Taking a Seat at UB

August turned out okay with that swell run over on Full Tilt helping make for a decent month overall. Moved over to Stars a week or so ago where I haven’t done quite as well, losing fairly steadily at $1/$2 full ring LHE while winning some of it back over at PLO25. (Probably playing around 50% Omaha, 50% LHE at the moment.)

Looking over my stats, my sour run at limit Hold ’em appears partially due to poorer-than-average starting hands and/or unfortunate timing. For example, I only picked up AA twice in just over 1,000 hands (average should be 4 or 5 times). In both cases I won small pots when my lone opponent folded on the turn. Meanwhile I’m dropping a lot of chips (in small doses) with baby and middle pairs.

My most expensive starting hand has been KQo, which I was dealt nine times. I lost money seven times, broke even once, and won $1.63 on the other. Overall dropped nearly 30 clams in those hands. Sometimes bad luck (e.g., turn trips, then lose to flush), though I’m also seeing some examples of so-so play on my part in there, too. (Did I really call down that one hand with an ace on the board and me holding king-high?)

Also convinced that on average I’ve been up against tougher opponents on Stars than I had been facing on Full Tilt -- a lot less limping, more tricky turn play, etc. Could just be table selection, but I’m definitely having fewer of those “easy” sessions on Stars. Am trying to keep in mind that excellent advice Gadzooks left in a comment a few months back: “Don’t fight the table.”

Meanwhile, I heard the news that Absolute Poker is now allowing free transfers of funds back and forth between AP and Ultimate Bet. I have had a play money account on UB for a long time, but never deposited. I’m probably going to ship some cabbage over there and give it a try.

I do like the software update over at Absolute. I prefer the cleaner look, resizable tables are helpful, and the bet slider seems to function more smoothly than before (that always drove me nuts). Nevertheless, I have been mostly staying away from AP lately as the crummy “Bad Beat Jackpot” tables have taken over the low limit Hold ’em games. I wrote a post a month or so ago about how lousy a deal these are. Any time the pot reaches five bucks at a jackpot table, an extra fifty cents is removed for the jackpot rake, essentially tripling the usual rake. Every time I have logged on, I see a handful of jackpot tables running (at my $1/$2 level), but usually no non-jackpot tables (or perhaps a lone 6-max). Just can’t talk myself into sitting around gunning for pots that have been so heavily juiced.

So I’ll be adding UB to my roster of sites (that’ll make five with Stars, FTP, Absolute, and Bodog). Never been that crazy about the UB look, but it’ll be good to have another online option. (It just occurred to me -- I wonder if this new transfer policy will allow one to take advantage of Absolute’s frequent reload bonuses?)

Those who have played at Ultimate Bet, how’s it worked out for you?