live poker

i have played online poker for around 2 years soon i will be starting to play live poker can anybody reccomend any tips,books or sites to help learn the basics of live play. thanks.

Average opponent will be a calling station. So adjust your play accordingly. Live play's just the same as online except you have to remember to throw your blind out,

cheers pal!

If you raise preflop and get no callers, does the house still get the blinds?

Wes747 said:

If you raise preflop and get no callers, does the house still get the blinds?

Click to expand...

Most places have a No Flop, No Drop policy so if a flop is not dealt then no rake is taken.

i've never seen a dealer rake a pot if its only the blinds in it. that'd just be idiotic... it would completely remove the motivation to even attempt blind stealing.

It's a lot easier making reads in live poker. Watch the other players, see if they give away any information while you play them.. watch their mannerisms, facial expressions, posture, etc.. and watch for any changes during play.

Mortis said:

It's a lot easier making reads in live poker. Watch the other players, see if they give away any information while you play them.. watch their mannerisms, facial expressions, posture, etc.. and watch for any changes during play.

Click to expand...

^^^THis! My #1 recommendation for live play is watching for tells! The vast majority of players have them and don't even realize it! Read Mike Caro's book of poker tells. And search here for live poker advice, there are quite a few threads already about live poker advice and live tells. GL!!!

1. The live games are 10x easier at the stakes compared to internet play.

2. You will have to learn to watch your tells and pick up other tells. That's a big part of live play that you haven't been exposed to yet in online play. Heck, I think that reads & tells are 75% of the live game experience.

Many new live players will look at there cards as soon as they are dealt to them because this is what they are use to online. You see your cards then wait for the action to hit you. In a casino you should be looking at the players in turn to see how they react to their cards. Do they look excited by what they see? Do they look iffy as to whether they should play(their weak)? This goes back to tells the others have mentioned, but remember tells start from the very beginning and not just after the flop. If you have 2 limpers who both seem like they just want to see a cheap flop, a raise with ATC can often take the pot right there.

Here are a few things off the top of my head.

When playing live, verbal action is usually binding
Pay attention:
Know when its your turn to post blinds
Know if its been checked/bet/raised is when the action gets to you.
Don't act out of turn

Don't take a long time every hand acting. (some is ok, but don't overdo it)
Don't talk about a hand if you have folded and there is still action.

Figure out the pace of the game and when a good time to look at your hole card is. Don't wait until the action is on you to look at the cards because then everyone is looking at you and it slows down the game.

bhood1776 said:

If you have 2 limpers who both seem like they just want to see a cheap flop, a raise with ATC can often take the pot right there.

Click to expand...

In my experience thats poor advice if you're playing small buy in tournaments live of $50-$100 because half the players are calling stations, who will just limp in preflop then call a big raise behind them anyway a high percentage of the time.

twinny90 said:

cheers pal!

Click to expand...

SPAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Watching the other players is key, thats why I'm a much better live player than online. You can pick up on things watching th other players.

Do's
1. Wait til it's your turn to look at your cards
2. watch the other players as they look at their cards
3. Tip your dealer
4. pay attention
5. quit playing if getting tired

Dont's
1. Discuss hand in progress
2. make your own change the dealer will handle that
3. Act out of turn
4. lose money
5. lose money

Here are a few things to look for in other players
1. when the flop hits watch to see if they look at their chips they hit the flop
2. acting quickly is usually a sign of weakness
3. If they look at their cards and then look like they dont care they probably have a big hand
4. if they grab chips look at you and then end up checking they have a weak hand ( they try to make it look like they wanted to bet so you wont)
5. Happy feet this one is hard to spot watch their shoulders for movement if they have a big hand people will start bouncing their leg because they cant wait to bet.


If you get to a showdown and other player announces his hand dont muck til they show it. I think its always best to flip your cards over at showdown because sometimes you misread your hand and since cards read you wont mis out on a mis read hand. Don't react to the flop or turn or river if your not in the hand, this gives unfair information to the other players, for instance lets say you look down and have J 2 off so you muck, and then th flop comes J J 4 if you react by looking pissed or making a disgust sound this lets a player in the hand know that you probably folded a J and now they know the other player likely does not have a J.

Xavier said:

In my experience thats poor advice if you're playing small buy in tournaments live of $50-$100 because half the players are calling stations, who will just limp in preflop then call a big raise behind them anyway a high percentage of the time.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Also... KNOW YOUR TABLE. If you're playing a popular card room there will be many tables with varying degrees of players. If you think you are in a bad situation on your table ask for a table change and the floor should accommodate. Don't go in with the assumption (despite what some have said) that you are walking into a barrel of fish with a net. Take your time and learn the subtle differences in the game. And read Caro's book!

Stix

This thread has a bunch of stuff you might find helpful:

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

Good luck!