First time Casino - What to Expect?

Hi folks!

I'm hitting Atlantic City soon. First time hitting a casino in a long time. Going for $1/$2 NL. My question is: what should I expect?

In the online games, people seem to play pretty lose and aggressively. Lots of "all-ins" on hands that aren't particularly good. I imagine this isn't a reflection of the real world.

My general game plan is to play generally tight, a little looser on the button, and loosest on the cutoff (I feel like I can effectively bully one person out of position and keep more vetted players on their toes this way). I've been told aggressive playing is usually effective, but I'm not sure what that entails. I'm not a huge cold-bluff guy, I'll grab a semi-bluff or a three-bet in position with a decent hand (J T suited or such) - that's about as aggressive as I go.


Lastly, and this is a weird one: I have a unique ability in that I can go ten minutes or longer without blinking. I'm fairly certain I can use this to my advantage, I'm just not sure how. If someone made a strong play pre-flop and a strong play post-flop and looked you down without blinking, what signal would that send?

You won't be able to bully folks off of hands in 2NL. Trapping works much better. Just relax and try not to overthink too much. Most of the tourists are horrible players.

I also prefer trapping and seeing how much I can extract.

go with enough money and just play your game, so do not let them provoke

arahel_jazz said:

You won't be able to bully folks off of hands in 2NL. Trapping works much better. Just relax and try not to overthink too much. Most of the tourists are horrible players.

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Right, can't bully someone who doesn't know they're supposed to be intimidated!

Thanks!

I find trapping works best if you are between maniacs otherwise keep it loose and bail if you miss the flop. Oh and be prepared to have people eye balling you lol.

Just take it slow. Be aggressive with strong hands pre/post flop to get marginal hands out preflop. Learn what people are betting preflop etc. Are they raising to $10-12 ... is that too much and scaring everyone out. Be wary of chasing those draws, give them up after 1 street if the bets are large. Careful of people disguising AA and just play your game. It's much different than online, IMO.

with how much money you want to play, already 30 BB should be

Weisssound said:

Hi folks!

I'm hitting Atlantic City soon. First time hitting a casino in a long time. Going for $1/$2 NL. My question is: what should I expect?

In the online games, people seem to play pretty lose and aggressively. Lots of "all-ins" on hands that aren't particularly good. I imagine this isn't a reflection of the real world.

My general game plan is to play generally tight, a little looser on the button, and loosest on the cutoff (I feel like I can effectively bully one person out of position and keep more vetted players on their toes this way). I've been told aggressive playing is usually effective, but I'm not sure what that entails. I'm not a huge cold-bluff guy, I'll grab a semi-bluff or a three-bet in position with a decent hand (J T suited or such) - that's about as aggressive as I go.


Lastly, and this is a weird one: I have a unique ability in that I can go ten minutes or longer without blinking. I'm fairly certain I can use this to my advantage, I'm just not sure how. If someone made a strong play pre-flop and a strong play post-flop and looked you down without blinking, what signal would that send?

Click to expand...

You'll be quite surprised how much more aggressive/loose the live games can be. Remember, a large portion of players in low stakes live games are there to gamble, chase draws, get lucky, and hopefully cash in on a promotion if there is one.

Honestly, you don't really need to (and actually may not want to) increase your aggressiveness in good position in $1/$2 NL live. You can just widen your range a bit and play accordingly. bluffing should only be used against the nittiest of nits and in pots that don't seem to draw interest from anyone. Otherwise, you'll be throwing your money away trying to push a gambler off a middle pair or draw. Most of the postflop betting you'll be doing is for value because you hit. Don't get too fancy unless you have a dead read on someone. You'll be stunned to see how many times the tightest player at the table gets his big hands paid off. Bluffing in $1/$2 NL live is only slightly more effective than it is in a $2/$4 or $3/$6 limit game.

Be very patient. Fold your mediocre hands. Bet for value when you hit.

Patience is the key. Pick good starting hands. Do not underestimate how important position is. Patience. Patience. Play good starting hands. I can't stress this enough.

There is no "one size fits all" advice for poker. It just depends.

That being said, I will offer a few tips. Don't try bluffing often. Don't slow-play (unless dynamics call for it). The players will be some of the worst you have ever seen. Bet big for value, because they will pay you off with all sorts of crap.

And lastly, don't pay off the passive fish when they hit a draw on the river. If someone is check/calling the whole way, and now they are betting big, they most likely hit something good.

I would play really tight at the beggining, to see what hands they play, and then decide on that, but i wouldn't play aggressive until I feel confident. Then, depending on the image i have on the table, i could represent hands i don't have and bluff, or slowplay, but that depends on the situation and the players. Good luck by the way and simply have fun.

Do your game, don`t lose too many money.. I don`t play in casino but i have friends playing there.

I have played in casinos from coast to coast, canada, and South America. The one thing I can tell you not to do is go into a game with a mindset. Just chill for a round or two till you get a feel for the table. As a general rule play tight if their loose and loose if their tight.

I would also recommend Taj (on the boardwalk) or Borgata (off the boardwalk). These casinos have huge poker rooms and are full of fish. You do have to feel these tables out first. You might be at the table with 3 or 4 pros on the wait list for a big game or a bunch of drunk non-profit CEO's there for a regional convention.

Good Luck!!!

well, here's the run down of my experience. recommendations for casinos with fish varied across the board. fish is about where I want to be given my level of experience. after some study I decided to go to Showboat.

Turns out - there was a tournament being held there the next day. Expecting a table of flounders and guppies, I walked into a table of sharks. After two hours of play, I broke even and split. KK preflop, and 22 with another 2 showing on the flop basically gave me the chance to earn my money back.

I went to another casino and found a table more my speed. What I found was that my reads are very good. There were a couple experienced guys at the table and one dude who was clearly sharking the table to regain some lost money from a bigger table. Had two very strong plays - both revolving around bluffs, the only two times I actually bluffed. Spotted a top pair bet and folded him out. Something just clicked and told me if I bet into a sweet spot (not high enough to look like a bluff but not low enough to be a no-brain call - a high bet that looked like I wanted him to stay in) he would fold. And he did.

The second came from a piece of internet advice that is golden. Don't look at your hand until its time to act! Watching the table I caught everyone dead give away that they weren't thrilled with their hands but everyone limped in anyway. From the blinds I folded out 8 people on a strong raise with 7 5. One person called. Flop hit 7 7 X , so I got lucky. I made what looked like a continuation bet, and then did a check-raise on the turn to end the hand.

AND THEN... the shark at the table and I are in a hand heads up. Which I told myself not to do, but there I was on QJ. Q J Low Card flop out, but two of them are spades. I make a strong bet and he stays in. My gut put him on a flush draw and the turn flipped 7 of diamonds. And me, like an ass, made a value bet. I'm thinking I'm gonna get away with a big hand on the river, which was supremely dumb of me. Obviously if he didn't catch the flush I wouldn't make any money. I should have gone all-in and ended the hand, or gone into the river with favorable odds. But no... like a shmo I value bet giving him an easy call. And sure enough the 5 of spades comes out. What's even better is one voice in my head goes "just check-fold". The other voice goes "well... maybe you misread him, go all in now and try to get the fold." I think at this point everyone knows what I did here.

Getting away from a decent hand is tough. There's an instinct not to do it, even when you know up down left and right to just let it go.

I wasn't there... But All in would've been good if you had read the hand wrong. To see his reaction when he was bluffing with a flush but didn't have it ...Would just be making him quiver inside and I love that sht!

But ofc if you were right and you raised ... you'd be the one wanting to puke! ... check/fold use to sound right to me, but it's weak play and its telling him that u havn't got a flush.. Meaning he doesn't need a flush to win this hand and just needs to raise enough that u'll think twice bout calling but not making it obvious bluff.

This is definetly a spot where scare money comes into play... And this is why i'm doing things ground up because I don't want to ever play with scare money and have an edge. I know all don't play with scare money though

multiple fish