I've gave zoom tables a try on a site and found myself now $100 shorter than I was beforehand.
My reasoning for giving them a try was I would be able to get playable hands at a rapid rate and believed pots would be more easily taken down because of how tight players are. Instead I've found myself losing large stacks and gaining very little value with a winning hand.
Are these losses just a one off or do these tables have more luck than skill?
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If there are a reasonable amount of players in the pool then reads are very limited.
Sure you can rapidly fold and get more 'premium' hands but you are not doing it in any less a number of hands; you are just doing it quicker in a time sense (i.e. you are not saving in relation to # of blinds that go through you until you get said premium hand. Also other players can obviously do the same so it can be hard to differentiate when in a pot if it is an active player or someone folding for premiums, so once again reads are limited.
If your game is not well polished then you can obviously lose more, and quicker, simply as you are playing much more volume.
It can help if you usually get bored waiting between hands and if you have an edge you can fit so many more hands in to push your edge.
Also I would say that in cash games the main way of being profitable is not necessarily finding 'premiums' but rather outplaying opponents postflop (something that is once again harder, but not impossible, to do with the more limited reads in Zoom).
Like most things in life there are pros and cons.
I would have to say the advice in post 2 is inaccurate; there certainly are some winning players at Zoom. It is definitely pushed by the site in question due to the increased rake revenue they acquire and not necessarily because it offers a higher skill based element when compared to regular cash games.
In general the less information we have at the tables the higher the variance level (this can however be offset somewhat by greatly increased volume).
Craig like any form of poker there is a lot of skill.
The players with the biggest win rate at Zoom are the most aggressive.
What did you have when you were losing big pots? Post a couple of hands if you want.
A lot of zoom is about winning small pots. On stars even @ 10 or 25nl the standard will be significantly better compared to that on sky.
The site you use will make a massive difference.
For instance, if you use the big one with tens of thousands of players, you will find it harder to win at one that is a small poker site attached to a betting site. (Cant say here but my PM is always open).
Aggression is indeed the key, you can take down blind after blind if you pick your moments carefully.
PokerStars Zoom Hand #151953419322: Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2016/04/15 17:28:28 WET [2016/04/15 12:28:28 ET]
Table 'Klinkenberg' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: GRUBIOV ($11.01 in chips)
Seat 2: Dmitriy316i ($19.09 in chips)
Seat 3: sofaki32 ($10.68 in chips)
Seat 4: AlexsandurA ($20.42 in chips)
Seat 5: ApokerKing15 ($10 in chips)
Seat 6: pilaro45 ($9.13 in chips)
Dmitriy316i: posts small blind $0.05
sofaki32: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ApokerKing15 [Kh Qh]
AlexsandurA: folds
ApokerKing15: raises $0.20 to $0.30
pilaro45: calls $0.30
GRUBIOV: folds
Dmitriy316i: folds
sofaki32: folds
*** FLOP *** [4d 3h 6s]
ApokerKing15: checks
pilaro45: checks
*** TURN *** [4d 3h 6s] [3c]
ApokerKing15: checks
pilaro45: bets $0.36
ApokerKing15: folds
Uncalled bet ($0.36) returned to pilaro45
pilaro45 collected $0.72 from pot
pilaro45: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $0.75 | Rake $0.03
Board [4d 3h 6s 3c]
Seat 1: GRUBIOV (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Dmitriy316i (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: sofaki32 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: AlexsandurA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ApokerKing15 folded on the Turn
Seat 6: pilaro45 collected ($0.72)
I am not a great player but I do turn a small profit on zoom. I will pm you my suggestions