Is there a huge difference between live and online?

[da_goat]

One thing I do like about online is I can play more than one table at once.

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

I find playing live poker quite frustrating because I don't like human beings very much, don't like big gatherings of people, the game goes much more slowly and I have very little control over things such as the temperature or humidity of the poker room, plus they take a much higher rake percentage than you pay online. Also some poker players that consider themselves "pros" like to try to intimidate people that outplay them. Having said that, quite a few of the players tend to be half drunk (at our local casinos) so it is much easier to win.

So, basics are; In online poker, you will quickly learn something - you have much more playable hands... just as your opponents. And when you are strong hand, you are not the only one on the table.... And next thing that you have to notice immediately, it is also very simple - ... 3 of kind, straight, flush, full house, poker and even Royals (there is topic here - one player hit 3 royals in a one week) are classic usual situations in online.

It's fairly obvious (to most people) that if you are playing a lot more hands then you will encounter far more royal flushes. If it was a "classic usual situation" do you think that they would bother starting a thread here about it? The thread for sore losers that like to try to make out that online poker is rigged is here:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/pok...gged-megathread-all-rigged-roads-lead-228298/

From my own personal experience I would say that it is more likely to have a dealer influencing the cards in live poker than online. That's probably why you can't tip dealers in the UK.

 

[oooo]

In my opinion, the biggest diferences are the pace of the game, as other said, it is really slower in live games. The other huge difference is the tells, if you are good reading body language, you can make some serious chips quickly.

There was a game I played live where one of the guys in the table got nervous when he had big hands, a little shaking movement in his hands was enough to tell me when to fold.

I would recommend reading some body language books, they helped me learn a lot about live tells.

 

[rogerdelpk]

in live game the body language is a major factor, and in online game you have all the tools like holdem manager.....

 

[2002nt7]

I like to play live. I can see reaction of piople. It helps me. Online is more uncamfortale for me

 

[lastbabyboomer]

online poker can't be trusted.

many sites have been corrupt, the players cheating.
Better chances are live

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

many sites have been corrupt, the players cheating.
Better chances are live

This comment made me smile, mainly because it appears to assume that bricks and mortar casinos are never corrupt and that the players never cheat. We have already had people posting in this thread of regulars at casinos that gang up against people trying to play "proper" poker because they want new, less-experienced players to win the first time they play live poker with them, so that they will keep coming back.

I have actually lost more money through Internet Service Providers going bust than I have from poker sites shutting down, although both are frustrating. It's much easier for a half-decent poker player to make a living out of poker online by multitabling, and the rake online is much lower than what I have encountered in any of our local casinos. I see bricks and mortar casinos as being great for a social occasion but as a business proposition online wins hands down. I can get up at 5am and play opponents from all around the world, should I so desire - none of my local casinos offer that facility.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Live games are way easier than online. However, there is a commute to the casino, hands dealt at 1/3 the pace of online and the inability to multi-table. This is easily enough for many people including myself to prefer playing in the much tougher online games.

 

[lcid86]

Live is a lot slower. Toughest transition for me was having to keep a 'poker face'. Online you can react to the cards, talk out a hand, and not worry about giving anything away. Also, a casino poker table is crowded! Not much elbow room, and someone's always looking over your shoulder. Depending on your seat at the table, it's hard to see players at the other end (1,2 vs 8,9).

 

[SloPowers]

Live play is much slower than online - you will see far fewer hands per hour live. You need a lot of patience and control... I try to play every hand the same as far as tempo and even speech... so much can be picked up live from the way you handle your chips & cards to the way you say 'raise'. I personally prefer live play as I tend to focus more on task at hand. In online play, I'm getting up for a drink, or surfing the web at the same time or I will open a table when I'm tired - just because I can! Playing live is like going to work... you have a job to do and so you get on with it, hopefully without distraction.

 

[carsguitars777]

Players in live games tend to be much softer for the stakes they are in, also if you are not used to a casino espicialy a busy one, your concintration can easily get broken especialy if your being comped free drinks... i learned to play live poker.. seeing the people is much easier to get reads or tells off them. Online is just much easier i dont have to drive to the casino to gamble... even though i have games close by its still a pain, especialy when i just want a quick game and its not an all day or night ordeal. i like playing both.

 

[Mark Gavr]

While offline and online poker - it's the same game , among them there are a few differences to be aware of . The differences are not large enough to completely change your poker strategy, but if you play Texas Hold'em or Omaha High Poker, you should definitely know about them .

 

[YouPay4MyCrack]

There are a few major differences I have noticed...

Online:
Numerical figures, easy to calculate and count
Limited information to use go off of
No traveling needed

Live:
Usually have to travel costing gas/time
Casinos usually charge more rake when compared to online sites
You have more information to go off of, but then again, so do the other players.
It's more difficult to count your chips and the chips of others, making certain calculations much more difficult.


Because of these reasons, I actually prefer online poker to live poker. Hope this helps.

 

[veronica]

l m never play on life time but l"m looking forward to any time..

 

[GabrielRiley]

Definitely there is a difference between the live and online game. The main difference between live and online is in live you can see or play the game itself by you and live is slower. You need patience to play the live game whereas online game is much faster you can do multiple works with playing the poker game.

 

[Shumkoolie]

Thanks for all the replys everyone! I think I'll probably play better live, the only thing I'm worried about is having to speak lol. As dumb as it sounds when I get nervous or pressure and have to speak out loud I have a slight speech impediment that could be taken as a tell. Once I get comfortable I'm usually fine. Plus I am able to really focus for hours at a time in pretty much any live situation. I can sit at my computer desk and bang out calculus homework for 7 to 8 hours at a time but once I get on a computer I lose focus easier.

Having a slight speech impediment should not inhibit you from playing your game. Infact, you could turn that into a positive and use that to your advantage. Remember, this is a great game that anyone can play, whether you have any physical/mental/etc challenges or not. On ESPN's coverage of the wsop Main Event from a few years ago, there was someone who did not have the use of his arms and hands due to a motorcycle accident and he had to use his feet to see his cards and handle the chips. It was a great story that ESPN made time for.

So don't be intimidated about playing. Do your best and hopefully it will work out for you. Just remember, many who will sit beside you at the tables will be a bit nervous too.

 

[MPaz_87]

I think live tournaments are sometimes better, you can read the other players according to their moves and their body languague. If you know how to read them you can beat them.

 

[Ms_Fold_Alot]

I play live twice a week (minimum) and online pretty much daily.

I agree with the others, the main difference is speed.
I do prefer live games though, I find I get underestimated alot and I can manipulate the table with "tells" and a bit of flirting haha! < gotta love being a woman.

I've been told by the men I play with, that many women are hard to read, I am one of the hardest they have encountered because I always smile, have no genuine tells and generally kick their butts when playing.
I think online is a great practice ground to break out to live games, just read up on poker etiquette, practice it and know the game you are playing. Try practicing keeping your face neutral too, this will help your game and most important of all, have fun!!!

 

[kiggans_412]

Hey thanks for the input! When I first made this post I had the idea of doing nothing but playing cards and since then I've done nothing but study. But my 21st birthday is on the 1st and I'm actually really nervous to go and finally play. What really sucks is I've been waiting about 5 years to finally go play in the casino and I have a huge calculus exam the Tuesday after my birthday so I don't think I'm going to play on my birthday.

 

[Ms_Fold_Alot]

Hey thanks for the input! When I first made this post I had the idea of doing nothing but playing cards and since then I've done nothing but study. But my 21st birthday is on the 1st and I'm actually really nervous to go and finally play. What really sucks is I've been waiting about 5 years to finally go play in the casino and I have a huge calculus exam the Tuesday after my birthday so I don't think I'm going to play on my birthday.

That sucks! Just don't let it put you off playing once your exam is over. You have many years to play, learn and enjoy the casino environment. Relax, you will be fine

 

[oreska7]

In my opinion the biggest differnce is that online you always know pot size and stac size of all players. That was my biggest problem when started playing live. Make sure you keep the count

 

[dj11]

Having played millions of hands online, I was a bit tepid about playing live. I am primarily a tourney player online, so being the lucky guy I am, I decided on a tourney for my most recent foray into live play. I had played ring poker before, like way before, in the 70's,80's, and 90's, In total only a few hundred hands live before 2010.

Those millions of hands online helped me understand a lot about the game, and only a little (relatively) about the players.

There will be the mechanics of the game, aka etiquette, that will stump you for a while, maybe a few hours. While you will see way fewer hands per hour, you will pacify what you think will be boring with the intense people watching, so hands per hour is not such a good comparison.

Being a college student, you will probably be familiar with people watching. However, typical people watching with friends, where you pin this person one way, and that person another, based mostly on your personal biases, will not serve you well at the poker table. During the rest of the month try people watching alone, aiming at figuring out what that person is into today, right now. It will likely include that the person is just trying to get from point A to point B, but the tricky thing is that word 'just'. You don't just move from A to B, you think along the way. You think about all sorts of things, MOST of those things do not include the travel from A to B. You (and thus they) think about sex, eating, sex, friends, partying, studying, sex, avoiding this guy or gal, and catching a better view of this or that, then more sex, more food, how you feel, should you sleep more, sex......etc...etc.

Instead, focus on figuring out if the folks you are watching are comfortable at the moment. << Is a valuable component of people watching that can transfer to live poker tables.

The lucky guy part of the above is that I live in L.A. with 5 or 6 cardrooms within a short drive (20 miles or less), and multiple tourneys to choose from every day of the week.

 

[alittlepoker]

Its very different to me anyway i seam to do better live then on the net not as many so and bad beats and the atmosphere in the casino is great . Players dont seam to play crazy in the live game like you see at poker sits we all play on .

 

[kiggans_412]

dj11, thanks for those tips that actually makes a great deal of sense. But I got talked into going to the casino tonight because on my actual birthday were getting a snow storm and like I said earlier I have to study all day. I actually got called lame by my older sister because I don't wanna do anything for my birthday but study so that sorta stung lol. But I'm trying to get ready for trying to get into a phD program so some things are a little more important. But anyways anyone have any last minutes tips? Or things to do or not do on my first trip. I'm only planning on taking around 300 tonight so I know it's not ideal but it is what is it. I'm hoping to get on a 1/3 nl table but I'm not sure what will be going on around midnight so who knows.

 

[jcsplus4]

I like both online and live games, but I think to many people think online is like bingo or a slot machine.