During the age of digi-natives, many poker enthusiasts play their first live game after playing online for several months or even years. Live games are inherently different than online: The pace is slower and you have some tools at your disposal that don’t exist online. A good example of this is the possibility to get reads based on verbal tells and gestures.
How should you prepare for your live session as an online player? To come up with a comprehensive answer, we asked the Pro Team of BeastsOfPoker what kind advice they would give for live poker first-timers. This post works as a checklist to go through before you hit your local casino. Let’s jump right into the tips they wrote down:
Don’t overestimate the skills of your opponents
Live poker at the casinos doesn’t have micro stakes as the smallest table is usually $1/2. As players don’t have any lower stakes available, you can find live $1/2 games where some players play all their hands or barely know the rules.
Even if your opponents look confident and handle chips well, they’re not necessarily competent poker players (at least on online poker standards). When a timid live poker player fires three streets into you, don’t assume they know how to balance their value range with a proper amount of bluffing combos! Instead, watch closely what hands players have in showdown and how aggressively they tend to play. Give credit to players only after they have demonstrated they deserve it!
Stick to playing ABC poker
Live poker is mostly about being patient and playing a straight-forward, ABC game. When you play in a 9-handed game, it’s hard to win by bluffing a lot preflop. As live poker players tend to also play more passively and loosely, value betting well and playing a solid overall game is the best starting point.
This advice is viable as long as the game plays somewhat loose. What if you find yourself at a table where the action seems dry?
‘’If the table you sat down at seems tight, don’t feel obligated to continue playing. You can try out another game or switch tables inside the casino. Why not jump into another card room if you live in a big city! There are usually many small-stakes games going in most big cities – it doesn’t make sense to waste time on a bad table. Some of the biggest wins in live poker come from spotting a super juicy table and playing all night or as long as the action is good.’’
-‘Arvain’, Beasts Of Poker Ambassador & High-stakes PLO regular
Isolate limpers in position
Open limping and limping behind are common practices that you see pretty much at every live poker table. Live players usually want to see many flops with all kinds of speculative hands.
This gives you an opportunity to punish players by isolating with a wide range in position. The skill edge you have on your opponents postflop can make hands like K8s and Q9s very profitable isolation raises.
Call less 3-bets than you would online
One of the biggest differences you’ll notice playing live poker is people tend to 3-bet much less. As live players don’t like folding preflop, many players only 3-bet premium hands even in late position.
The correct adjustment you should make is flatting less against 3-bettors. You can make an exception when playing deep-stacked & being in position.
Play more hands on the button
In general, you’ll face less squeeze plays from the blinds and less cold 4-bets compared to ring games online. This means you can play more hands on the button by 3-betting, flatting opens and limping behind. Take a stab at the pot when your opponents don’t seem to fight for them.
Follow the action & protect your cards
It’s easy to act on your own turn and follow what happens at the table online. If you don’t follow the action in live poker though, you might end up acting on the wrong turn. You should also use a card protector or keep a hand on your cards at all times before folding or being awarded a pot. There have been cases even in big live tournaments where a player lost a crucial pot by the dealer taking their cards away while interpreting that the player had folded!
Use your mobile phone only after folding
Live poker is meant to be played as a social game. Be polite to other players and use your mobile phone only between hands.
Watch out for angle shooting
Angle shooting means exploiting rules to get information from other players. It doesn’t happen in online poker and it’s pretty rare in live poker too. Yet, you need to be aware of the following angles that you might encounter:
· Pushing chips just a little bit forward to get a reaction
· Checking out of turn on purpose
· Giving misinformation of stack size
· Making a raise look accidental
· Lying about hand strength at the showdown
Have fun while playing
Lastly, remember to have some fun while playing! Live poker can be a competitive game, but it’s also a social one. Have a chat with your fellow players between hands, share stories and just be yourself. Ordering a beer or two is fine too – just don’t overdo it as you want to be able to make logical decisions!
Artikeln är skriven av Seat Opens samarbetspartner Beasts of Poker.
