Does anyone really like PLAYUBT.COM?

Seems like a demolition derby to me! Bet 25K on hand 1 and hope you don't go broke. Double hard 14 against a 9 on hand 2 to get more money out. Drag race to $100K. Strategy, fuggetaboutit!!.

Ultimatebet and Bet21 are better because real money play brings some moderation and the play chips can't be converted into St. Kitts seats. For reasons that I don't understand, even the freerolls with 1000+ players are still fun.

Played the freeroll at Gobal last night and realized what had drawn me to bj tourneys in the first place. Glad they still have some players.

 

Bad habits will be hard to break

I agree Kirby, some of the new players will develop bad habits, but eventually they will have to learn strategy to win over the long run. Once you move to real money or to the tournament mode where something of value is at stake you see much more moderate betting, but even there the experienced player who knows how to size the bet properly and the best way to play the hand will prevail in the long run.

 

not sure

The S&Gs are lotteries but I haven't yet played a MTT so we will see about that. Certainly the S&Gs are not an accurate reflection of tournament BJ which is worrying however I'd be quite happy if the majority of players played that way during the qualifiers .

CHeers

Reachy

 

Definately Not

But we would all love to sit at a live UBT final table for free. I agree with what Kirby, Ptaylor, and Reachy had to say. The three of them sum it up very well. Good luck and hopefully someone off of this site wins. That would be awesome.

 

Anyone care to venture a strategy? Is it (1) better to join the drag race or (2) hope all the crazies crash and you can drive through the wreckage? Seems to me option 2 would be better but so far there always seems to be someone who has $100k by the first elimination hand and if I play conservatively, I'm skunked.

 

I've played it both ways

I have played both the all-in first hand and/or minimum bet first hand strategy...each have met with successs or failure. I have decided to treat the sitngo lottery as just that...the sheer number of tries will get me the needed TEC's no matter which method I employ. I often choose which strategy to use based on what the majority of people have chosen and do the opposite. Earlier today, I minimum bet the whole way and got a TEC on Hand 5...lol

Happily, I won't need mine again for a while since I qualified for Oct. 7 this afternoon. I see some of our members are there too and trust that everyone will qualify soon!

 

Accumulation by another name

I think if you can get through the 1st elimination and still be within a couple of max bets of the leader(s) with a reasonable BR you've got a good chance. I've been betting $8K on hand 1 and then $17K (i.e. all-in) if I lose. I'm not sure whether it's any better or worse than any other strategy but I'm more comfortable with it than just maxing out all the time. I must admit I don't take the games too seriously as they are not TBJ by any stretch of the imagination. I managed to play 3 simultaneously this PM and had a great time. And Tex was even playing as well. And I think he won !

Cheers

Reachy

 

I managed to win a TEC today. I've decided that holding back on round 1 to see how many players will be eliminated makes a lot of sense.

Reachy, I think that you're right in that they key is to survive the first elimination hand, because all too often it's the final hand as well.

 

UBT Contrarian

Like gflan I like to go contrarian - if a few people bet before me - I do the opposite - low if they go high - all in if they go low - I find I am winning a TEC about 1 out of every three tables - doesn't take long to win the couple I need for the next night's tourneys

 

Interesting experiment

On reflection I think these S&Gs make for an interesting laboratory of TBJ! Firstly it gives us all experience of dealing with (and using) wildcat betting strategies. This links into a post that Barney put up a few days back about who you'd rather have at a table when only one advances, a load of wiley old pros or a bunch of lunatic all-in bettors. If I recall the poll was a pretty even split.

Most of the tables I'm at seem to have a few max bettors, a few 1/2 max bettors and some smaller bettors, and so it's impossible to bet contrarian at that early stage. As I said earlier I bet small to medium (actually it's a 2 step negative progression - LOL) and basically ignore the other players for a few hands then see how the land lies (if I'm still in of course). Mostly I'm not in the lead and will inevitably have to play catch up at some point; the question is when and how. Now to me this is a very valuable skill to learn and the second usefull aspect of playubt.

The third aspect is discipline. How to keep your head when all about are betting big and some are getting good leads.

Finally, it's a risk free environment to play around with some of the wilder betting and money-management strategies that you've always wanted to try but never had a place to give them a whirl.

Cheers

Reachy

 

how do you alter your play when heads up?

The different strategies that we are talking about here are mostly to get through the early stages and into a position where we are either heads up or against a couple of other players (or won outright if everyone else busts out ). Do you revert to your more usual approach to TBJ at that point or do you continue to play either more loosely or more tightly depending on which particular approach you took initially?

Cheers

Reachy

 

I have to say that before I qualified, I tried it both ways and had the best results playing it straight up and waiting for the clowns to bust out or get down to a reasonable amount.

The main thing I noticed was that they'd continue max betting even if they won a couple and we're out of reach. Most of the time they'd split or double their max and lose and be right back in range.

I know most disagree, but playing it straight seemed to work well for me.

 

Max or Min

I won six games in a row the other night by just going minimum and letting everyone bust. Ace is right, most don't know to back off. But then again, last night I was playing while waiting for a midnight tourney and everyone at the table played like it was a million dollars on the line rather than one TEC. At one point I was wondering which tourney I was playing in and had to remind myself that it was just for a TEC and not a final table!

 

Wait...

I mentioned a couple of days ago I watched someone lose a 100,000 plus chip lead by not backing off the gas pedal. I bet 10-30% before first elimination hand (unless it looks like I won't get through it). If needed, I start playing catch-up on hands 9 & 10.

 

UBT strategy

I just won three TECs in six tables by starting with minimum bets and just keeping them up - last table tonight I bet 8 mins in a row and won on the last hand when the last desparate drunk-all-in-guy crashed out - it is getting so ALL the players just go all in on every hand - no use even playing max bet in that situation - it is pure luck - 1 of 7 chance - counter betting them until you are in the driver's seat - then whup them - if they don't crash - then go all in and either do or die - if you crash out - just go to another table - I am finding that starting with the min bets and sticking with them if the dealer is hot - seems to be getting me a TEC 1 of every 2 tables - and fairly fast - as the tables don't last past hand eight - if that - so you get your stockpile of TECs quick -

playing on UBT is actually painfull - it is so bad - it is boring - I think you get the TEC for the suffering - not the play -

 

Reachy's new strat

I must admit I don't often play tables where everybody goes big all the time. I seem to play a range of betting styles and some obviously knowledgeable players. What I was trying yesterday was max bet on hand 1, if I win sit on it and min bet, if I lose start again. My rationale is that $50K should be enough to get you through the first elimination which is the key round. Of course if it looks like it might get close then you start betting more intelligently but I gathered quite a few TEC points that way. I'll see whether the trend continues today. Wish me luck!

Cheers

Reachy

 

Pain

I'm with you guys on this...playing there under that style is dreadfully painful. I ususally love playing, but that style of play was driving me crazy. I'm so glad I qualified early in the week on both sites, because I don't know how much more I could take.

I have a feeling most of you will feel relieved when you qualify as well (as I'm sure you will). It's like a huge weight off your shoulders.

 

RKuczek,

Enjoyed your take on the pain of playing.

Reachy, you are right that once you get into a qualifying round the game gets a bit more rational. I've also staarted using the revolving door approach. $50K does seem to be safe for Round 1 and if I don't get it on hand 1, it's on to the next table

As a side note, I assume the grand prize if a seat in St. Kitts but you still have to pay airfare and hotels, right?