FTP vs PS

I'd like to hear the benefits of each of these sites from the FTR regs. I've never played on FTP but a LOT of you do. Yea, I wanna find an easier site, but fuck that, I want your opinion if you've played on both. I'm interested in micro cash games.

I wanna hear from:
Roid
RPM
Daven
Spoon
M2M
Bikes
Daviddem
Dozer
Carroters
Muzzard
Hoopy
Spenda

Anyone that has an opinion about the software and the games. THX

I'd like to hear about this too.
Never played on FTP but am thinking about switching from stars for the rakeback.

i made the list!!! yes!

most of my online poker life has been spent on stars but i found out sometime in the latter half of last year that i was able to get rakeback on my already existing FT account, so i made the switch. more recently i've been jumping between both. currently playing on stars until my home games bonus expires then i'll re-evaluate. as far as player pool goes, i've found FTP to be softer. i have no cold-hard numbers to prove it but i feel that there is a higher fish:reg ratio at FTP (this is at 25nl FR), and the regs seem to be slightly worse. as far as software goes, i'm kind of neutral. they're both designed pretty damn well imo. i may be wrong on this too, but i think that FTP has a shorter available timebank, which (If true) makes for more hands per hour at each table at FT, but also means you don't have as much time to make your decisions.

according to FPP PRO.com -- Rakeback? it seems most micro players will be getting slightly better rakeback at FT than PS, if they can get it. this is because of stars' rewards system - most micro grinders will probably struggle to attain any higher than gold star, which doesn't seem to quite reap the rakeback equivalent of that offered at FTP. though someone with maths in their head is more than welcome to refute me on that.

both offer loosely similar games - cap, 40bb max (is this still availabe on stars?),100bb max, and "deep" (200bb max buyin on FT, 250bb max on PS). stars has more traffic more often. that's about all i can think of at the moment. hope it helps.

edit: FTP obviously has rush as well which probably appeals to bad players (who are typically impatient, playing too many hands etc) which may make for a soft game, i don't know. never played it. though lots of terrible recreational poker players i have befriended at local pub games speak pretty highly of rush. "oh man it's awesome. you never have to wait for a hand!". ask dr anger about rush.

upon doing some further investigation, it is evident that full tilt's rake rate is higher than stars' at stakes lower than 50nl. so i have no idea which is better value for rakeback. can someone help me to determine this? here are the two sites' rake pages for those interested.

Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - Real Money: Rake
Poker Rake - How to Calculate Poker Room Rake - Calculating the Rake

Cake > FTP > Stars imo considering player pool and 33%/27%/VIP RB respectively.

it's a matter of preference for software. in the micros it really doesn't matter where you play there will always be good games. it really comes down to finding software that you are the most comfortable with and then play there.

blah blah blah rb but tbh rb should be one of the last things on your mind till about 50nl 100nl

stars software and support is superior to FTP. just play there.

Doubt there's too much difference in terms of rakeback/bonuses/quality of games for nanostakes (25NL and below), so I'd just go with whatever software you like best.

I play on Stars since the layout/software is decent, also have an existing account on FT without rakeback . Apparently I'm on a list to receive rakeback but tbh I'm happy at stars.

I play mostly on FTP, only signed up for Stars recently and played very little, so I can't have a precise idea yet. I think the software is probably equally good (seems to me Stars requires more bandwidth / better connection, so for me it is easier to play on FTP when I am on one of the shitty connections that I am often on). I like to have the predefined bet buttons on Stars, FTP has only a "pot" button.

Can't say the FTP support has been great, still recently I wrote to them inquiring about a connectivity issue that I think was on their side at a time I was involved in two big hands, and theit reply was completely beside the point (probably some canned answer auto-generated).

I like the cash rakeback I have on FTP, although I was getting more out of it when they were using the dealt method. They are now on contributed. Stars is still "dealt" as far as I understand, which favors tight players quite a lot.

On FTP you get Rush, on demand tourneys and steps tourneys. On Stars you get home games. Also far more traffic on Stars at all times, so supposedly easier to find good tables/ more selection.

Some other differences in the games, like I think heads up tables are available at lower stakes on Stars.

But if you want an easier site, better play on some Euro site, games are generally softer/looser. bwin comes to mind.

I'd suggest

it's a matter of where I feel safest having my money, and that by far and away is PokerStars. Their VIP system is good enough and their support is second to none. Game security, software, and the largest player pool make it a no brainer for me.

ffffffffffuuuuuuuuu play2win fffffffffuuuuuuuuuu


but yea stars >>>>> ftp imo and i have >70k hands on both....

The main thing for me is the customer service, i actually feel like stars gives a shit (could be wrong though)....

also i like the look of the stars tables and the fact you can get an avatar at stars way better.

Also being able to right click and see all the tables they are on is helpful without having to go to the main client and "ctrl f" when ur mass multi tabling

oh black card support > sn support these days anyway

THX yo. Sorry Philly. I meant to put you on the list. I wuz pretty drunk when i posted. F'in poker... i lost 2 BI's yesterday, then donked off 2 more. I love the software on Stars but i wouldn't mind a softer player pool at all. I'll just quit bitchin and play.

Stars and FT have the best software in the industry and it's not even close. I think stars' is a bit better though.

When I was building a roll for the first time, I bonus whored around almost all the major networks and would recommend doing the same. Settle down wherever you feel best.

^^^ I second that. Once you get used to the quality of FTP and Stars software, it's painful to deal with some of the utter bullshit you come across with elsewhere. Come on, industry, how f*cking hard is it to make half decent poker software with all the $$$ you rake when you have two near perfect prototypes of what it should be right in front of you?

I once heard a theory that went something like "the worse the software is, the fishier the play is cuz no self-respecting grindstar would ever tolerate such terrible software".

so if you CAN tolerate the shitty software...

I wouldn't move between stars and FTP in search of 'easier games'. There may be some difference, but the estonians seem not to think so...

Stars regs like stars software better, FTP regs prefer FTP software -> software probably isn't a huge factor unless you want to 24 table (FTP limit 16)

Game selection is probably easier on FTP as there are less tables to sift through. Game selection if probably better on stars but you need to be better at finding the whales.

FTP regs are slightly more aggro at 25nl and 50nl, stars regs are slightly more nit. Choose your poison.

rakeback is probably similar, shouldn't be your main concern either.

Obviously don't move to FTP if you can't max the first deposit bonus, if you can then it's probably worth heading over and trying it out. You can always move back to stars at any point during or after the bonus clear. Then you can form your own opinions.

Both sites have benefits beyond the obvious - I can't help you with identifying the stars ones but for FTP:

1) Truly free poker training.com = you get free cardrunners and some of the vids are decent.
2) Poker academy provides $$ benefits that are material if you play stakes 25nl and below
3) FTR overlay tournies (same happen on stars though)
4) If you grind monster volume you get a cool metal card. And it's black. Great for chopping lines?

Originally Posted by philly and the phanatics

Also being able to right click and see all the tables they are on is helpful without having to go to the main client and "ctrl f" when ur mass multi tabling

you can do this on ftp now too

I play on both sites...just depends on my mood. Also if I am running bad on Stars I will flip over to FT. I personally think people play crazy on both site..just when the the dealer is not being nice to me on one they are nicer on the other.

I have a rule of thumb though...The flop will determine how good your whole cards are.

Just get good at poker ffs.

Originally Posted by CalifNaughti

I play on both sites...just depends on my mood. Also if I am running bad on Stars I will flip over to FT. I personally think people play crazy on both site..just when the the dealer is not being nice to me on one they are nicer on the other.

dude that's retarded, if the dealer hates you on one site, you've come close to using up all your runbad on that site, and should stay because you're due for some rungood.

Originally Posted by CalifNaughti

I have a rule of thumb though...The flop will determine how good your whole cards are.

This is true, any two can win which is why I play pretty much every hand I'm dealt. folding is boring!

Originally Posted by d0zer

dude that's retarded, if the dealer hates you on one site, you've come close to using up all your runbad on that site, and should stay because you're due for some rungood.

It works for me. If I am running bad on one site I will not play on it and move to FT to play. Im not going to stay where I am running bad and just give the site my money. Besides I like to mix up the sites a bit anyway.

Originally Posted by CalifNaughti

It works for me. If I am running bad on one site I will not play on it and move to FT to play. Im not going to stay where I am running bad and just give the site my money. Besides I like to mix up the sites a bit anyway.

YouTube - Stevie Wonder - Superstition live on Sesame Street

FTP, because of RUSH.

I didn't make the list

I played PS until about late last oct and I've been playing FTP since then.

FTP is better for me because:

1. I get higher rakeback
2. I don't play more than 6 tables, so the software differences are pretty much negligible imo
3. I can play rush when I feel like it
4. The games are better/fishier


Of course, your situation could be completely different than mine. Its a completely unique decision for each person.

Ok so, I'm going to answer this in a lot more detail giving my reasons why in a blog coming up in the middle to the end of April. But I'll throw out some of the reasons why I play where I do here.

I prefer FTP and for a lot of the reasons already stated. Weekly cash rakeback is the tits, Rush poker is a fucking dream for people that want multitabling hands but dont want to deal with loading and unloading tables all the time.

Startup time for a session is less than 5 minutes and that includes me going through and tagging anyone thats 4 tabling. Shutdown time is less than a minute with 'sitout all.' 4 tabling rush poker I'm averaging 800-950 hands/hr which is on a shitty Hughesnet connection that lags ass ALL THE TIME (makes rush another win since i dont get fucked out of so many blinds/pots when i do happen to time out) but with good connection + TN you can easily achieve >1k hands per hour playing Rush.

Umm Iron Man is good once you hit the later levels, monthly freerolls for those that do hit it. Hitting Black Card isn't too hard of a push if you play 50nl+ Rush and isn't SUPER hard if you have some work ethic at 25nl. (I haven't hit it yet, but am planning to over the summer.)

Idk, I used to love stars, but now I'm addicted to Rush, etc. I'll make a longer post about this topic again in my upcoming blog (pre-shameless plug, STAY TUNED, etc ).

FT for microstakes is much better. Utilize the poker academy, happy hours, and iron man for more points. If you grind at least 50 points per day, with rake, you can possibly double your benefits from PokerStars. Comp is similar on both sites until you hit midstakes where it gets harder on FT but remains slightly easier on PS.

What about Pacific? Why is everybody talking about FT or PS? There are a lot more casinos out there!

Originally Posted by PlayToWin

I'd like to hear the benefits of each of these sites from the FTR regs. I've never played on FTP but a LOT of you do. Yea, I wanna find an easier site, but fuck that, I want your opinion if you've played on both. I'm interested in micro cash games.

I wanna hear from:
Roid
RPM
Daven
Spoon
M2M
Bikes
Daviddem
Dozer
Carroters
Muzzard
Hoopy
Spenda

Anyone that has an opinion about the software and the games. THX

from previous calculations i've shown that on the rb front, 2nl-10nl at ftp w/rb and stars w/bronzestar are really close to each other b/c of the higher rake on ftp, at 25nl it's usually slightly better on ftp, then at 50nl and higher it depends on which games you're playing and your volume