Full Tilt vs Poker Stars

When I started my quest to turn $50 into $5000 playing sit n' go poker online I opened a new account on Full Tilt Poker. I had previously only played on PokerStars.com but felt my new approach warranted a fresh start. It took a little effort to get used to the interface but it became "normal" after some time at the tables.

A few days ago I wrote about my run of bad beats on Full Tilt. I examined my play and was confident that I was playing correctly. Sometimes the cards just run bad and you need to play through them. However, I was leary about continuing to play and I didn't want to stop playing, so I decided to play a few games on PokerStars.

I played 5 of the $20 sit n' go's on PokerStars and finished in the money in the first 4 (was knocked out of the fifth due to a bad play on my part as opposed to a bad beat!). Through this process I was able to identify some differences between the sites that I wanted to outline here, specifically some items that I like on Full Tilt that I think are lacking with the PokerStars interface.

Color Coding
PokerStars lacks the ability to color code players. As part of my initial profiling, I use the color coding feature in Full Tilt to visually represent the playing history and trends of each of my opponents (see Reading Players Online for more detail). Without this information in front of me I had to keep checking back to the trends in SharkScope.com when facing decisions affected by this information. I really missed this feature when playing on PokerStars.

Player Notes
Both sites give you the ability to take notes about the players. However, with Full Tilt, you can simply hold your mouse over the player's avatar and see the notes. With PokerStars you must double-click the avatar so it brings the notes up in a notes box. In addition, I can see more of the notes information in Full Tilt than PokerStars. As I observe players, taking notes is very important to building a correct profile. Although I can do it with both, I much prefer the Full Tilt interface.

Game History
Both sites allow you to pull up the history for any previous game within the sit 'n go. However, Full Tilt also provides a visual interface. The visual interface is a quick way to see the board and all cards of the players at showdown without having to read through the history text. In addition, I can scroll through the interface and look at the starting hands of all the players that went to showdown. This helps me to quickly look at the card selection for each player. I greatly missed this feature while playing on PokerStars.

Detachable Chat Box
Both sites allow you to monitor and participate in chat discussions. Watching chat can help you identify players that are on tilt and players that are recreational (maybe talking about the football game or something). With PokerStars the chat is limited to a small box and unless you are watching you can easily miss information. However, with Full Tilt you can detach the chat box and size it as large as your screen will allow. When playing Full Tilt I usually have the chat box detached and expanded the full height of my screen so I can easily see the chat history. Again, greatly missed while playing on PokerStars.

Blind Structure
This isn't really an interface thing, but instead a speed of play thing. As I discussed in my sit 'n go training, the blind structure is fairly similar between the two sites until you get about an hour into it. At that time, PokerStars adds an ante, which in effect reduces your M score and forces you to play faster. I prefer the slower blind structure, which favors skilled players, expecially when late in the tournament. With that said, both structures are faster than a typical multi-table tournament, so not a big issue.

So what is my point? Well, if you are just playing your cards and not really thinking much beyond that, either site will work fine. However, if you are profiling players and want tools to help you track information, Full Tilt is by far the better interface. As a result I still give Full Tilt my vote for the best site for sit 'n go poker online, at least from sites that support players from the United States.

As to the fish, there are plenty to feed on at each site!