedback!

I haven't played on FTP in years but from watching videos on this site it looks like the movement (i.e. dealing the flop, discarding, and dealing to players) is a lot faster than Stars, so for the 3 minute turbo blinds you get just as many hands as the 5 minute turbo blinds at Stars.  With that said, the blind structure is different in the way that it escalates it's like 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50, 40/80, 50/100 or something of that nature at FTP.  Stars is 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100.  The funny thing is for the turbo HU tourneys (not sngs), Stars uses the former structure which I have grown to like. Two big things that keep me from moving to FTP are [1] support on Stars is awesome and you get a reply usually within an hour and they are extremely player friendly, [2] I play 4-man HUSNGs and on Stars it is $11+0.50 whereas on FTP it is $11+1 and that extra $0.50 adds up, rakeback or not.  Besides, rakeback on FTP is only 27%, therefore you will still be paying more and I may be wrong but I've read that they take your FPPs when using rakeback?!  The 2-man HUSNGs are both $11+0.50.  

LJH that is a really interesting observation.  I don't have a big enough data base to even estimate.  Could someone look into seeing what the average number of hands a minute in the PS turbo vs a FTP regular?  Even just an estimate based on 20 random games would be interesting.