Live poker vs. Online Poker

I have mostly played online texas holdem, but this weekend I was in a live tourny, and boy the what a differance. The play seemed to be much faster then I thought it would be.

I have played in small tournys with friends, but this one was at a casino with many more people.

Does anyone have any sugestions on playing in live big tournys?

The best things that I have learned for live play

1. Do not be intimidated by the other players, their chip stack, their dirty looks or smack talking. I mostly keep my head down, eyes focused on the cards and tune everyone out. If I start to listen to those around me, I tend to get caught up in their crap.

2. Check-Raise is great, but mostly, you get burned on it. If it's a no-limit game, just bet if you have the hand, if they raise you, great....go all in if that's what you want, otherwise call his raise. Don't be intimidated by raisers. On the other hand if it is limit and there are a few people in the pot, check-raise is a good strategy b/c it is the only way to get some real money in the pot.

3. Don't drink when you play!!! Unless you just want to have fun. Or unless you are good at being drunk and doing things.

4. I rarely play on tilt, unless I am chip-leader. Yeah, some players do it and do well, but most of them tilt themselves to death.

how did you do in the tournament? ive never been in a big one..but if i was id get lots of sleep and wear something real comfy..i wonder if you can play in pajamas cuz thats what i play in on online tourneys oh and i wouldnt drink till the final table

yeah I recently had the same feeling...I've learned how to play online and have gottin pretty good...but boy did I have my backend handed to me when I played live poker...I was scared out of my mind actually looking people in the eyes..it is a different game all together

Live is totally different but in my eyes easier the online.

Online you have to much problems to read the others and a lot of bad players which call anything....

I like offline more about i see my "ENEMY" and it's easier to read them.

I started playing online tourneys back in Nov. 04'(alot of them) then last month I started playing in a local tourney(75 people) about a month ago. Finished 3rd and 5th so far. To me that is almost satisfactory(I want to win it all). The best advice for someone going from online to real is to study the people betting after you fold. Watch everything they do and say, see what cards that they are playing with, and remember as much as possible. Put them on something even after you fold. They will become as easy to read as a Dr Seuss book.

patience is the key, if you see people around you play a lot of hands and win big and your still stuck with your smaller stack of chips, don't worry, your turn will come. sometimes you see people pushing too much cause they want to get in the action, or they are just scared that the others will take a big lead. just play your game

Well dont know much about tourny play but i play @ a casino near my house. LIVE play weather its tourny style or just regular table play is nothing like the online play. U must remenber that people playing with real money genreally value it and dont play loosely, at least when i was playing there. NO ALL INERS that i seen and when the chips where pushed in the hands were hands that u and i woulda played just as hard. Dont get me wrong there probally people that waste their money but I didnt see any of that @ the CASINO.


PEACE

CHAD8

What are some common tells to look for when playing live? Strong usually means weak, etc....

alymudd said he tries to tune everyone out.

I disagree strongly with this. Whenever I play live in a casino, I try to pay attention to how the other players talk when they're in a hand. Especially when you aren't in the hand, it gives you more time to focus on others' actions. I do try to not make it obvious like I'm studying them, but it helps to talk a little bit about where people are from/what they do. That way they'll maybe open up and say more to you/the table than they would have otherwise.

sit back and keep a low profile and play the nut hands

The first signs to look for Phil! When you sit down and start playing, fold alot and stay out of as many hands as possible unless dealt an extremely strong hand! Watch who folds alot and who calls alot. That will tell you who is loose and who is tight. After you have divided up tight and loose, watch how they are acting when they bet(how much, nervous, excited, etc...), and when you get lucky enough to see what cards they had, put it all together and remember it when you go heads up. Most of reading people or tells as you call it,comes from watching other people bet after you have folded. You should read people on an average of 30 min to an hour after you sit down. As long as you are paying extremely good attention to people wanting to take your stack!

Of what I've observed of my own differences in live and online play, the hardest thing for me usually is trying to play a little more loose at a live table and a little more strict online. You see a whole lot more bad beats online, so my own made up solution for that is to try and play less hands.

I'd like to play in a big tourney, just for the feeling .. the fun ...
but sadly, no big tourneys in my area ... I think I'll move

Defiently Love small buy-in but large tourneys~ Since right now im short on cash~ poor college student~ But SNG are the best thing that has happend to me~ Love tournement play much more than cash games because its an equal amount and you can run to your wallet for more~ Still little bit wary about playing in a Casino though enjoy the online play more right now and home games for fun~

try not to look at other players if u dont have a good poker face, any little read they get will screw u over through out the game

Well I only played once at the casino as poker is new to the casinos in Ontario Canada. I played at the $2/$4 table limit. I enjoyed the banter as much as I did the game. There were a lot of loose players and river chasers just like online. I made a little profit and had fun but I got a bit drunk which was fun too. Probably could have made more though.

The hardest thing for me to get over was the intimidation factor. Once I got over this I fair pretty well.

Playing live and on-line is almost like playing 2 different games, but i find live is a better game to play.