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Poker817

Zoom/fast-fold ruined live reads but saved my patience. Worth the trade?

I switched a big chunk of my volume to Zoom because 9 handed live pace was killing me. I can get 450-500 hands in the time live gives me 110, and I stop punting off an hour waiting for a seat to wake up. That part saved my patience for sure...

What dropped off for me:

  • No timing tells that mean much

  • No stack handling or chip splash

  • No table mood to lean on

  • No orbit history with one guy

  • Thin river bluff catches got worse

Online I end up back on population reads and pool habits, which is fine until spots get close. Live I used to pick off one weird bet size and just know it! On Zoom its 2.2x, 33%, 75%, jam, next hand.

My split now is 70% fast fold, 30% live, mostly to keep hand reading sharp. I dont think Zoom made me worse, it made me different, and some live edges definitely got sanded down hard.

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8142

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8 comments
618•

Fast fold made everyone the same player. Got tired of that faster than the live wait.

5
591••5 replies

On Zoom its 2.2x, 33%, 75%, jam, next hand.

I lean on sizing patterns across the pool now, since you don't see the same player through an orbit. One 33% bet from a stranger doesn't tell me much. Repeated patterns across players are more useful, though I still find close spots hard. I don't think the live instincts disappear, but mine probably get rusty when I'm not watching people handle chips and react between hands. I keep some live volume for that.

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425••3 replies

30% live keeps the rust off, anymore and youre just burning money to stay sharp on chips and reactions. at 450 hands an hour online i might not see the same dude twice in a week

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259•

Burning money is a stretch, that 30% is the only place the reads come from. Rest is just sizing patterns against strangers.

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8,545•

Y tho

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520•

Pool reads are mush.

2
243•

Zoom zoom, no soul

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