8 handed poker post pandemic?
Looks like all are 8-handed which will be the norm. It is more space for players on the table, but this 8-handed thing is the new cancer of poker, it is as bad as 6-5 BJ and 000 roulette!
Is this just a money grab by casinos since they will make more money in rake 8 handed cash games vs. 9 handed? Games used to be 10 handed, then they went to 9. Now 8. Really? Often with 1 or 2 players walking or waiting for a new player, games will actually be 7 or 6 handed a lot of the time. Often you could get a rake reduction 6 handed, now I wonder if it won't occur until 5 handed if at all. The fact that tournaments are remaining 9 handed is the tell. Pros might favor 8 handed as they feel it might give them an edge, but in the long run, more money will be drained from the poker economy via higher rake and fewer tourists wanting to play short-handed.
11 Replies
Casinos make more money 8-handed.
I agree that 8-handed is not ideal. If it was always 8-handed that would be one thing, but what % of the time do you think the table would actually be full? I'd estimate <65% of the time once you factor in people taking bathroom breaks, getting food, smoke breaks, or someone just leaving and having to wait for the seat to get filled. 7-handed low stakes is probably tougher to beat than most people think. Even if you're paying time though, most recreational player
I tracked 220 hands in over 7.5 hours at an 8-handed room and this was the breakdown of active players. Less than 36% of the time was the game full at 8-handed!
The average was 7.1. The most common was 7 at 43%. So the poll for this thread is misleading since 8-handed really means 7-handed due to walkers. The poll should have been "do you prefer 7, 8 or 9?." Then whichever choice wins, add one to reflect the true number of active players. So if 8 is the most popular, then make the games 9-handed which will result in an average of 8 to 8.1 players at the table.
I tracked 220 hands in over 7.5 hours at an 8-handed room and this was the breakdown of active players. Less than 36% of the time was the game full at 8-handed!
The average was 7.1. The most common was 7 at 43%. So the poll for this thread is misleading since 8-handed really means 7-handed due to walkers. The poll should have been "do you prefer 7, 8 or 9?." Then whichever choice wins, add one to reflect the true number of active players. So if 8 is the most popular, then make the games 9-handed
I think it is well understood that when someone is describing playing "9-handed" or "6-handed" or whatever, they are describing the maximum number of available seats at a table, and the possibility of people being away from their seat throughout the day is already factored in.
Commerce also does 8 handed drop games, 9 handed time. I play drop games and much prefer 8 handed, but It's a hilariously transparent way to squeeze more money out of the players. They only get 1 or 2 timed games going at peak hours AFAIK, so the difference is marginal, but they're absolutely shameless and don't care about the optics at all.
Has anyone here actually clocked their rake paid? I have, and I was surprised that I paid much less rake than I expected, less than 3bb per hour (1/2NL 10% Max $5). Rake is not that big of a deal if you have multiple games to choose from. Just focus on the game you have the highest EV at and ignore the rake.
TOTAL
6 bucks an hoour oufff i need to move to vegas. its like 40 bucks an hour in canada
Commerce also does 8 handed drop games, 9 handed time. I play drop games and much prefer 8 handed, but It's a hilariously transparent way to squeeze more money out of the players. They only get 1 or 2 timed games going at peak hours AFAIK, so the difference is marginal, but they're absolutely shameless and don't care about the optics at all.
Are the higher limit players happy to still be 9 handed?
Has anyone here actually clocked their rake paid? I have, and I was surprised that I paid much less rake than I expected, less than 3bb per hour (1/2NL 10% Max $5). Rake is not that big of a deal if you have multiple games to choose from. Just focus on the game you have the highest EV at and ignore the rake.
Would you say that you are a very tight player when compared to most people in your games? Looser players win more pots so have more money taken from them per hour.
8 is worth it for the leg room alone
Maybe it should, but that doesn't really answer the question for me.
I thought almost nothing was known about GTO play for multiplayer holdem.
I'm just talking GTO starting ranges. I wouldn't consider my play "GTO" beyond that. I'm making the assumption that anyone playing GTO starting ranges in a low-limit full ring game would obviously be tighter than their opponents. I would also expect that anyone with a positive expectation in low-limit games would likely pay less rake than the other players due to the fact that most of the the money comes from being called down by weaker ranges. The winning player would have to play tighter (stronger ranges) and therefore pay less rake.
