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PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011

02-09-2011 , 10:10 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MilkFi5h
Someone rich has obviously bought the company and is testing out how far they can push people so he can use the information for his more important business ventures.
LOL, nobody's that rich...
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bishop22
I agree with the noobs, Jecht. Significantly harder to mass multi than DONs (obv easier than 9mans). Playing 9/7 is these is gonna get you: yougonnagetraped.jpg yougonnagetraked.jpg
I'm having a harder time mass tabling fifty50s atm but I can still do 16ish. I assumed that as I played more and more decisions will become more automatic, I would be able to mass table them just as well as the dons. The decisions really aren't that much more complicated.

Last edited by t_roy; 02-09-2011 at 10:28 PM. Reason: grammar
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:17 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by cowsbehind
Make some PLO8 50/50's ffs, it's a natural split award game, they split friggin pots and like it.
Pot limit games are so awkward in sngs though. NLO8 would be amazing.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazinmets73
Wasn't the demise of Blockbuster an inevitability with the popularity of the internet?
They failed to capitalize on a redbox type approach and also laughed at Netflix when it offered a partnership with Blockbuster back in 2000. http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20025235-261.html
They also did campaigns for "no late fees ever" and removed that within a matter of months pissing off customers. They simply made a number of bad decisions from around 98 until now. Their "bluebox" and internet service like netflix both came way too late.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:24 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by t_roy
I'm having a harder time mass tabling fifty50s atm but I can still do 16ish. I assumed that as I played more and more decisions became automatic, I would be able to mass table them just as well as the dons. The decisions really aren't that much more complicated.
Obviously it takes some extra time during learning, but in DONs there is one component of EV (win%=equity), where in Fifty50s there are two (win%+chipEV=equity) and the second is much more complex. I can't see how the push/fold decisions wouldn't take at least 3x-4x longer. Plus the ranges you are pushing into are going to be looser, a lot easier to figure out what to push into a KK+ range than A2+44+ range.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:28 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by _Towelie_
Way to take my statement totally out of context in order to support your desire for less cash game rake. You realize how the above makes zero sense right?

I'm gonna go ahead and assume you know nothing about sngs and how they've changed in the past two years. This thread is about sngs and sng rake, take it elsewhere.
Way to make a dumb statement and way to miss the dripping sarcasm.
Yes, cash games have stayed identical while SNGs have gotten harder.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:34 PM
So basically people voted that they like dons more than fifty50s with their volume. And now stars is saying screw you, you have to play fifty50s now.

@bishop
True. Over time though even complex decisions will become automatic. It will just take longer to get to that point.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:36 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bishop22
I agree with the noobs, Jecht. Significantly harder to mass multi than DONs (obv easier than 9mans). Playing 9/7 is these is gonna get you: yougonnagetraped.jpg yougonnagetraked.jpg
I'm interested to experience this for myself, I'll play a set of them tonight perhaps. I think what t_roy said is also key.

Quote:
Originally Posted by t_roy
@bishop
True. Over time though even complex decisions will become automatic. It will just take longer to get to that point.
What are the thoughts on having antes start after the third blind level (9 minutes into the Fifty50) rather than after the fourth (12 minutes into the Fifty50) (as it is now)? The objective being to retain a higher degree of the Double or Nothing flavor, where antes started after two blind levels (10 minutes into Double or Nothing).

TL;DR:
  • Thoughts on antes starting after 9 minutes instead of 12 minutes in the Fifty50s?
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:40 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahSD
It actually makes a ton of sense to have lower rake on DoNs and 50/50s. Because edges and variance are smaller, they're effectively lower stakes. Because they take less time, they require less resources from the site. This is same logic behind having lower rake for turbos.
I don't play sngs anymore but I doubt turbos are running twice as long as the 50/50's. I never argued they should be the same % rake but having the 60's raked 2x is ridiculous. It's like they know the rake on them is way too high but refuse to lower it since that's how it's always been.

I thought it was funny how he pointed out how 50/50 rake is lower than the industry standard on sng's when they still offer approximately the same % rake as every other site for turbo sngs.

As far as profitability of the games. I just looked on sharkscope. There's 10 guys with 5k+ profit this year at the Pokerstars Don's $36-100. You know how many guys have 5k profit at the 9-10 man turbos $36-100 on Stars this year, a big fat zero. There's nobody even with a profit over $2211 at them on pokerstars. Maybe that's due to the games never running. I'm not real sure but there's 15 $60 turbo 9 mans being played right now.

I'm not an online sleuth like you but all evidence points to the turbo sng's being raked at way too high of a percentage.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:49 PM
everybody knows that if there wasnt such a thing like rakeback, there would be no point playing higher than 6.50 or 16$
just have a look at the leaderboards from last year at 9mans, people from 5-15$ earn much more than 16-35 AND 36-100, this is mind blowing!
YEAH games get thougher higher you play, but with 4x bigger buyin you should still earn much more with lower roi than some small stakes grinder
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:53 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by t_roy
And now stars is saying screw you, you have to play fifty50s now.
Not in those exact words but you get the picture.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:55 PM
Hi Steve and other Pokerstars staff,

This is “jordyun” on Pokerstars, a regular in 20.8 DONs for like 1.5 years. I play only part-time but I did recorded ~30000 games of DONs during this period and had pretty good winnings. I also experienced the cheating scandal from Chinese DON players. Hence I think I have more knowledge about DONs than you guys do. Please let me share my two cents with you.

I do understand the structure of DONs along with other satellite-based tourneys is a bit distorted in nature. And hence it induces some unorthodox plays in which people fold AA preflop, soft-play against chip leaders and/or regulars, cooperation play to eliminate short stacks, or ultimately, the most infamous stuff: cheating with chip-dumping. I totally agree that Fifty50 has a better structure. I would start grinding in F50s if you do decide to remove DONs, but I need to convey the message that from a player’s perspective, DONs are still more attractive because of:

1) Rake. This is the hugest problem. F50 is faster than DON but it charges higher rake. It reduces your ROI significantly. You have to know that in DON, 5% ROI is considered huge and there are a lot of regulars with only 2%. You almost increase the rake by 20%, but players don’t get 20% more time to play. And that increase in rake is 1% decrease in ROI.
2) Time. As partly explained in 1), both blind structure and time per game is shorter in F50. It means less skill and more luck…It will depend on what cards you get in late stages rather than when you know your push won’t be called. More luck factors involved means the decrease of ROI too.
3) Simplicity. F50 requires more thinking and calculating ICM odd vs pot odd. It will attract less people (or fish). It’ll be harder for fish to win and less likely they will play this game in the long run.
4) Multi-table playability. Fewer people means fewer tables. Also the complexity makes it impossible to play as many tables (at the same time) as in DONs. Result? Less profitable (hourly rate) for players.
5) Folding Equity: DON is the only thing I play as turbo format. I generally hate turbo tourneys/SNGs just because there is less time to manuever. It will become a crap-shoot when everyone is short. But why do I play DONs? Because it’s a game even when blind is large, you can’t just gamble since your over-call is always –EV based on ICMs. This fact also maximize your FE (folding equity) if you play with some knowledgeable players. Your edge would then be, when and how to utilize your FE. It is the chip-position which is important, not the cards you have. In F50s, chips are as important as surviving, so I expect the FE to be reduced. This is generally fine as long as you adjust your strategy, but remember, if it’s still TURBO, then it becomes crap-shoot as well since you have no FE.
6) Cheating. Cheating will still be present. It may be less profitable to cheat, but it will be HARDER to arrest the players, since the chips are now important. For example, in DON late stage, if I’m the chip leader with 6000 chips and posted a blind of 300, and someone is shoving a total of 1000 chips, I can call with any two cards. Losing this hand almost doesn’t change my equity at all. But right now, I may fold in F50 since 700 chips means 0.25 buy in. And cheaters will be able to explain just based on this point.

And you do think it’s good for Pokerstars as well? Not really. As I said above, you will have an even harder time to identify the cheaters. Also, if it attracks fewer players, your rake decreases. I know so many new players starting with DONs, just because it’s easy to learn, and easy to break even after say 100 games. I don’t see those characteristics in F50, and I doubted that F50 will have wider audience than DONs.

To conclude, I’m not saying F50 is bad. It will require its own strategy to become a winner. However, DON has to exist at the same time. People should have the right to choose what to play (especially when F50s have higher rake). In another thread
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28...38/index4.html
Steve does mention “Fifty50s and DoNs are two different game formats. It's expected that if you play one tournament form as if it were another, you will not be as successful. ” I totally agree with this but then it doesn’t make sense if you wanna completely replace DONs with F50s. The market itself will tell which format is better. Indeed there are problems in DONs, but other than cheaters, it’s still a fair game. You can increase your security/game analysis by hiring some experts or experienced ones like myself, to identify cheaters. (I’m not advertising myself…I got a very well-paid job But it will make more sense for someone who has played more than 10000 DONs to decide whether a certain play is illegal.) Also if people don’t like DONs for any reason, they can play F50s at their will. I really think of no reason that you have to remove DONs completely.

Last but not least, the time is too short for players to adjust. What about people who play DONs for a living? You just give the regulars one-week notice that he’s “fired” from his job. So brutal, isn’t it?

Thanks and regards,
Bernie “jordyun”
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 10:58 PM
Poor rs03rs03
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:02 PM
Jordyun, we need more people who can voice their opinion as eloquently and logically as you. A+
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ditch Digger
I don't play sngs anymore but I doubt turbos are running twice as long as the 50/50's. I never argued they should be the same % rake but having the 60's raked 2x is ridiculous. It's like they know the rake on them is way too high but refuse to lower it since that's how it's always been.

I thought it was funny how he pointed out how 50/50 rake is lower than the industry standard on sng's when they still offer approximately the same % rake as every other site for turbo sngs.

I'm not an online sleuth like you but all evidence points to the turbo sng's being raked at way too high of a percentage.
This is nailing it all pretty hard.

The average time a $16 Turbo lasts compared to a $52 DoN was marginally different, at least in my database. In fact, the average 9man duration in my database was actually lower than my average Double or Nothing. Average length was ~33.8 minutes over a sample of 25,447 $20.80 Double or Nothings, average length was ~32.8 over a sample of 2237 $16 9man Turbos I have from two years ago.

It could be argued I wasn't performing well enough 3 handed to show a proper increase in the length of my games, if you have a larger database on 9mans available please offer the average game length and your sample size for comparison with my rather large database on DoNs.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:06 PM
How many more poor decisions can Stars make in 40 days of 2011?

50/50s similar to DON? hahahaha errrrr NOT. In a DON you can play 5% hands and double up, in a 50/50 try this and unless u catch a bluff or catch AA you end the game in a $10 with $12. HORRIFIC.

The hyper turbo sats change, HORRIFIC, a clear FPP ripoff for players.

Collusion or no collusion taking away such a popular game, especially which gave the donks a prayer is just ridonkulous!

Just like the new COUNTRY status. Why did they swith it? to lower support work from all the complaints about people typing in NOCHAT, Earth, HELL etc in the city field. Now it is just an impersonal blurb like that cartoon site FTP.

I used to love stars but seriously, I think I might just get a foreign PO BOX or aircard and play on non US SITES. They are really pissing me off.

5 years 200k rake payer
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:09 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by xxIcemanxx

I think I might just get a foreign PO BOX or aircard and play on non US SITES. They are really pissing me off.
Tell me more about this...
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:12 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazinmets73
Jordyun, we need more people who can voice their opinion as eloquently and logically as you. A+
+1

I keep meaning to spend more time playing cash games. This new move by stars really makes me "think, think, think" about doing just that if you catch my drift.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:13 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars Steve
PokerStars will no longer offer Double of Nothing Sit & Go Tournaments as of February 15th, 2011.

This is not a decision that was made easily as these tournaments have proven to be quite popular with players. However, after thorough evaluation, PokerStars has decided that the format needed improvement.

Newly introduced ‘Fifty50’ Sit & Go tournaments have been deployed to provide an alternative for players who have previously played the Double or Nothings. Fifty50s have many of the same attributes that attracted players to Double or Nothing tournaments:

• Half of the players who enter the tournament receive a payout
• The tournament ends when half of the players remain
• There is no shorthanded play
• They end quickly
• They have low rake

Fifty50s differ from Double or Nothings in their payout structure. Only half of the prize pool is distributed evenly amongst the top half of finishers. The other half is distributed based on chip count, with each chip having an equal value.

This difference means that players always have some incentive to care about the size of their chip stack, whereas in Double or Nothings this was not always the case. This added element makes the Fifty50s a more skilful and, to many, more interesting format.

The value of each chip in Fifty50s also makes situations where some players may softplay each other less attractive than in Double or Nothings. Some forms of poker invite this sort of implicit collusion more than others, as the rewards are greater and costs are smaller for making such plays. The Fifty50 format is an improvement over the Double or Nothing format in this regard as there is always a cost for a player to make a decision that doesn’t maximize the size of their own chip stack.

While it is understood that many players may miss the old Double or Nothing format, improvements and changes to game formats are necessary from time to time. While the loss of a familiar game format can be frustrating or annoying initially, PokerStars is confident that Fifty50s will prove to be a superior tournament format.

Rake
The rake structure is different for Fifty50s than for DoNs. It’s somewhat higher for Turbo Fifty50s than it was for Turbo DoNs at most stakes, but is lower at the $1 level. The rake for normal speed Fifty50s is significantly lower than it was for normal speed DoNs. The Double or Nothings offered rake that was in most cases twice as much for normal speed tournaments than for turbo tournaments. The Fifty50 rake is more in line with other PokerStars Sit & Go tournaments.

PokerStars is currently evaluating all Sit & Go offerings, including rake. The stakes offered and rake for Fifty50s are in line with the changes planned for all Sit & Go Tournaments on PokerStars in the coming months.

If players compare Fifty50 rake on PokerStars to the industry standard for similar Sit & Go tournaments, they will find that the comparison isn’t close; the PokerStars’ rake is much lower.
---------------------------------------------------------------

always defended stars to everyone, but 2011 decisions are making me really dislike even signing on to the site. I have been SuperNova for 3 years. You have ripped us off in the hyper turbo sats, now take away the don. HORRIBLE player unfriendly actions. If you have collusion, FIGURE it out with our MILLIONS in rake we pay. Hire some BRIGHT young minds who think in Chinese or Russian.

Fix your mistakes, listen to your players or it is EXIT stage left!
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:14 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MicroRoller
+1

I keep meaning to spend more time playing cash games. This new move by stars really makes me "think, think, think" about doing just that if you catch my drift.
Well if you're going to play cash games on stars I don't think they'd really care. They're getting your business one way or the other.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:18 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazinmets73
Tell me more about this...
Ah, it's just a guy that really hasn't researched playing with a foreign address.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:19 PM
this is downright disgusting. I for one wont stand for this!

NOW WHOS WITH ME?


Nah all jokes a side its good that they get rid of the game, less good that they give 1 weeks notice.

to all you guys that make a living playing DoNs i feel your pain.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:19 PM
I intended to push for Supernova Elite this year playing exclusively DoNs, so naturally this is a shocker for me. I 've got one problem and one problem alone with Fifty50s however - THE RAKE IS TOO DAMN HIGH!!!! If it were on a more acceptable level according to the much faster betting structure, say 3.0%-ish instead of 4.8% at the turbos, I would seriously consider switching. I guess I'll move back to cash now, but I doubt it will be on Stars. They are getting insanely greedy.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by magent
Ah, it's just a guy that really hasn't researched playing with a foreign address.
Ah, nevermind then. Knew any chance of me being able to play on PartyPoker was waaaayyy too good to be true.
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote
02-09-2011 , 11:33 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by zSolo
Poor rs03rs03
surely it's the opposite
PokerStars will no longer offer Double or Nothing Sit & Go’s, Effective February 28th, 2011 Quote

      
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