Making the transition from online to live play any Tips.

A friend of mine mentioned to me the other day he has been invited to play a charrity Tournament. He has seen me playing online and doing ok. And suggested that maybe I might like to join him. The Buyin is steep and beyond my br. I have no live play experince as of yet. Any suggestions on live trrny play. He is willing to stake me for this tourney. Which is a very generous offer. I wouldn't want to dissapoint him. I play tight abc almost always and do have deep runs online mtt's. It's the chip factor that would make me nervous not knowing the demonatins etc. And How does one prepare for your first live torney. Do you guys remember your first?. Thanks in advance for any replys. bigbigbucs

Yeah, for me it was super tough not having the numbers in front of me or bets, pot size, stacks, etc. Also, practice how you will look at your cards.

Try to be jovial and act like you don't care; just want to have a good time. If you are silent AND uncomfortable, your ABC play will probably be easy to read.

Wait to look at your cards until it is your turn to act, or at least when the guy to your right is in action.

Have fun and mop the floor with those suckas!!

If you are able get the blind structure beforehand -- this might help with the questions of pot size and how much to bet, etc....

Well... nothing like getting thrown into the deep end to learn how to swim!

See if you can find any bar tournaments (freerolls) in your area. They are a great practice venue to work on handling chips, looking at cards, and even dealing. The other way is to suck it up and find a casino near you and just play some 2NL or a cheap $40 weekend tournament.

In addition to what Shufflin says, some key points to remember:

- ALWAYS protect your cards. Hold your fingers on them until it is your turn to look, and once you look at them (if you aren't going to fold) place a chip from your stack or SOMETHING on top of them before you bet.

- ALWAYS be consistent in vocalizing your action - say it out loud "check", "call" or "raise" - you don't have to state how much you are raising, your chips will do the talking there.

- ALWAYS double check the board at a showdown. The dealer may not always be right...

- When folding don't throw your cards wildly into the muck. You run the risk of them floating on you and exposing your hand. Just slide them halfway towards the dealer and let go - they will muck them quickly enough. The intent of the action is what counts.

- When betting, always bet in one motion with all the chips you want to bet. Anything else may be considered string betting - which is bad. Even if you have to hold them in your hand and make sure of the amount before putting them out - it's better than screwing up a string bet.

That's the basics... you should know how to keep track of blinds and the button from playing online.

If you have chips at home - practice making stacks of them in various denominations. That way you can quickly notice how large other players stacks are relative to yours. If you can, practice stacking chips. It will help you focus on the game rather than "oh gosh - how much do I have behind?" Believe me - there will be people at the table that will tell you in a glance what size your stack is.


Most of all - have fun.

Great Question regarding online to live tournaments!

I would be very interested in seeing the replies to your question, because I have been thinking of going to a casino here in Florida and enter a tournament to see how I do.

I have been playing Texas Holdem tournaments online for about 2yrs and I have won some freeroll tournament money from Fulltilt, UB & Absolute Poker nothing major but still have made money. I would consider myself a good online player, but not a great one. I would be a much better player (I think) if I would call more of the "bluffing Chip Leader" or "The Donkeys" at the table.

I mean the player/players at the table who will bet 2-3 times the big blind or go all in & I will be 50% they are bluffing but I will fold instead of calling just in case I am wrong. The other thing is that I do not used any programs while playing online, (odds calculators,or hud) to me they only hurt you in the long run. I have lost money & my seat playing online tournments when the odds were very much in my favor. The first time I really started thinking about it was about 1yr ago on Full Tilt in a Private Freeroll tournament,I lost half my bank in 3 hands to a guy that didn't have crap. My avatar showed my emotion & one of the other players at the table said to me that if I was playing live in a casino I would have won those 3 hands.
If you really pay attention to the table and watch the winning hands you will notice that the winners at the table go in sequence, after so many wins at a table you are moved?

I am very good at ready people in person, but that is a little hard online..
Good Luck in your tournament!!!!arty:

My first live tournament I had sweat pouring off of me (told the table I was sick & running a fever so don't get too close to me, lol).
What I noticed the most was > 90% of them were TERRIBLE players!!!! I mean just awful to the point of horrific. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! (picture the worst player on your table in a micro donkament..... now picture 6 of them all at one table but in person < that was my experience).

It shouldn't be too difficult to get a quick read on which players are decent & which aren't. I found I needed to be calling them down alot wider than I typically would... many will hang around with ANY piece of the board (ie. gutterball... they're calling... Bottom pr.. "Looks.. I gots a pr. I callzz", married to low-mid pkt. pr's in their hands on boards full of overcards & even where every draw is getting there.... they'll still call).
This was my experience. Sure there were some good players in there too (incidentally, mostly the ones who were regularly playing online as well).

As far as 'live tells' go.... instead of focusing alot of attention on picking up other's tells, maybe just work at not giving off tells of your own. You might want to read up a bit on 'live tells'. Not sure of a post here on CC (I'm sure there are many... try doing a search for it). Google is your friend here - - watch some youtube Mike Caro stuff, & for the bomb check out Navarro's stuff (the FBI dude that has a book out with Phil Helmuth). Might actually be a decent idea to at least gain an understanding of the more basic ones but for sure work at hiding your own.

GL & 'Have Fun!' You'll likely find you have a better understadning of the game than many who will be there.

As mentioned by others above - work at keeping track of your stack & the size of the pot. I sure miss having all those 'numbers' sitting in front of me while online when I'm playing live.

Im on my way to the tables but wanted to give you a few quick tips:

1.sunglasses, headphones, and dont talk to anyone

2. play only premium starting hands and play them aggressively, but dont overcommit yourself without the nuts...by that i mean control the pot size by making your bets about 40 percent of the pot

3. when and if antes are introduced to each hand...pick up your aggression in late position as you will need to steal some pots while waiting quality starting hands.

4. Have fun and make it a learning experience.

I remember my first live tournie from 7 yrs ago...the buy in was 100+10 and the turnout was about 70, paying 8...i made the final table and eventually the final 5 where we agreed on a chop...paid 110 and left with 1475....hope you have a great experience at your first tournie

cheers and gl
wooter

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast, Outchip

and keep telling yourself, "Breath, relax..."

Great advice listed, but definitely get your butt to a pub freebie and get used to the live action and having to do everything manually. No buttons to click when you get there.

Goodwooter said:

Im on my way to the tables but wanted to give you a few quick tips:

1.sunglasses, headphones, and dont talk to anyone

Click to expand...

I totally disagree with that one.

Sorry, but I think this is silly for his first live tournament, and a charity one at that. It's kids like that that I like to just love to pwn at the tables because they think they are Phil Laak or something.

Screw the "poker pro" image - just go have fun with it. For crying out loud, it's a charity tournament, not the wsop!

FWIW - you don't see Phil Ivey putting on sunglasses and a hoodie do you? You don't need that to be a good player.

Pretend everyone else at your table is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE poker player who would be a HUGE loser at 2nl. Take their chips. Win.

if its your first live event. and its a big buy in i would recommend not playing because these are going to be good players who are confident and will see how unprepared u are n tear u apart i know from experience

What I do to keep track of pot size is count how many players see a flop and then multiply by the bet. So if 4 people limped with 50 then 4x50 = 200. Use that method to keep track of the pot size and then you can know how much to bet.

As some have suggested, make sure you do things consistently. Don't look at your cards early and then hold them ready to muck and then when you pick up a big hand drop a stack of chips on your cards. People will pick that stuff up.

I've played in a number of charity tournies.
Try to have fun especially since you are being staked.

In most of these types of games you will find a LOT of players who don't know the game.
The dealers usually will help out as the game goes on.

Try to keep to your game, if it's tight, then play tight.
You will see people hanging on with Ace rag and trying to hit on the turn and rivers.
You WON'T be able to bluff most of them, don't try.

If you have a good hand then bet it, slow playing and trapping is useless.
If there is a fish who keeps betting with nothing but an Ace or some draw,
let them push the action after the flop

Also most of these type of tournaments are re-buys, after all the money goes to charity.
So don't be surprised when you see someone going all in with a marginal hand and over cards on the board.

Once the re-buy time is over then the real players will start to make their moves.
If you have a decent stack at that time then tighten up your game.
If you see a player splashing chips in every pot wait for the right moment and push back at them.

No matter what happens you will walk away with some live experience and even if you lose,
you will have given something back to the charity.

Good luck

You might find this useful:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/playing-live-what-you-need-know-114205/

Thanks all

Some realy good tips and advice. Thanks to all who replyed. I will keep ya posted on how it goes. bigbigbucs

Avoid live tournaments as much as you can, imo. It's the most boring thing ever. If you want to play live, play cash. Live cash games are a lot more relaxed and friendly and suitably alcoholic than tournaments would ever be. And it's like printing money too.

Dont look at the flop as it hits, watch the other players look at the flop.

You can look at the flop later, it isn't going anywhere

arahel_jazz said:

I totally disagree with that one.

Sorry, but I think this is silly for his first live tournament, and a charity one at that. It's kids like that that I like to just love to pwn at the tables because they think they are Phil Laak or something.

Screw the "poker pro" image - just go have fun with it. For crying out loud, it's a charity tournament, not the WSOP!

FWIW - you don't see Phil Ivey putting on sunglasses and a hoodie do you? You don't need that to be a good player.

Click to expand...

^^^^ this and arahels other post.

OzExorcist said:

You might find this useful:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/playing-live-what-you-need-know-114205/

Click to expand...

^^^^^this as well. Read this.

BelgoSuisse said:

If you want to play live, play cash. Live cash games are a lot more relaxed and friendly and suitably alcoholic than tournaments would ever be. And it's like printing money too.

Click to expand...

Wow, you get me VERY interested........

WVHillbilly said:

Pretend everyone else at your table is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE poker player who would be a HUGE loser at 2nl. Take their chips. Win.

Click to expand...

+1

And don't wear sunglasses.

Make sure you tell us how you did after you play. You can give us your viewpoint as to whether it went as you expected or was either worse or better. I will look for a follow-up. Good Luck bigbigbucs.

Goodwooter said:

Im on my way to the tables but wanted to give you a few quick tips:

1.sunglasses

Click to expand...

sunglasses are lame

Try your best to make it hard for people read you. Be quiet (don't give off any information) but at the same time chatter a little. Sunglasses would probably help, but it depends on your perference. Oh and try not to go on tilt because you'll be a lot easier to read if you let this happen to you. Good luck!

Gots to wear a scarf (obv.)

Poker Orifice said:

Gots to wear a scarf (obv.)

Click to expand...

WVHillbilly said:

Click to expand...

That's it! That's the one!!!