First Live $ Game This Weekend!

I have been playing online for almost 2 years now, but I have never played a live money game ... in fact, I have only played 1 live play money game hehe.

So now its time to see how its really done! I am so excited!

I'm a 'fairly' good online poker player, but there is so much to learn about the real thing, I am especially concerned about my 'tells' as I am highly animated in my facial expressions.

What are some of your strategies to deal with this?

Thank you so much for any input you can give me

Rhonda

Good luck! I am going to move this to Strategy - it will not get attention here.

If you feel like the animation in your face is likely to give away your hand, try and keep your face animated all the time. If there is a lot of activity in your face whenever you are in a hand, it will be difficult for opponents to pinpoint what expression is the tell and then associate it with what it means. The physical tells i pay most attention to are hands. how a person plays with their chips, how they put chips into the pot, how they cut chips from their stack and how they count chips are where most of the tells I use come from. betting patterns are just as important in live poker as they are in online poker.

I'm the same way, don't play to much live but when I get the chance I will, but the first few times I had the same thought, I wouldn't be able to hide my emotions so I would do the opposite, if I was holding pocket A's I would look uncertain like should I play this hand, but after playing a few times I got better at not showing anything now when I have pocket A's people tell me I never would have put you on pocket A's it's just controling your emotions just stay level and play your cards the same why you would online, live it's easier to pick out the fish just pay attention,good luck!!!

TAKE YOUR TIME!!!!

I can’t stress that enough. If there is one difference in playing live and playing online; it's the time you take to show your decision. Most poker decisions are make in a snap...even in live poker. The biggest difference is that you don’t have a timer pushing you to make the play! So take advantage of the fact and TAKE YOUR TIME!!! Watch the players first, and then watch the cards. You can force this situation by not looking at your own cards until it’s your turn. Try watching the other player’s reactions when each street hits the table and wait until it’s your turn to consider how you should play. That way you let the situation become a bigger part of the decision you make and the action you take.

As already pointed out make, you will want to make sure you have a good handle on betting patterns and how they show reasons for the actions that followed.
**Example:
Player in the cutoff picked his cards up and stared at them for like 10 seconds and then glance at the person to the right of him as he slid the cards gently back on the table in front of his chips.

Was the delay a result of the player having the goods? Or was it because he was trying to see if he could make a mediocre hand play because he’s cutoff?

The only way to find out what he is up to, is to continue watching. Once you see him do this for 4 or 5 revolutions you may start to notice that the player is always playing when he stares at his cards for a while and usually has the goods. Or you may notice that the player is always playing mediocre hands when he stares at them and he’s willing to bet more to push you off the pot. Or you may notice the player just flat out folds and is only staring at the cards to curse the gods for treating him that way.

You will want to try to connect the actions, but make sure you get as much information as you can before creating a rule about the player. You will notice fairly quickly that people play on autopilot in live games too. You just got to know how to identify what their autopilot looks like.

As for your own tells ……..
Don’t stress it so much. Most live players don’t know what to look for anyways. But if you do happen to notice one of your own tells, just change it up. The biggest tell you might run into will be when you get that first ‘Big’ hand that causes you to shake when you place your larger bet. Just smile and know that these tells usually wear off after a few rounds and you become more comfortable. That’s the reason most people don’t really pay attention to this kind of tell.

Have Fun and Good Luck!

Thank you so very much for the Great Information! If anyone has some other tips, please let me know! I will need all the help I can get.
Thanks again
Rhonda

I play live about two to three times a month.I play at a Dog Track in a poker rooms that is big as a room in Vegas.They just built it for 5 millions dollars renvonition.As far as live It nice to have a bugdet and know what game you want to play.My poker room has all the games even an Horse cash game.I usally play 1/2 limit poker with an 4bet cap.That because it is so soft it unreal.I have made 200 dollars some nights.The most important thing you will be nervous when you get a hand that good like AA or AK.You will shake when you bet but don't worry it common.It wears off when you warm up.

I would learn some chip tricks so they know you are no gook.Be calm and patient.Most of the people I play with are people that are elderly and people who are DR and nurses.They are regular people that play for fun.They don't care if they lose their money.Don't be rude don't act out of turn.Tip I repeat TIP the dealers.They work hard.Don't listen to what anybody says about you or your play.Ignore them.I'm deaf however I can still hear.Just have fun.

I remember when I made the jump... ended up losing my first buy in at the cash table, but I walked right into it... thats why you shouldn't play KTs to a raise!

Hope you have a good time anyways, like everything else it gets easier with a little experience. Best thing about playing live is you can actually see and talk to people at your table properly, you can meet some interesting people at a poker table ( and some total dicks too )

If you're not comfortable making conversation at the table then just bring your mp3 player along, just keep the volume low enough so you can hear the action and don't accidentally say "call" without knowing that the guy beside you just announced all in :P its happened to me... luckily the floor said i didn't have to commit to the action because the players chips hadn't been put in the middle and the dealer didn't place the all in thingie in front of him.

And, of course, tip the dealers... they'll give you better cards if you do :P