Greetings,I'm writing to express my frustration with Pokerstars new changes to the microlimit HUSNG's. Apparently their new change only applies to the 1/2 Euro HUSNG's. I've checked the lobby and they haven't made any changes to any other limit (including the 2.20 reg speeds and 2.10 and 2.20 4 man's). They could have at least provided some notification. Perhaps they did but I was asleep at the wheel. Anyway, I'm wondering if this change will simply generate more rake by increasing the rate at which players go all-in with their stakes. It's possible that this constitutes a positive development that makes the games more exploitable and won't have any real effect on the av. time of each game. I've already complained about their usurious rake at these limits (7.5% to 10% and that's not including potential foreign currency transaction fees). Of course, it's my goal to transation away from these limits and move into the 5's and 10's. I'm already playing some 5's and 6's, but I also like to sit the 1's and 2's when I'm not as sharp or see a major fish. As an aside, it's possible that this development makes the games better as I've noticed the average player does an even worse job of adjusting to effective stack sizes.Anyway, here is the new format they are using. BTW, I just emailed them to see if they plan on gradually changing the blind levels and overall structures of other limits; they haven't gotten back to me. They did tell me that they made the changes as a result of player feedback. This is entirely possible, but I wonder if it simply serves to generate more revenue. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable (like those who play on multiple sites that have different structures) can provide some feedback and correct any erroneous perceptions I may have.Level 1: 10/20 blinds 3 minutesLevel 2: 15/30 blinds 3 minutesLevel 3: 20/40 (3 minutes); 25/50; 30/60; 40/80; 50/100; 60/120; 75/150; 100/200; 125/250 etc.
I'm trying to find out what's going on with these now.A 3 minute structure with the addition of a 20/40 blind level sounds nice though.
Update: Apparently somebody who left Stars made this change awhile ago (maybe as long as 9 months ago I'm told). Nobody seemed to realize that the former employee did this, so thanks for bringing this up to me, and ultimately getting it to them.They said they will at somepoint standardize the structures. That could mean a new structure on Stars or it could just mean that this one will go back to how the other one is. We will see!
Greetings Ryan, Thanks for contacting Pokerstars and finding out why they instituted this change and its potential implications. One thing I've noticed while playing these limits is that it really sucks when you have a donkey who slows the game to a crawl, forcing a premature end game. There is no option for a reg speed with the 7.5% rake structure at these limits (on Stars) so you have to pay the 10% rake on the 2.20's. I refuse to pay that much rake. But I think the change might be positive overall, contrary to my original percpetions. Perhaps I will email them again and ask them to revise how they change their levels. I'm not sure at this point as I need to gather more information on how the levels change with respect to players wasting time. Thanks again,Jeffrey
Ive been playing the 1euro games. Im just wondering if its worth depositing money to be able ot play the 5s if the rake is that high. Does anyone know the difference between the skill of the 1 euro and the 5 dollar games. Thanks.Martin.
Greetings Izystar,I just checked the lobby and noticed that Pokerstars changed ALL of the Euro turbos to reflect the new blind structure. At first it appeared they restricted the change to the microstake games, but now the change even includes the highest limits (i.e. 100 euros).The rake on the 5's is not as prohibitive as it is on the 1's and 2's. If you look at Reuters (which Pokerstars uses in determining their own rates) you will see that one Euro is equivalent to US $1.3768. So a five euro game is effectively $6.84. If the rake was five percent, than at that level it would be roughly 34 cents. Pokerstars charges .23 euros in rake for a 5 euro entry. Doing some more math, .23 euros is roughly equivalent to 32 cents. So currently, you're actually playing a hair less than a 5% rake at the five dollar limits. But this is liable to change at moment's notice given volatility in the currency market.I can't say with certainty how tough the 5 euro games are relative to their US counterparts. My personal recommendation would be to make use of Sharkscope and refuse to sit the high ROI winning regulars. These games don't fill up nearly as fast as their US counterparts; hence you can often take a few moments to do a little bit of research. Also, I've noticed the traffic on the 1's and 2's is highly sensitive to what time I play. I can often wait 30 seconds or longer for a game. This will become more of an issue as you move up as there are relatively few Euro tables compared to the microstakes. Best of luck,Jeffrey