Transitioning from online to live experience

I started playing online a few weeks ago. In the next month or two, I am going to make a trip to Mohegan Sun or Atlantic City and try my hand at live play. I am curious to know if anyone has any thoughts as to how much, if any, my online experiences will enhance my live play and what I have to look out for when I sit down at the table.

Obviously, I have to overcome the initial discomfort with learning to control my body language and deal with the instincts and intensity of the players at the table.

Anything else?

Players tend to play a lot looser at live games. Tighten up and play your hands aggressively and that should help you for your first visit.

Im not sure its possible to acquire enough online experience in a few weeks to really be able to translate that experience to a different format.

Think of your 1st live experience as a learning session and play in the cheapest game you can find, like a $50-$75 tournament. Don't worry about how you do or tells or making plays or being social, just play ABC poker. Don't do/wear anything that will distract you from the game. Just soak it all in. Try to take some mental notes for any 'plays' that you see like - over-shoves that show a middle pair, BTN limps with AA, TPTK that bets the flop/turn/river the same amount, etc. etc. Enjoy the experience 1st and then think about the poker 2nd.

Jillychemung said:

Think of your 1st live experience as a learning session and play in the cheapest game you can find, like a $50-$75 tournament. Don't worry about how you do or tells or making plays or being social, just play ABC poker. Don't do/wear anything that will distract you from the game. Just soak it all in. Try to take some mental notes for any 'plays' that you see like - over-shoves that show a middle pair, BTN limps with AA, TPTK that bets the flop/turn/river the same amount, etc. etc. Enjoy the experience 1st and then think about the poker 2nd.

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I'm with this guy. I've never played in a live game myself and will probably head out to the hustler later this month and give it a go exactly as this dude described. ABC poker until I get comfortable. Can't wait.

Jilly, that makes a lot of sense.

Thank you very much.

make sure you are aware of casino rules and table ettiquitte...so many online players or novices come play live games and act out of turn or other mistakes that disrupts the game...enjoy your time and id suggest playing a tournment in your first experience live at a casino.

FatCatBamboo said:

I started playing online a few weeks ago. In the next month or two, I am going to make a trip to Mohegan Sun or Atlantic City and try my hand at live play. I am curious to know if anyone has any thoughts as to how much, if any, my online experiences will enhance my live play and what I have to look out for when I sit down at the table.

Obviously, I have to overcome the initial discomfort with learning to control my body language and deal with the instincts and intensity of the players at the table.

Anything else?

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Dont look at your cards until its your turn for two reasons.

1. Take this time to watch your opponents in earlier positions.

2. Being new at livegame you dont wanna find AA at the button just to see the entire table folding since you started trembling out of excitement the very second you looked at your cards. As long as you dont know your holecards you cant give away any info about your hand.

Have a good time!

Distractions

I got to thinking about the many distractions there are when
playing poker online or live for that matter.

Many times I will play while watching TV or Writing my novel, writing and reading RB blogs,
or writing and reading for my Men's group. Pay bills, surf the net.

Needless to say, it's probably not the best game plan for concentration.
I miss much of the chat in the chat box, and certainly miss observing table play and reading players. I'm ok with that as long as I'm in a friendly game for small stakes. However, distractions are not acceptable when playing serious poker for series money. I then seem to have blinders on and total control over my environment and concentration.

When playing Live, distractions can be even more intense.
Hence the reason many listen to music while playing. I personally like to watch players closely when playing Live. That helps me focus.

Here is a perfect example of what I mean about watching closely and focusing on your opponent.

LOL, I thought my setup for the Joke was pretty good.
Nothing distracting there, just total concentration. LOL
Beware the open blouse, it's there to throw you offf your game. LOL

Ok a more series note, go with the thought of having fun for your first trip. Enjoy the adventure and put no expectations on yourself. As you play live more often and get comfortable, it's now time to set goals.

FatCatBamboo said:

I started playing online a few weeks ago. In the next month or two, I am going to make a trip to Mohegan Sun or Atlantic City and try my hand at live play. I am curious to know if anyone has any thoughts as to how much, if any, my online experiences will enhance my live play and what I have to look out for when I sit down at the table.

Obviously, I have to overcome the initial discomfort with learning to control my body language and deal with the instincts and intensity of the players at the table.

Anything else?

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Make sure to be way more patient in live games than online; as the pace is much, much slower, and you are only playing 1 table ;-) you will be seeing stron hands pretty rarely, so keep that in mind and don't let yourself get dragged down to the level of the super-lo(o)sers at the live tables

Wish you the best of luck...As stated earlier, not sure just playing a couple of weeks of online poker is going to help you a whole lot here. Personally if i had only played a couple of weeks i would just look at it as entertainment vale or as a learning experience and not put any high expectations on how you finish and just try and have some fun and enjoy it for what it is....My personal experience i started out playing live tourneys for several years b4 i got into online play. What i did discover that except for general knowlege of the game my live experience didnt help out my online play. As online play has inhanced my live play. I think this may be just to the sheer number of hands and senerios encounterd from online play. Personally i prefer live play but where i am geographically located isnt always an option..and its always nice to play in (whatever is comfortable) which im sure in live play sometimes wouldnt be deemed as appropriate and depending on what one wears might even find you arrested . Anyway good luck with the live play and regardless remember to have fun with it and if you dont do good take what positive you can out of it as experience and if you do good..well enjoy it even more.

FatCatBamboo said:

I started playing online a few weeks ago. In the next month or two, I am going to make a trip to Mohegan Sun or Atlantic City and try my hand at live play. I am curious to know if anyone has any thoughts as to how much, if any, my online experiences will enhance my live play and what I have to look out for when I sit down at the table.

Obviously, I have to overcome the initial discomfort with learning to control my body language and deal with the instincts and intensity of the players at the table.

Anything else?

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Don't string bet.

Tip the dealer.

Protect your cards. Both from being mucked mistakenly by the dealer and from being seen by other players.

Clearly state your intentions. There was a woman at my table who put out a $5 chip to get change, but the dealer interpreted it as calling the hand that was in play. She called the floor manager over, but he ruled against her and she lost the money.

I played at a local pub poker league for a while before my first trip to Vegas and it was helpful for getting used to handling cards and chips, and for learning to keep track of stack and pot sizes. The skill level varies, but it's free and it was fun. I won some cash prizes and some restaurant coupons. Just search for "Pub Poker" in your area and there are probably multiple groups to choose from.

Goodwooter said:

make sure you are aware of casino rules and table ettiquitte...so many online players or novices come play live games and act out of turn or other mistakes that disrupts the game...enjoy your time and id suggest playing a tournment in your first experience live at a casino.

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thats good advice. i dont have much experience in live tournaments...only 1 that was an actual buy in. it had a field of 44 and i finished 4th for a decent cash. i would suggest wearing sunglasses. you would be surprised how easy players can pick up on a tell from your eyes. as far as your style of play...keep to your normal ways...if it has been successful for you online. best of luck to you.

kyndlyon said:

i would suggest wearing sunglasses.

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I would strongly suggest not wearing sunglasses unless you're either playing a larger buy-in or you want to be made fun of constantly at the table. If you're playing a smaller buy-in, the players there will have no where near the ability to make those types of reads and will probably not even notice your bet sizing and adjust accordingly. If you want to concentrate on any physical tell of yours, just pay attention to what you're doing with your hands, they give the most feedback, but even still, your opponents will likely not know what to do with that info if they even pick it up.

kyndlyon said:

it had a field of 44 and i finished 4th for a decent cash.

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Off topic but, it must have been either a really goofy payout structure or a large buy-in to make 4th place be a decent cash, usually tourneys only payout to 10-15% of the field, and that's just about where 4th place is for a min-cash + a little.

Before the tourney begins, check out the tourney and payout structure at the desk.

If you have any questions during the course of play, don't be afraid to ask. The part of the dealer's job and often other players will jump right in to help you as well.

And I absolutely agree with WVH--no sunglasses or other such paraphernalia.
People are going to be able to tell that you're inexperienced, like everyone who's sitting there once was.

If you go in all tricked out trying to look a TV pro, you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Rather, dress comfortably--hopefully you're going to be there for a long time.

Good luck but most of all, like Jilly said, have fun and enjoy the experience!
In no time you'll be walking in there and playing like you've been doing so all your life.

LarkMarlow said:

Before the tourney begins, check out the tourney and payout structure at the desk.

If you have any questions during the course of play, don't be afraid to ask. The part of the dealer's job and often other players will jump right in to help you as well.

And I absolutely agree with Hamm--no sunglasses or other such paraphernalia.
People are going to be able to tell that you're inexperienced, like everyone who's sitting there once was.

If you go in all tricked out trying to look a TV pro, you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Rather, dress comfortably--hopefully you're going to be there for a long time.

Good luck but most of all, like Jilly said, have fun and enjoy the experience!
In no time you'll be walking in there and playing like you've been doing so all your life.

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FYP

LarkMarlow said:

... agree with WVH--no sunglasses...

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absoluthamm said:

LarkMarlow said:

... agree with Hamm--no sunglasses...

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FYP

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It seems the suggestion thread is closed, so I'll put this here - It would be nice to be able to strikethrough text so that these kind of changes would stand out. Anybody listening?

I hear ya

On my knees begging forgiveness, hamm...you still :heart: me?!

Tip the dealer and let them know you'd appreciate their help. If you tip, they'll help you with etiquette, rules, etc.

Also, tell the 'pit boss' that you're new to the live game and ask for his/her advice on buy-ins, table limits and where to sit.

Finally, don't worry too much about body language - the tables are so crowded, half of the players can't even see you!

I have no casino experience, but in home tourneys, my biggest adjustment has been to keep track of pot size and what kind of bets I should be making. Online the numbers are right there, so the math comes easier.

I would suggest coming up with a betting game plan, probably some multiple of the BB, depending on the board and the number of players in the pot. People that play live a lot seem to have this down, and come up with bet sizes quickly.

As far as tells go, I like to use the Hellmuth Fists-over-the-face if someone is watching you. Just do the same thing every time, a pose that you can hold at length.

I will reiterate, though: if you have been playing poker for a few weeks, there is a lot of learning to come. I think many of us have thought we had it all figured out, and were on the fast track to fame and riches; only to blow everything we won on our early streak. Buy in for what you can afford to lose -- think of it as tuition...

My 2 cents,
Ruby

i never played live, and i'll try to do it this year and i have some doubts too.

for example, how much time do you have to decide your play?

i mean, in on-line you have 20/30 seconds to fold/check/raise.

how much time do you have to do it in live tournments?

pdias666 said:

how much time do you have to do it in live tournments?

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In live play there is no action clock so theoretically you have as long as you want until another player 'calls the clock' on you at which point you have 1 minute. Realistically, for most decisions you shouldn't need more than 30 sec to decide what to do. Other players won't call the clock on you unless you are taking a 'really long' time to make a decision or have a habit of taking a minute or more for every decision.

LarkMarlow said:

On my knees begging forgiveness, hamm...you still ♥ me?!

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Absolutely!

Jillychemung said:

In live play there is no action clock so theoretically you have as long as you want until another player 'calls the clock' on you at which point you have 1 minute. Realistically, for most decisions you shouldn't need more than 30 sec to decide what to do. Other players won't call the clock on you unless you are taking a 'really long' time to make a decision or have a habit of taking a minute or more for every decision.

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^ Also, what you'll really notice is the difference between hands per hour online (approx. 65-100 or more) and live (approx. 20-30 depending on lots of factors, sometimes even less). Almost feels like slow motion.

So you'll see far fewer hands per blind level, which is paradoxically like playing turbo online.