Fulltilt versus Pokerstars

I had a lot of free time yesterday with so I played a lot online switching between Fulltilt and Pokerstars. I used to play online at Pokerstars a couple years ago then changed to Fulltilt about a year ago. I tried a few smaller sites but seem to have stuck to the 2 big poker powers. I like both sites as they both have features I like and dislike. On Pokerstars I like the fact that people can post their pic and also what city they are from is displayed which makes a more friendly environment. With Fulltilt they have those silly avatars that really need to be dumped. I like the accessibility of the previous hand function on Fulltilt. Pokerstars has it too but FT is much easier to navigate when you are trying to see what your table mates previous hands were.

Pokerstars does have the feature which tells you how often you are seeing the flop etc. I like that and very easy to read. As you can see both sites have some great features.

As I only play online for practice and to sharpen my game I am not sure which site I would play on if I was actually going to put some money on my account (or unless I win a freeroll). I have a lot of friends who do play online for money but I have never done it for the simple reason is that I love to play live. I can certainly understand people who do play online for money if they don't have casinos close by and if you are playing the small stakes you really can't lose too much. I also realize that that the online sites have been the main reason in the overwhelming increase in popularity of the game and for that I am thank full but I live in British Columbia and here we have lots of casinos. In the Greater Vancouver area alone there are 7 casinos that have poker rooms.

I played 3 freerolls yesterday at Full Tilt. One of them which starts at 340 PM EST starts registration 40 minutes prior to the start. That freeroll filled in 4 seconds. 2700 entrants. Too slow on the click and you are out of luck. I also managed to finally get in on the Canada freeroll which until I sent them an email at FT hadn't been able to access. Its great to have that access now.

I never cashed in any of the freerolls as you need a lot of luck just to get far. No matter how well you play there are so many players that go in with anything, don't respect raises that the suck out factor is huge. I will keep trying as I have said that's the only way you will see me on the pay side of these sites. Yesterday I got eliminated in all 3 with the percentage factor in my favour and yet the underdog knocked me out all 3 times.

I was reading the Pokergrump (one of my favourite blogs) and he had a bit about Johnny Chans appearance on Poker After Dark. I managed to catch a few minutes of the show. I like PAD but it always seems to be on at times when its tough for me to watch. Jennifer Tilly looked great and I love her personality. Of course I am a little biased as she grew up in BC. She is very distracting at the table with her low cut tops. Of course that's her intention.

The winter Olympics will be here in 10 months and yesterday they announced that ticket sales have been excellent. All available tickets that have been released so far have been sold. Thats great news in this economy. Most of the venues are finished and things are looking good. Lets hope it continues.