Live Poker -
The Advantage Of Being A Regular

When I started out playing poker nobody in the State of Denmark had heard of Texas Hold'em. Poker was per definition 5 card draw, though 7 card stud was played in smaller circles. But overall poker was not a very commonly spread game where I live. Because of this I had been playing poker online for several years before I played my first live poker hand at the casino in a neighboring town. Though the rules and the cards are the same, live and online poker is two different creatures. In this article I will try to elaborate on these differences and present some practical tips for the online player "going live".

One major difference between online and live games is that the player pool for online games is world wide, whereas the player pool for local card rooms is much more limited. This means that in live games you tend to run into the same players again and again. This is also the case at the very highest games online, but at the middle and low limits the players pool is simply too large for this to happen on a regular basis. Another difference between live and online games is that people tend to jump in and out of games online, whereas they tend to stay in their seats for as long as they stay in the card room in live games. Online there are plenty of tables to choose from, and you can easily find a game to kill a lunch break. Live you often have waiting lists and you have to drive to get there in the first place.

This has some significant impacts on how the game is played. First off the regulars at your local card room have a significant advantage over the recreational players. They have played each other so often that they know each others style of play pretty well. This allows then to focus exclusively on the non-familiar faces at the game. The recreational player on the other hand is starting from scratch in figuring out the playing styles of his opponents. Let me illustrate the point by discussing a hand I was involved in some time ago at my local card room.

The game was a full-ring $40-80 fixed limit hold'em game. Everybody folded around to me in mid position. I called with Ah7h. A late position player who was a non-regular but who seemed to be a pretty solid ABC player raised. Frank, one of the local pros whom I knew to be a very creative somewhat reckless player called out of the big blind and so did I. The flop came 973 rainbow. Frank bet out which I knew didn't have to mean that I was behind. Given the pre-flop raise of the tourist I could narrow down the range of his holding to either AK or an over pair, and in both cases I would prefer him to fold taking my chances against reckless Frank, against whom I figured to be around 50-50, so I raised. The tourist looked astonished but made the call nonetheless (what would you think if you raise pre-flop and two guys have bet into you on the flop?). The turn was another 9. Again Frank bet out and I raised him on the spot, figuring that this card didn't change the score between Frank and me, whereas the tourist had to put at least one of us on a 9. The river was a blank and we split the pot both holding A7, which put the tourist on tilt as he claimed to have folded QQ on the turn. The point was that this hand would never have played out this way had I not known Franks playing style this well. I also know that when the board paired on the turn he knew that I would raise if he bet out. And the tourist�.. Oh well�.. There's got to be certain perks from being a regular.

Another thing that is important in live games is the fact that you know that the line up won't change much throughout the night. In other words - you have plenty of time to skin them. Most people play reasonably well when they are even and well rested. But when they get stuck and tired their game will often deteriorate. For this reason I like to play extremely tight for the first couple of hours, until I get a good line on the players I am unfamiliar with. Later in the night I will loosen up and I will specifically target players who are bleeding. Often they will still give me credit for being a rock as they are not as alert as they was when the game started out anymore. In my experience this is the classic dynamic of a live game. A recently started game is generally tougher then one that has been running all night, and you should play accordingly.

This also means that table image can be a serious issue in a live game, where it is rarely very important online. If you get perceived to be weak and people start to try and run you over in a live game, you should take a walk and think things through. It is not all bad when people start trying to run you over, but you have to realize that this is what happens, and then muster the courage to pick your spots to snap right back at them. Everybody plays worse when they are stuck and tired then when they are fresh and ahead. So you have to break and enter when you get stuck and tired. Many otherwise talented players have a major leak in their game from their inability to leave a game when they are stuck. This can be extremely expensive. Especially when you fail to realize what is going on.

For these reasons I find live poker a lot more enjoyable and with less fluctuating profits then online games. As a matter of fact I have completely skipped playing online these days, simply because I don't seem to enjoy it anymore, whereas I still enjoy playing the usual suspects at my local card room. Not only is it more sociable but there is also much more scope for pulling spectacular plays like the one discussed above when you play a very familiar line-up then there is against an online table with many unknowns. So next time you visit your local card room, you should be aware that you have to pay your dues before you can enjoy the advantages of being one of the regulars.

Thanks to Leigh Lightfoot-Martin for proof reading this article.

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