Poker Articles

Rizen ("Eric Lynch") has advanced to day two! Follow him and all of our registered users at www.pocketfiveslive.com

As an online player who has (somewhat) had success in the live arena, I thought that with the WSOP Main Event looming near, it might make sense to take some of the knowledge I've gained from trying to transition my online game into the live arena and share it with all of you. Hopefully this will help shorten the learning curve for those of you without much live experience, and as long as you don't end up at my table, help you attain some level of succes in the main event. With that in mind, here are some general rules for live play geared towards the online player playing in a big event for the first time:

1) Be comfortable - In the live arena, seasoned players can pick up on weakness and discomfort. It's VERY important you get comfortable with things before you start to make any real moves, or you may just be spewing chips. One simple form of discomfort in live events is just sitting at the table. Poker players tend to be a little bigger than your average person, and as such can really box you in. If you notice that people aren't evenly spaced around the table you can ask the table (get the dealer to help you if you need to) to 'square up' the table. That should get the dealer to make sure (at a 10 handed table) that the space between the 5 and 6 seat is directly across from him and space everyone else out evenly. It sounds simple, but sitting for 12 straight hours cramped between two fatties will diminish your play. If you're female or a skinny dude, you probably will get crunched even more as the other players will move in on that perceived 'extra space'. Once you're comfortable sitting down, the biggest thing to get comfortable with is handling chips. You need to learn how to keep an accurate count on your own stack as well as quickly be able to assess the size of others' stacks. You ALWAYS have a right to know how much a player has, and they must keep their biggest demonition chips out front, and all stacks should contain a single demonition of chips for the most part. If you see someone mixing chip denomonations and it's giving you a hard time, let them know they have a 'dirty stack' and they should correct it. While it may not make you any friends, don't be afraid to be a stickler for some of the basic rules at the table if it keeps you comfortable.

2) Speak clearly and always announce your intentions - Verbal declarations are binding in live poker. The most common mistakes I see online players make has to do with handling chps. They toss out oversize chips without saying raise (which is a call) or toss out a series of chips with an oversize chips (which is then a raise, declared or not). They also raise amounts they do not intend to raise etc. The biggest way to combat this is to simply announce all of your actions and intended actions. Don't be afraid to ask the dealer questions as well. Once the action gets to me it is not uncommon for me to ask before I look at my cards '1800 to call?' after a raiser. Don't guess at anything. If someone makes a raise, make sure you know what they raised to. If someone makes a raise and you don't hear it, any chips you put into the pot will be a call and you will have committed them, intentionally or not. If you are going to raise, announce what you're raising to by saying 'I raise to 1800' or 'I raise an additional 1800'. That way if for some reason you put out the wrong number of chips, you are entitled to add more or pull some back since you said the amount of your raise. You can also use that to announce raise, then put out the # of chips to call while deciding what to raise. If you always announce your intentions clearly and verbally, there is no chance of a mistake.

3) Don't look at your cards right away - I used to think this didn't matter, but now I think there is an excellent reason for it. As online players, we're used to seeing our cards right away. In the live arena especially though, where play is slower and we're not multi-tabling, it can be easy to look down at 88 and decide to play it before the action gets to you since it's the best hand you've seen in hours. Instead of looking at your cards, watch the action in front of you and before it ever gets to you have an idea of what types of hands you'd like to play before looking at your cards. This makes tossing your 88 much easier to do if you've seen a raise and a re-raise in front of you. Also, before looking at your cards check out the people to your left as they get theirs. If they look and suddenly seem disinterested, or in some cases cap their cards, you can gain information on if people behind you like their hands or not. Knowing the two guys to your left are going to fold is like gaining two extra spots of position.

4) It's in the hands stupid - When in doubt, watch people's hands. There are two reasons for this, especially once the flop hits and you're involved in the hand with only 1-2 other players. The first is a simple reason. The most reliable information you'll pick up from other players have to do with their hands. How do they handle their chips? In what manner do they push their bet out? The other reason is that you're much less likely to give out information yourself, especially if you just made a big bet or a raise just just focus on a spot on the table or the other player's hands so that you don't give anything away by looking directly at them.

5) Don't tell - While other people are always allowed to know your chips remaining etc, you are NOT obligated to be the one to tell them. Just move your hands out of the way and let the dealer count out your chips or let them look themself. If you're in a hand and someone starts asking you questions, you don't have to say anything. If you're not an experienced live player and experienced with table talk, DON'T TALK! More experienced players live may know how to induce calls or folds, but don't try and be tricky, just leave them in the dark. The dealer is there to do things like count out bet sizes, stack sizes, etc. Make them earn their money and don't give away free information by speaking when you don't have to.

I hope some of these help. There are a lot of nuances between online and live poker. At the end of the day though, it's still poker, and everyone on this site has the advantage of having played thousands of hands in periods that would have taken years to do in the live arena. Be confident in your decisions and play the game the way you KNOW how to play it and you'll be fine. Follow the 5 points outlined above, and that will keep you from getting in your own way as you play the game. Exude confidence at the table and just do what you've done to get you to the main event in the first place, and I'm sure your results will be positive.

-Rizen