Playing live compared to online

[Timmah120]

how hard is the transition from online to live?

Well, I started playing poker live, so I really can't help. But, the biggest thing you need to learn is how to read players (because online you can't see anyone) and have some patience as live play is much slower than online play.

Also, get comfortable handling cards and chips. No mouse-clicking live

 

[Binraker]

I'm quite comfortable with tournament home games. Been hosting/attending since being a student (15years). Varying buyins from £10-30. Decent win rate too but a lot of the players will pay a lot just to see a flop then play poorly post flop. Really keen to get into the live cash games in the casino but the £200 buyin puts me off. I now play online cash games reasonably well at 50NL so I think it's about time to try the casino if it's as soft as the guys here make it sound.

 

[MaxMx2]

Online also people play much tighter I believe this is due to the lower quantity of hands you will be seeing.

Exactly! I also noticed that most live players cannot be patient for somewhat long time and they start playing more loose just because they are bored to fold and wait next hand time after time.
Another observation is that live poker is often accompanied by drinks and usually they are not milk shakes) It also makes the game more loose.

 

[Timmah120]

Exactly! I also noticed that most live players cannot be patient for somewhat long time and they start playing more loose just because they are bored to fold and wait next hand time after time.
Another observation is that live poker is often accompanied by drinks and usually they are not milk shakes) It also makes the game more loose.

I swear when I get the chance to play live, I spot 1-2 people reading the newspaper in between hands. I mean, come on...you know they are not paying attention at all and only playing their cards.

 

[erlanditas]

on live poker I get less bad beats, than playing online one tournament. Its just for me this happens.

 

[Dorugremon]

I am thinking of going to a casino nearby where they offer 50NL tables and wondered what the competition is like live? I am a regular 2NL or 4NL player online and thought about taking a couple of buyins down to the casino and trying my luck.

How good are you at 2NL and 4NL? Do you consistently beat those games? I'm seeing a couple of warning signs here that tell me you're not ready, and this is likely a bad idea. A couple of but-ins at 50NL live is a whole BR for 4NL on-line.

*) "...Trying my luck". It should be a matter of being the better player. Fish try their luck, fish rely on lucky suck-outs: that's what makes them fish in the first place regardless of whether it's live or on-line.

*) "...Not chase runner-runner straights/flushes" Do you do this habitually at 2NL and 4NL? That is a very fishy thing to do, and is almost always a very -EV play. I never chase runner-runner draws unless I have something else going for me in the hand, like a top pair, or an OESD with a runner-runner to the nut flush. Otherwise, if it's not a free draw, or unless I'm getting ridiculous odds, those three flushes and three straights go into the muck without a second thought.

"I aim to play super nitty and TAG..." -- a good idea until you get used to playing live. Also, remember you will have to keep track of the pot since you won't have that convenient window that tells you how much is in the center. There's no HUD, no statics on the other players, but OTOH all your opponents are right there, all the time, where they can be observed. That's one thing I see a lot of on-line players making a big mistake: they don't observe.

As for game conditions, live tends to be much softer than on-line. These live players are there strictly for recreation, they're on vacation, they're making it a boys' (or girls') night out, or they're there for the Big Game, &c, &c, &c and they're not thinking about Poker at all. The live player who comes every once in awhile, maybe during football season, or once or twice a year doesn't see all that many hands, not like on-line where you see ESSSSS-loads of hands and either figure out what hands are worth playing and which aren't or go broke in no time and disappear.

 

[Dorugremon]

how hard is the transition from online to live?

I wouldn't know: I made the transition in the opposite direction. From what I've seen post Black Friday all those on-line players made the same critical mistake: they failed to observe their opponents, and seemed very lost without their HUDs.

I haven't seen the on-line kids, you know, the ones who were always making references to what they saw on "2 + 2" and threw around words like "range" and "equity", for a very long time now. Been a long time since I last heard anyone's saying anything like that. It seemed that most thought that wearing hoodies and sunglasses were key components to winning Poker play. I'd take one look at these yutzes and think but one thought: Fish!

(Yeah, I know, "don't judge a book by its cover" and all that, but it's not always true. I've done some very strange things, like wearing my fursuit (I'm also a Furry) to a live venue. It's hard to take a 6' 1" anthrofox IC seriously until I'm stacking their chips, and they're sitting there wondering how that happened.)

They're not coming around anymore because they all lost their 'rolls either due to over confidence, not being able to make the adjustment from betting nickles to $5.00 chips, and because they weren't paying attention!

You can't pull up a player's statistics live, there's no handy little widow that tracks how much is in the pot, there's no HUD. You have to keep track of these things on your own.They didn't do that with predictable results.

 

[kmart99]

I played live long before I ever played online, and the first thing I noticed was how much better the online players are. Ive been successful at $2/$5NLHE live for quite some time but it took me forever to master winning online. At a live cash game the max buy in where I live is 200BBs. Getting to a flop heads up basically requires going 15x the BB because of the deep stacks and all the calling stations. Online, a min raise will often get the job done. Even at 10c-25c, going to 50c preflop from pretty much any position will get you in heads up. Which is insane because the BB is rarely behind enough to fold to a min raise. That, BTW, is one of the biggest weaknesses of online players playing 10c-25c ring games or lower. Little understanding of pot odds and implied odds.

If you're going to play live, I'd suggest a version of small ball, with more variation plays than the norm. It will be great practice for playing multihanded flops, which are usually the most difficult.

A typical hand at 2/5 live will go like this when an online player shows up without doing research. He/she might get AQ UTG and go $12.50, then get 3 callers. Flop will be QhJh3d. AQ will bet roughly half the pot, then 6h7h will shove all in, the button will call with 910, and the online player will fold fearing 33 hit the set. Only to watch the 910 win with 10 high. Or, 33 was there... Who knows. The shove fest at a livr table can be ' 8 out' draws, or it can be the nuts. It makes for some really difficult decisions, but some massive pots when you hit the nuts.

Online, you might have the flush draw semi bluff raise you, or just call, but never shove unless they have at least 14outs, not 8 or 9.

My favourite thing about live play is how easy it is to spot the Tagfish, the sharks, the donks, etc... Online it seems like way more players are playing a balance between lag and tag.


Another thing, despite the decreased rate of hands/hr, there's way more money to be made at a live game.


Finally, if you're crushing 20c-50c ring games online or better, then you'll make a killing at $1-2 with just a few minor adjustments. Convince the table you're an awful player by widening your preflop range, then just play smart small ball poker post flop.

 

[tcdukesdood]

Do you play better live or online?? I like SnG's and the 6 player max tables. I can't find any SnG or 6 player max at the casinos where I live

 

[BulldogHOF]

Playing Live vs. Online

Biggest difference has to be ability to read players and cards is much easier live. Right?

 

[DanielMark]

I think that playing online is much better because you enjoy the same experience and because you spend much less time playing poker.
I read a complete explanation at http://reliablecasinos.org/ why online poker is better that usual live poker, and it can be interesting for someone.

 

[tcdukesdood]

Biggest difference has to be ability to read players and cards is much easier live. Right?

Yeah I agree, you can tell how someone plays after a couple hours. I can't figure out people online. Thats just me though, I'm sure people can read each other online. I'm just not a master yet. Still noobie

 

[quick]

I've played live a few times and intend to play more live. Live feels easier to me. A lot easier. I still play online near daily but if given the opportunity I would ditch online and play live near daily. I do prefer online MTTs to live MTTs mostly due to small BR and also fishy play online (it's only $20 bux dude, they;'ll say). As for cash games it too me maybe 2 long sessions live to get comfortable and figure things out; online I'm STILL trying to figure things out and I've been playing online much longer.

So live > online.

 

[cwdignus]

in the live game you take more memory game and control emotions

 

[Outlawluck]

This is my take on playing live vs online. First, the game is a lot slower, you'll see about 1/4 the hands an hour you'll see online (for a single table, even less if your used to multi table sessions) which brings me to the second biggest difference, the general hand range is much weaker. Even good players will be playing a lot of hands that online players wouldn't be caught dead with. Also, no on respects a raise, in a 1/2 game you raise it to 6 8 out of the 10 players at the table with call. You raise it to 12 (as a lot of people will simply raise straight to 10 or 12 as the first raise) you'll get at least 3 callers, if not 4. Staying tight is always a good idea, but when you play for 2 hours and never win a hand and watch your stack shrink by 25 or 50% it can be tough staying focused. Also, as opposed to online, there is usually either no table max buy in, or one that is very high. At the 1/2 games in my local casinos it's not uncommon to see people buying in for 400-1000. I've see guys buy in for 2000. Your little stack of 200 has a hard time standing up against a table of avg of 500 or more. The play is overly aggressive for the quality of hands played. You'll see huge 3 way pots develop and at show down you'll have like 2 pocket pairs (under) and the K9 take it down on an AK4 7 J board or something like that. Not to say sets, straights, flushes and boats never hit, they do. But you'll be surprised how much money get in the middle on top and even second pair. And don't get me started on kickers. Also people will chase draws and will suck out. I remember loosing 200 on a hand when I flopped top set (10's) on a rather unconnected board. By the river side turned over to 95 off for a rivered straight (can't remember what the board read, I didn't even see he straight out there, thought my set was good) he had nothing but draw till the river. Sadly this will happen a lot. Be careful, be smart, stay resilient, you'll probably do well. My best night I cashed out 1k up after playing 1/2 for only 4 hours. Certainly and easier game than online once you adjust, but the suck outs can be even more brutal.

 

[Binraker]

I'm really looking forward to playing live in a casino now. I'm going to Arizona for a holiday and although I won't make it to Vegas, I'm planning to spend 2 days at a casino near Flagstaff.
Apparently, they have a bet limit of $100 in Arizona so they play 1-2-100 spread. How does that affect play? I've never played that. Is it like pot limit?

 

[grzech]

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were when they first played live in a cash game? I play a lot online and the only live games I play are in a pub on a Monday night - no cash involved, just a league structure where the top 3 go through to a regional shoot out. I am thinking of going to a casino nearby where they offer 50NL tables and wondered what the competition is like live? I am a regular 2NL or 4NL player online and thought about taking a couple of buyins down to the casino and trying my luck. I aim to play super nitty and TAG and not chase runner-runner straights/flushes.

Finally, one good tournament in Premiere Leaque - I play this tournament even started at 14:00 CET - hhehe, so I think it is not bad i should be at prizes places and good for me points

 

[droozy]

Live game is much much slower, but you can get much more information unlike online game. Live game is not always about cards.