OP chiming in here again....
So I went to a Harrah's near Philadelphia tonight. It was the first time this mirco multi-tabler has played in anything live other then a home game. And wow, different indeed! I didn't really mind the obvious & huge difference in the # of
hands played. I expected to feel a little antsy/bored. I think the two forms of poker (live vs online) feel like entirely different endeavors -- it's almost like it's not the same game, or at least not the same kind of experience.
I went w/ two friends and to my disappointment we all got split up on different $1/2 NL cash tables in a very packed card room of about maybe ~20 tables. They have played tons in casinos before so it was definitely less of a big deal for them, but I was pretty nervous in the begining. I can't exactly explain why but it felt so, I dunno, official. And it wasn't that the table was actually unfriendly, but let's just say it didn't feel like the fun home game I had kind of hoped it would, even if only to some small degree. If I was gonna sit there and fold 80% of my hands (strategically wise, I believe), I just would rather it had been w/ some buds.
That being said -- it was also kind of thrilling.
I bought in fully stacked w/ $200 which I told myself that was the absolute max I was going to spend tonight. In comparison to the $10 of virtual of money I'm used to at a table, $200 real chips felt like a million.
The plan was if I fell below 50bb's, I'd just get up & leave so I didn't have to play short, shove the last $100 bucks, only to get sucked out on the river.
... And that's exactly what would have happened every time because basically
nobody folded at this table. And I mean nobody. It was insane. I played for 3 hrs (so ~80-90 hands) and I swear I can't remember more than one or two times we
didn't see a flop. And 2/3rds of the time it was multiway action on the flop. And half those times people were showing down, usually w/ junk. It was like the .01-.02 cent tables at Full Tilt. Maybe looser even. Wow.
Sadly, I left down a total of $50 at the end of the night. My pockets kings lost to a station who made flush w/ K4s; he called my preflop 3bet plus 3 big barrels all the way showdown. None of my Ax hands connected w/ any flops. My A9s missed when 6 (yes
six) people saw the flop. Another pocket pair was up against a dripping wet board and several other players. I was the nit, and everyone at the table knew it, but I don't think there would have been a better way to play tonight. It's too bad though. Outside of acting out of turn once, I think I played ok enough after I settled down, but I only played about 10 hands in total -- and that was over 3 hours.
It was fun, educational, boring ... and also exciting, all at once. I don't really know what to think about the casino experience overall, but I'm glad I went and I'm sure I'll be back at some point.