Playing live poker on a cruise

Hello there.

I am going on a cruise in feb to the cayman islands. I have found out that they have 3 casinos on the boat and the poker room is quite active. Just wondering if anyone knows any sites or can give me any tips for playing some live poker, any help would be appreciated

well in my oppinion online poker is less beaatable compared to live, just play ur normal game
be aware at the table, see what ur opponents postures are like when they play, listen to what they say when they are in a hand, and always post those antes

ooh yea seeing that it is a cruise, there will be vaacationers who are out to have a good time- take advantage of this factor

regd87 said:

Just wondering if anyone knows any sites or can give me any tips for playing some live poker, any help would be appreciated

Click to expand...

Here's my quick guide to the mechanics and etiquite of live play:

- Don't string bet. String betting is when you put your chips out in more than one motion without a verbal announcement. I see it happen most often when someone goes all in: they'll get two handfulls of chips, move them forward, then go back to move the rest. At which point the dealer will stop them, say "I'm sorry sir, that's a string bet" and only allow the first two handfulls of chips to stand as the bet.

The reason for this rule? In theory, if you were allowed to keep adding chips to the pot you could watch an opponent and just keep adding until you get a tell on them.

- Always act in turn. Online, you don't have a choice. Live, you'll become very unpopular very quickly if you keep folding or betting when it's not your turn.

- Verbalise your actions: say 'call' or 'raise' and then state the amount before you move your chips. There's some specific interpretations of actions made without verbal announcements that can count against you - for example, if you throw in one oversized chip meaning to raise a player's bet (say, they've bet $25 and you throw in a $100 chip) it'll be counted as a call unless you've said "raise" first.

You don't have to verbalise your action, but it can help to avoid mistakes until you get the hang of the conventions. For example, if you say "Raise, $150" and then accidentally throw out $250 in chips, the $150 bet will stand and you'll take the extra $100 back. If you'd said nothing, the $250 would have to stay out there.

- Protect your hand (ie: put a chip or something on top of it if you're staying in the hand), especially if you're sitting directly to the left or right of the dealer. This is to ensure that your hand doesn't get mucked by accident if someone folds their cards and they land in the vicinity of yours (happens more often than you'd think playing live).

- Never muck your winning hand: just table it, and let the dealer take it away. If your hand goes into the muck while someone else still has theirs in front of them, your hand is dead and they win the pot - regardless of who had the better hand.

- Master the art of paying your blinds without being asked.

- Move away from the table to use your cell phone.

Oh man, sounds like the easiest money ever. You're playing tourists who are just there to have a good time. Hell you may be able to win back the cost of the cruise (lol yes I'm kidding ).

This could be a very profitable trip for you indeed. Cruises tend to have a lot of people playing for "fun" vs the true "card players" that are in it for the money. Pay attention to the competition and play accordingly.

Good luck!

If that's the case, then add one more rider:

- For gawd's sake, be nice to the fish!

pretty excited. I'll let you guys know how I do when I get back, I'm taking about 3/4 of my pokerstars bankroll to play.

Do you know what limits / buy-ins they play?

good luck.

Hmm, I wonder how the rake is...

Actually one of the reasons I play more online than at a nearby casino is because the rake (and rakeback) are very significant.

I might be wrong, but you don't look too old Regd87. Legal age might be different than in canada. I'd check gambling age on the boat and in the caymans just to make sure you're legal. GL. I hope you do well.

I am mainly a live player and agree with Oz on everything I mean he covered just about everything on live ethics. One thing though watch out if you are going to be verbalizing your bets ( which I also recomened ) be careful of how you speak . Ex. when you an idle conversation with the table observant players are going to take note of how you speak everything down to your pitch.. its a big tell just make your verbal actions short and dead just like a robot and never let any1 get you to talk while your in a hand... its fine later on as you get comfortable with live play, but they are fishing for tells and if there good they will find them. Good luck and take there money.

I think it is important that you keep your tells in check obviously but I don't think many players on a cruise ship will be looking out for those sort of things. Chances are they will be absolutely hammered and looking for something to do until the buffet starts.

Still, it's a good time to work on playing properly in a live game.

All I would say is give yourself time to settle down into the table and live play. It can take a while to get used to handling chips and cards!

Another thing to note is that online, you can very easily figure out the size of the pot and everyone else's stack. In RL, you need to keep an eye on this sort of thing. Obviously you can ask for a chip count, but you'll be unpopular if you are doing it every other hand.

Most of the time you'll find yourself around a table with a bunch of friendly strangers, making chit-chat and having fun whilst playing poker - it's a lot more social than online!

wsorbust said:

I might be wrong, but you don't look too old Regd87. Legal age might be different than in Canada. I'd check gambling age on the boat and in the caymans just to make sure you're legal. GL. I hope you do well.

Click to expand...

yeah, the legal age limit on the boat is 18. It is quite young.

i am going on a cruise and of feb..i have not played live yet .. there is some good advice . i read in one of the forums not to long ago , someone said to wait until your turn comes up before looking at your cards. this will keep other people from getting a read on you

regd87 said:

Hello there.

I am going on a cruise in feb to the cayman islands. I have found out that they have 3 casinos on the boat and the poker room is quite active. Just wondering if anyone knows any sites or can give me any tips for playing some live poker, any help would be appreciated

Click to expand...

one thing I can tell you about cruise ship play is that the rake is very steep..... just about every game in the casino has a very high house edge compared to regular casinos I've been to (Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, and atlantic city )...

but there is most likely going to be alot of fish at the tables...lot of people that never played poker other than penny home games.....only problem with that is, just like online......lotta times they don't know any better and go to the river and suckout.....so play tight....and when you have the nuts....go get em

as far as playing other casino games goes......ask about special promotions (they have alot of giveaways and free or really cheap tournaments) otherwise.....save your money....shipboard games are really stacked against you

I'd worry about waiting for your turn to look only if your opponents are good and are going to be watching you, I'd be more concerned with watching your opponents when they look at their cards, especially if they're just recreational players who are easy to read.

OMG this sounds like the easiest deal ever. I went on a cruise to Alaska for my honeymoon and 3/4 of the boat was drunk at any given moment. I couldn't imagine how dumb the poker would be!! Seems like a slam dunk for big pots, or horrific bad beats. Good luck bud, and DEFINITELY repost your results.

icemonkey9
The Poker Blog

prepare for a ton of min-bets, min-raises, and other crazy stuff

I have a problem with having class while playing live games. When you win a big pot off somebody, should you say something like "tough break" or will that make you sound like a jackass?

Also, when I'm shuffling, I have to flip the deck on its side so everyone could see the bottom card if they wanted to. Even though the deck gets cut, it this really taboo?

I also look retarded when I deal, but I guess that can't be helped. Anyways, I guess online is the place for me. I've only played live a few times.

Don't worry, you won't have to deal on a cruise ship

You should without a doubt in my mind, play tight. My opinion only, but these people on the cruises will be only wanting to have fun, and also, probably be drinking. Which means sloppy loose play. Good luck though, and hope you win.

I doubt they're going to be aggressive post flop, a lot of them are likely to be calling stations, I'd say see a lot of flops cheap and play aggressively for value post flop

Make sure to hold your hand(dont muck it) until the dealer declares your hand to be the winner. It cost me a fairly big sized pot because I simply flipped over my hand and the dealer didnt hear me call out a flush.

Do you have any idea what the limits are for the games?