Thoughts between Online vs. Live play
When I first started playing poker, 8 or 9 years ago in college, my roommates and I would gather all our change and sit at the dining table and play 5 card draw. At that time, there was no ESPN coverage of the WSOP or any mention of Texas Hold'em at our poker table. The only rule we had: only silver coins, no copper.5 years ago, my buddy and I decided we wanted to host a poker cash game. Our first game was in my garage with a 4'x4' folding card table. We drank cheap beer and smoked a few cigars. We played a bunch of different games, "Screw your buddy", "black jack", "5/7 card stud/draw", and that game (the name escapes me right now) when you stick the card to your forhead and bet. We had a ball.
Now, 5 years later, I've built my own poker table, have opened numerous online poker accounts, and play in a fair amount of local games.
I prefer live games over online, but have come to appreciate the online play over the past few months.
In live games, I love to watch how people bet and see patterns. The social interaction is also more fun, and gives you something to look forward to should the cards not "fall" in your favor. When my local group gets together, I know how each one plays, and normally place well in our tourneys.
I have a hard time keeping up with the pace of play online, and rarely put betting patterns on more than 2 or 3 folks at my table. Especially with the turnover so high at the $50 & $100 NL tables that I play.
In online games, I play a lot tighter and less aggressive to minimize my losses. This has worked thus far in online play (+$375 off of a $100 deposit), but doesn't really work at live play. Sometimes I get in trouble with my live games, because they go slow. I'll overcompensate for the slowness of play, and will try to open things up. This has backfired on me a few times to the point that I'm the first one out of a tourney b/c I was too loose.
Quick Pros/Cons for Online and Live poker:
LIVE POKER Pros
- Betting patterns better realized
- "tells"
- More time to make a decision
- Little turnover
- Physical chips and cards (there's something nice about having a large chip stack in front of you)
- Overall, more fun (at least in the games I play)
ONLINE Pros
- Multiple options of what tables to play
- Always a game going
- Ability to play on multiple tables
- Tourneys & Ring games
- Faster play, more $$/hr won/lost
- Fishers
- BONUSES!
Live Cons
- Little to no change in play
- $$/hr is a lot less
- People can read my tells
- Regularity
- Slower play by less experienced players
Online Cons
- Not enough time to get reads on people
- Suckouts galore
- Poker "tracking" software gives advantage to those who use it.
- Loose canons who call allins with 64 suited and catch trips to knock out your pocket KK
- Can suck away multiple hours of your life in what seems like a matter of minutes.
There you have it. My 10 minutes of thought as to the differences of Online versus Live poker play. comments welcome.
posted by jedihog @ 9:18 AM
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