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The switch from online to live

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  1. Jimmyj12 Jimmyj12 is offline

    Donnybrook
    Ireland

    Posts: 30
    Joined: May 06

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 7:49am)

    Hey guys,

    I've been trying to play a bit more live in the casinos around my town but with limited success. My main problem is the lack of blinds at the start of the tournament that makes me feel like I have to gamble it up straight off the bat. Also, I keep trying to say to myself "What would I do online" for every decision I make but it doesn't seem to be working. I get frustrated when people only bet with top pair.

    I was hoping to travel to Vegas this Summer and play some small buy in tournaments just to experience it, but am now terrified of donking off loads of cash. I also talk lots at the table, so I guess this should probably change.

    Any advice would be appreciated!
     
  2. mahgnislaw mahgnislaw is offline

    Posts: 1,815
    Joined: May 05

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 8:18am) in reply to Jimmyj12

    people are generally tighter live, you have to respect the raises and open shoves a little more. Also the structure live should allow you to tighten up and play alot slower. I haven't really played online since 2005, but I do travel to 15+ or so live events a year and this has been my experience. Other than that play your game and it will come. GL
  3. Imustcall Imustcall is offline

    Jacksonville, FL
    United States

    Posts: 1,224
    Joined: Aug 06

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 8:39am) in reply to mahgnislaw

    Transitioning to live can be difficult, especially at your local casino. I can think of two reasons myself.

    1) The play is generally more loose/passive. This means that your preflop raises will normally get called, but reraised less. This can be a problem because that will normally bring along more callers. Also, it is harder to move people off hands, and many times they give their hand more value. This can make it hard to bluff. You should be able to bet for value, although realize, you will get calles a lot by top pair, weak kicker. However, big hands get paid off more frequently and end up playing against very weak hands. For example, you will find many opportunities where you can limp small pocket pairs or call behind without fear of being reraised. When you hit, you will stack people often.

    2) The pace of live play is very slow, this is probably why you tend to get chatty, from boredom. Understand that going 30 minutes without playing a hand is only 15 hands or so. Entertain yourself by studying players. Basically study every hand played.

    I am talking about your local card room, not large live buyins. Good luck.
  4. lordxixor101 lordxixor101 is offline

    Westland, MI
    United States

    Posts: 6,364
    Joined: Mar 06

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 8:46am) in reply to Jimmyj12

    This also depends on what sort of tournaments you are playing live. Good live tournaments have slow structures. But, at your local casino, they may have some structures that are absoutely lousy (remember, with a live dealer, things go slowly, so a 15 minute live structure (with the same blind levels) is a lot faster than the exact same structure online. So, for your tournaments, it might be right to gamble right off the top. If it is, and you play, then gamble at the beginning, but remember, the worse the structure, the more variance is going to play, and the harder it will be to win them over the long term (the worse the structure, the more luck plays into it).

    Also, what do you consider small buy ins in Vegas. To be honest, anything with even an ok structure will run you at least $60 (the Stratosphere has a decent tournament a few times a day). But, the really good tournaments that get talked about on the boards here cost several hundred to play. Also, remember, poker is a long term game, so even if you play perfectly, there is a chance you'll come home from Vegas down all of your buy-ins, so play within your roll (or at least, with money you can afford to lose).
  5. Jimmyj12 Jimmyj12 is offline

    Donnybrook
    Ireland

    Posts: 30
    Joined: May 06

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 9:03am) in reply to Jimmyj12

    Some really good advice so far I think, appreciate the input.

    My local casino runs tournies starting with ~5000 chips with 20-30 minute levels. I'd consider a small buy in for a casino game somewhere around $100. I don't mind losing a bit of money if I can gain some decent experience playing, I just don't like the idea of only being able to play online.

    My roll supports me playing anywhere up to $200 tournies, although I think I might go a bit mad if I lost too many of these, losing money online seems to be alot easier to handle.

    I've definitely been noticing alot of super-passive play, with any raise preflop generally being a huge hand. I think I only saw one 3-bet in my last tournament in about 2 hours of play. Should I amp up the aggression? I just don't want to sit around, not pick up a hand for 2 hours and being in 10BB region, although everyone else at the table seemed perfectly willing to let that happen. I'm a reg turbo SnG player so I probably have an advantage if it comes to this but it just seems like the wrong strategy.

    If I end up going to Vegas I'd definitely bring a laptop so I can retreat to my room to maintain my sanity if I lose loads live, but I don't like quitting.

    Is there any poker players here who are terrible live but good online? Anyone ever tried playing live and just end up quitting? I'd like to here from some if there are!
     
    Thread Starter
  6. Imustcall Imustcall is offline

    Jacksonville, FL
    United States

    Posts: 1,224
    Joined: Aug 06

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 9:09am) in reply to Jimmyj12

    Jimmy,

    By you response, I really think you are battling some issues with patience. Not necessarily in card playing, but just speed of play. This was a major struggle for me, as I was wired to play 8 tables online. An online player who understands the effects of blinds and stack sizes should have a significant edge on a live player. Just apply your strategies.

    With that being said, you will probably be frustrated until you get a good score. It is hard to overcome the fact that it takes a week of live play to equal one night online.
  7. The MC The MC is offline

    Melbourne
    Australia

    Posts: 154
    Joined: May 09

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 9:11am) in reply to Imustcall

    befriend your mp3 player and drink SLOWLY!
    the game is still the game and people are still people, numbers dont change.
    the only thing is you have to listen to them and smell them
  8. shady1128 shady1128 is offline

    Buffalo, NY
    United States

    Posts: 602
    Joined: Aug 07

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 10:15am) in reply to Jimmyj12

    You really need to analyze your table live. More so then online because there is a lot more information to be picked up. I rarely use my Ipod when I'm playing live because I don't have time for it. There are too many things people can say or do that can lead to good plays later in the tournament or cash game. I can't stress enough how important it is to pick up the information just laying there for you.

    Watch raises in live tournaments early if you don't open up for the first few hands. What size seems to lead to calls, what leads to folds etc. Playing in position is even more important because a lot of people don't realize where you're raising from. If they're not paying attention it's harder to see then online and there are a lot more casual players in casinos then playing online.
  9. WolffMan1212 WolffMan1212 is offline

    Sarasota, FL
    United States

    Posts: 111
    Joined: Jan 09

    May 13th, 2009 (5/13/2009 10:23am) in reply to mahgnislaw

     
    Originally Posted by mahgnislaw View Post

    people are generally tighter live, you have to respect the raises and open shoves a little more. Also the structure live should allow you to tighten up and play alot slower. I haven't really played online since 2005, but I do travel to 15+ or so live events a year and this has been my experience. Other than that play your game and it will come. GL

    Wow this isn't true for any of the casinos I play at in florida. I just started playing live again being home for summer and i feel like Live tounraments are a level below if not more than online ones as people make so many more mistakes especially in deep stack. If u pick your spots and make good reads and as little mistakes as possible you can crush. These clowns are limping utg and utg +1 with 8bbs or less and folding to raises. Its just ridicoulous. People just get impatient waiting for hands while online I feel like people are multi tabling and pick their spots better. Play TAG and youll do fine. Running well helps also.
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