Poker Articles

“Yea, hi, I’m scheduled to play a tournament here today, but I walked into the room and couldn’t find the computers.”

(Blank stare from the floorperson) “It’s a LIVE tournament.”

“So, how long do players get to act?”

“As long as they want.”

“And how do I see what the guy had when he mucks at showdown?”

“You don’t, it’s bad etiquette.”

“Ok, so where on the table does it display their aggression level?”

Not a conversation that actually happened in either of the years I’ve been covering the WSOP, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me if it did.  The root skills of poker don’t change online and live – strength of hands, picking up on weakness, etc.  However, changing the way we use these skills and tweaking a few of them could make the difference between bracelet and busto.  I talked to a few online turned live pros and mixed in some of my own experience to come up with some basic adjustments you’re going to have to make when you make your way to the Amazon Room.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the  … play … is … slooooooow.  If guys that take all 15 seconds online tilt you, then you might as well not even play in the World Series.  Even in the early stages, there will be multiple hands in an orbit where a player takes 1-2 minutes to act on a hand.  The faster you just accept that people are going to Hollywood for no reason, or that they actually can’t figure out what to do with this K-J sooooted with three raises in front of them, the more success you’re going to have.

The slow play also adds to another big adjustment – PAY ATTENTION (this is something I talked to Shaun Deeb about).  Since sometimes you’ll go five to ten minutes without cards in front of you, you need to be paying attention to the action all the time – a player may flash a card, you may pick up on a tell, there’s a ton of information you can gain while you’re NOT in the hand.  As Shaun put it, “We are spoiled with our Hand Histories and (unnamed software).  That’s not there anymore as a backup for when you’re not paying attention.”

The next common theme discussed was about utilizing break time wisely.  The breaks are short, and you usually have about ninety-five things you need to get done.  Figure out which bathroom is closest and has the shortest line.  Know that if you grab a salad at the Poker Kitchen, you can be out of there in five minutes, whereas if you go for pizza or a cheesesteak, know you’ll be paying $5.50 PLUS the one round of blinds you’ll miss waiting for it. As Deeb told me, “If you’re a smoker, make sure you have whatever you smoke and know where you can smoke it.”  Shaun also told me that it’s very important to see who your opponents are talking to on breaks: “If you see someone go talk to a bunch of 45 year-old live pros and he’s 25, he’s going to play more like them.  Then the kid going to talk to a bunch of 22 year-old Swedes who are wearing their favorite graphic tees…” 

So, those are the logistical adjustments; now let’s talk strategic adjustments.  You’re going to have to get really used to counting people’s chips quickly and you’re going to have to make a concerted effort to keep track of the pot.  We’re so used to having everyone’s exact chip counts and the exact amount in the pot displayed for us that bet sizing and other plays are often very clear decisions.  Here’s an example of a common error: You raised up front pre-flop and got 3 callers.

Blinds check to you and you continuation bet 2/3 of the pot with air, not realizing that the one guy left behind you has exactly twice that in his stack.  He moves in and now you’re getting 6million:1 to call with one overcard.  Most of us would never make that mistake online, because we would quickly notice the stack size of the one player behind us and adjust our play.  Counting real chips is hard, ESPECIALLY the WSOP because they often have multiple events going on and 4-5 different colored chips in each.  Stacks can be misleading at first glance, so before you get in a “oh, I didn’t know you only had that much” situation, just ask the guy for a chip count.  It’s completely within the rules and as long as you’re not doing it every hand, it’s completely acceptable.

Speaking of bet sizing, PocketFivesLive.com Chief Reporter Court Harrington brought up an interesting point about bet sizing in relation to the pot: “"One of the big adjustments for me was learning to size bets differently.  Online a bet that is less than half the pot is readily evident because the size of the pot is right there as a number for everyone to see.  Live, many players don't pay as much attention to the size of the pot, but moreso to their chips and just the general size of the bet.  The result is that a smaller bet can work just as well against some opponents in live play where online it would not."  So, not only should YOU be paying more attention to the pot size, you also can take advantage of other people NOT paying attention.

Justin Bonomo, a player who has pretty much personified “how to go from online to live,” talked about adjusting your preflop play against weaker WSOP fields: “There is so much re-raising online, and that's generally a bad strategy to approach a live tournament with. Instead, it's much better to put yourself in profitable post-flop situations against the weaker players.”  Most of the players you’ll be playing against won’t correctly know how drastically different calling a raise is than a three-bet, so a lot of the things you hope to accomplish with re-raises and three-bets (taking the pot right there, thinning the field, setting up plays later) will be totally lost on most of the players.  Shaun Deeb called it “Fancy Play Syndrome.” 

Shannon Shorr echoed Justin and Shaun’s thoughts, "I've noticed that a lot of the online-turned-live players 3-bet all-in way too much against live players and forget that opening ranges are different. Countless times I've seen said online players re-shove all-in against live players that are  in their sixties just because that's what they're used to doing with a certain stack in the same situation online.”  First, guys in their 60s don’t typically mix up their game to where they’re opening with garbage, so three-betting them isn’t going to get them to fold often enough.  Secondly, these same guys will often call a three-bet with hands like KQ and KJ and pretty much any pair.  Any  hand they’re opening with, they’re calling a three-bet with, so don’t three-bet these guys unless you’re looking for a call.

Bonomo also added, “A lot of the online players will have to learn very quickly that many of their bluffs and ‘fancy plays’ are useless against these super weak fields. Instead of playing these tournaments like a high stakes online tournament, they should be played much more like a small stakes cash game. Concentrate on getting value whenever possible in the early stages.”  I usually refer to it this way – in basketball, a pump fake is a very effective move against anyone who’s played basketball before, but if the guy doesn’t know he’s supposed to jump when his opponent is shooting, then a pump fake becomes useless.  Instead, just go around the guy.  Stick to playing your best solid low-risk poker, there is always someone at your table waiting to gift you chips. 

Last year in the $2000 NL event, at the end of the second level I had 80,000 (started with 4).  Every time I busted someone, they had moved in on me with something marginal, and I got to call with something nuts-ish.  Just sit back and wait for someone to flop a pair and go crazy.

A few final tidbits:

-  “Some people come back from break with advice from friends how to counteract ‘that young online player raising every hand.’  People are going to make biggest adjustments from that time, so your reads need to change a lot.” – Shaun Deeb

- “Comfort is the key for grinding long hours of poker, wear what you want.” – Shaun Deeb

- “Later on when most of the weak/tight players are left is when you can start stealing small pots and avoiding big ones.” – Justin Bonomo

I’ll leave you with a quote from Shane Schleger, whom the internet has collectively deemed “the voice of reason” for his ability to chime in on a topic after rigorous discussion with a comment that leaves everyone saying “I agree with Shane.”

“Yeah I don’t know much about strategy.  All I know is that they're all going to get burnt out and spend too much money on strippers and alcohol.” – Shane Schleger

I agree with Shane.