To play or not to play live poker…

Debi · Aug 13, 2026

I haven’t played in a live poker tournament in almost 2 years. Today I am taking a stab in the Harrah’s Cherokee wsop Circuit Ladies event. I will decide if I am completely done - or want to play once in a while.

Wish me luck!

Prophet · Aug 13, 2026

Good luck in the event !
Let us know about your results , if this is the decisive reason for playing more often or not.

My personal reason for playing less live events in the past years is the lack of patience

Martin · Aug 13, 2026

Always love following your live poker threads, best of luck and cards Debi!

Jillychemung · Aug 13, 2026

Good Luck & Run Good !!!

Debi · Aug 13, 2026

Enjoying it so far. I think selecting a Ladies tournament was a good choice.

Holding my own, nothing exciting so far.

SpanRmonka · Aug 13, 2026

Debi said:
Enjoying it so far. I think selecting a Ladies tournament was a good choice.

Holding my own, nothing exciting so far.

Good luck Debi, yeah maybe a ladies tourney is the way to go for you.

Go get em

KeyPatience · Aug 13, 2026

Debi said:
I haven’t played in a live poker tournament in almost 2 years. Today I am taking a stab in the Harrah’s Cherokee WSOP Circuit Ladies event. I will decide if I am completely done - or want to play once in a while.

Wish me luck!

All the best! Do well one decision at a time! 👍🏼😁

Debi · Aug 13, 2026

Slightly below average stack but happy with how I am playing. 🙂

Andyreas · Aug 13, 2026

Good luck, Debi!

Hope you have a sweet sunshine run!

Tammy · Aug 13, 2026

Let's go Debi!!! 🎉

Debi · Aug 13, 2026

Shoved ATs pre-flop and got called by AK. Flopped a T - oops lol . She was not impressed lol.

Emily Trott · Aug 13, 2026

Debi said:
I haven’t played in a live poker tournament in almost 2 years. Today I am taking a stab in the Harrah’s Cherokee WSOP Circuit Ladies event. I will decide if I am completely done - or want to play once in a while.

Wish me luck!

Sounds like you're doing, or maybe it's did, pretty well. A ladies tournament was an excellent choice to get your feet wet.

Luvepoker · Aug 14, 2026

Great to se you back at the tables Debi. Hope your having fun and win. And what wrong with hitting a ten against AK? Dont they know who you are. Debi the Great

Debi · Aug 14, 2026

Finished 67th of 160, busted at the end of level 8.

Will post my thoughts on playing live poker again some time over the weekend.

pirateglenn · Aug 14, 2026

I hope there follows another time when you play your next tourney, I for one loved and followed your past exploits in vegas and really enjoy your tourney reports.

winner3699 · Aug 14, 2026

Debi said:
Finished 67th of 160, busted at the end of level 8.

Will post my thoughts on playing live poker again some time over the weekend.

Always played online
Wt the player should do playing first time live???

alabala · Aug 15, 2026

Well played Debi, next time wish u at least final table!! 😀

fundiver199 · Aug 15, 2026

Debi said:
Shoved ATs pre-flop and got called by AK. Flopped a T - oops lol . She was not impressed lol.

Well thats just poker, as we say. She got lucky to have AK preflop, when you had ATs, and then you got lucky to flop a T

Jyco · Aug 15, 2026

I don't know if you're going to keep playing or not, but don't let the result itself make that decision for you. Focus on how you feel and how you played, regardless of whether you lost because of bad luck.

If you're having a good time at the tables and feel like you're playing well, keep going. But if you're not enjoying it or you're forcing yourself to play, it's probably better to stop. In the end, it's always best to listen to yourself.

Debi · Aug 16, 2026

winner3699 said:
Always played online
Wt the player should do playing first time live???

I would recommend starting with a low buy-in tourament and playing a bit tighter than normal in the early rounds while you get your bearings.

Jyco said:
I don't know if you're going to keep playing or not, but don't let the result itself make that decision for you. Focus on how you feel and how you played, regardless of whether you lost because of bad luck.

If you're having a good time at the tables and feel like you're playing well, keep going. But if you're not enjoying it or you're forcing yourself to play, it's probably better to stop. In the end, it's always best to listen to yourself.

My decision is definitely not result oriented - as you say it is more about how I play and whether or not I enjoy it.

Debi · Aug 16, 2026

Things I missed and enjoyed during this tournament:

the comradery and chat at the table
the excitement of making good decisions
winning pots lol
the challenges (getting good reads on opponents, knowing when to fold and when to show aggression, etc)
Having my CardsChat online rail - reminded me how much I love that part of playing in tournaments so will do a better job of setting that up if I play again
friendly and fun dealers

Things I do not miss and didn't enjoy:

the incredible arrogance of poker players
2 hours between bathroom breaks
how long you have to play to even min-cash
not being able to stay fully hydrated while playing
Investing a chunk of money while having to deal with all of the above
unfriendly and boring dealers

So will I play again? Probably, but will try to find tournaments that start early and have buy-ins of less than $300. (The minimum at Cherokee is $400 so might do that once in a while for a Ladies or Seniors event). And I am only likely to play 1 tournament on a trip, unless for some reason I find myself in a casino for more than 4 nights. I definitely don't have the patience and stamina to do more than that anymore. I have no idea how I played every day for 6-12 days straight for so long! Those days are gone.

riff_raff312 · Aug 16, 2026

Debi said:
I haven’t played in a live poker tournament in almost 2 years. Today I am taking a stab in the Harrah’s Cherokee WSOP Circuit Ladies event. I will decide if I am completely done - or want to play once in a while.

Wish me luck!

Good luck Debi and have some fun with it.

ztibor72 · Aug 16, 2026

Good luck next time, live poker has its own charm, it won't let you go.

dannystanks · Aug 18, 2026

Alright you’re rounding again! Good luck in your future events! I think that’s a good idea to come back and not play as many tournaments and just stick to a few select ones. That’s kinda what I do, I only play live in Vegas once a year, so the events I do play it’s just more fun, it’s like I waited all year to come play and I’m not going to let anyone or anything get in my way of having fun!

fifille07 · Aug 18, 2026

Very interesting to read! Good luck in your future tournaments Debi!

My live poker life is definitely over, but I'll try to join the league next season because I miss poker too much.

To play or not to play live poker…

Debi

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