Brick and Mortar transition

I've been playing online for several years now, and happily I can honestly say that I'm consistently successful in both ring games and tournaments. Now I'm ready to try my hand (pardon the pun ) at brick and mortar poker here in Colorado, and I'd like to hear some opinions/tips on significant differences between online play and casino play. I have NO idea how vulnerable I may be to other player's ability to "read" me, nor do I have a sense of any subtleties in live poker etiquette that I need to know. Also, am I better off starting with MTT's or ring games to get familiar with live casino play? Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

Play tight-aggressive. Most of the players will most likely be there on a booze-and-buds trip and will not likely be very experienced. Playing tight-aggressive prevents you from losing to a rivered crapshot new player and lets you scare people off the table with some of your worse hands.

I'd have said a relatively low buy-in MTT would be the best way to get used to casino play, but that's just because I'm a lousy cash player - either would be fine, I'm sure.

If you're worried about reads and other people getting reads on you, you might want to have a look over Mike Caro's book of tells. Though for every player that'll be reading you, there'll be at least one more who doesn't have the first clue (especially at low stakes). So focus on taking money off the ones that don't have a clue, steer clear of the ones that know how to play, have some fun and you should be right

There's some other tips on live play here too: Live tourney tips

If there is a poker league in your area, you could try that first. It has helped me with all sorts of aspects:

• Didn't really expect for my hands to shake at first.
• Couldn't count out chips that well or move them about comfortably.
• Couldn't remember my cards without them staring me in the face.
• With out the Beep, I wasn't that good about knowing when it was my turn to act.

All of these things scream fish (except the shakey hand tell, but that's another story by someone else)

After a few months of league time, I am feeling far more comfortable with live play and dare I say, I'm starting to get good at spotting fish. All that it cost me was the cost of what ever I wanted to eat or drink while playing.

best of luck to you
cheers

Live play is definitely ALOT slower, but most of the time it's also alot more fun. I would rather play in a casino, league or series of home games any day or online poker. It's just far more enjoyable, and for me atleast, it's alot more profitable.

I actually prefer playing in a B&M rather than online. Part of it is the fact that I play better live than I do online. I'd be hitting it up, usually playing on PokerRoom or on Ultimate Bet and then come up short. I play there because I started out there a few years ago, have a good experience there and make good use of their deposit bonuses, reload bonuses and opportunities to satellite in some major tourneys such as the 5-Diamond WPT event in Vegas or the NA Poker Championships in Niagara Falls.
Aside from that, don't run too well online - sometimes it's due to making a dumb mistake and not focusing, other times I just run into a 'rindonkulous' play/call and seeing someone catch a miracle card. That combined to getting a long string of marginal-to-bad hands, or worse, second-best hands.

I like talking to the people at the table though. I find that I have a lot more fun that way. It's hard sometimes when you're locked-in on the one table for 5+ hours, especially when you don't catch cards, but it just seems all that more friendly.

Tip if you're new to a B&M Casino, be sure to watch how players bet (not necessarily how much, but more so the different ways a player can put chips in the pot). Another tip, particularly if you're new is to actually tell the dealer before-hand that you've never played in a casino before. Don't say that you've played online before so that other players may think that you're a rookie, but this will only work on your first one-three tries because your demeanor will already tip off players whether you're used to playing in a casino or not.

Other than that, good luck!

Do you have a bar to go to or are you going to Central City/ Blackhawk? I ask because I am going back to Longmont at Christmas and was thinking of finding a place to play at. I imagine that going to Central City would be like going to any of the small casinos anywhere else in the country...lots of grandparents who can't count their chips or act in turn but have no problem busting down your straight with a runner/runner flush they didn't know they had.

Two beginner tips:
Try to watch others when they catch their hole cards/when the flop hits.
If you go during the evening/weekends plan to wait for a little while to get a seat at the lower limit tables. They tend to have long waits so bring something to distract you from the slots and video poker games right outside the card rooms.

I'll be going to Central City/Blackhawk this weekend. I'll let everyone know how it goes. If I see any little old ladies asking the dealers if a straight beats a flush I'll get a full description and maybe sneak a pic with my cell phone so we can start a "CC most wanted donks" list.

Well, it's that time of year here in Colorado and, sorry to say, I didn't make it to Blackhawk after all due to weather. They're looking for up to 18 inches of snow in parts of the mountains today/tonight, and my feeling is that any place that has a road OFFICIALLY named "The Oh My God Highway" needs to be avoided in a snow storm.

the one bit of advice I can offer is -

Watch any ring games you play in before you play - of the games are anything like in the UK even though the blinds might be £1 / £1 people do silly things like straddle to £15 dark which means the blinds are bigger than the game and its hard to play.

other than basic things like Always Announce your action because some people get really arsey about it. The way i deal with it, I announce raise and the amount before I even approach my chipstack.

hope that helps?