Which is tougher – online or b & m

I’ve seen posts where people say online is much tougher than live, and I seen posts where people say online is very loose. I guess it is all relative, so my questions are:


1. Where do you play b & m?

2. Where do you play online?

3. How do they compare?


For me:

1. I live in Las Vegas and have played low limit HE (3-6, 1-4-8-8, 4-8, 6-12 (Orleans) and 8-16 (Bellagio)) and stud (1-4/5 and 5-10 (Mirage & MGM)) in virtually every strip casino. Las Vegas LL tends to be tight (weak-tight), unless you find a table of tourists.


2. I have played 5-10 and 10-20 at Ultimate Bet and Poker.com and 5-10 at Paradise (just started at Paradise this morning).


3. Ultimate Bet (about 30 hours) has varied from very loose, to very tight and seems comparable to what I’ve seen here. The 10-20 was pretty tight and very aggressive.


Poker. Com (about 30 hours) has seemed loose all of the time at both 5-10 and 10-20. There were many times that 6 or 7 people took the flop.


I was only at Paradise for about 2 hours this morning, but the game seemed pretty loose to me.


I am curious as to other’s experiences, especially those with a significant number of hours online.

Looking at the games I have played, I believe B&M is much easier than online (Than again, I play in AC). I played at the Trop ($7.50-$15.00) recently and it was common for 6 or 7 people to see the flop. I also noticed that some of the regulars (I assumed they were regulars because they knew the dealers) weren't even that good (Chasing with Runner-Runner cards, Calling cold middle pair no kicker, and calling three raises with a gut-shot). Also, i find it easier to remember which players are solid and which players play trash in RL.


To be perfectly honest I would compare it to the .05-.10 or .25 -.50 game at Planet Poker. Just my opinion though.


-James

i found online i played a little more str8 forward. of course i was playing 2-3 tables at once so i had to keep track...


cardrooms you get more information to play with, but the game is a slower. online the only real tell is a stall or auto play selection. and the stall could mean just a delay on the system. *which is one reason i played multi tables. to know if a delay was happening*


ive found both can be tough or easy. once you know the players and how to pick the tables.


ive seen players on here swear how tough online games are...bull...they can be just as easy. plenty of guys play crap there too. i got a long list of players that i profiled on UB when i was playing. game selection is easier too. no excuse for playing in a tough game anyway. why? there's too many tables/sites to choose from...and if your in a tough game, its your own fault.


in the cardrooms, when i hear a guy talking that he played alot of online holdem, i watch how he watches the game. and ive found they usually *not all* just watch the board. and not the players. thus missing information, but giving out some of their own. sorry bud, you can make that face at home on your computer, but we can see you now...haha


its personal preference i think. some dont like cardrooms. some dont trust the computer. however, i think by playing both, they help your game overall. online is where i really learned how to count bets. it was very easy and quick. also, online has the benefit of speed building.


when i went back into the cardrooms, my decision making was very quick compared to others. 1 guy even asked if i even looked at my cards...and this left me time to watch my opponents.


just some ideas...


b

I feel that online, you will make more money per hour. The biggest four reasons are:

1)The speed is so much faster

2)It's easier to find shorthanded games

3)People that don't know how to play shorthanded are more likely to play shorthanded

4)People seem to tilt so much easier online


Enrique

one benefit i liked, was watching the .50 pro berating play of players. not because of the abuse, no player deserves that, but here's a player who's so good hes at micro limit, and FAILING to adjust for it. he can only play in 1 type game. and if they dont play the way he wants, he starts crying. this also happens in cardrooms at times. i just found it more common online.


b

best one not be me anyway. I agree with and support everything said here. Both online and RL games are very easy. Sometimes I find the online games are a little tighter but that doesn't mean the players are good.


I also enjoy the big shots at .5/1 giving lectures to someone who takes down their J8 with an inferior hand.

The EV per hand online is lower than the EV per hand in live games. The reasons? I think it's because you get many fewer tells on-line, opponents are not allowed to muck the best hand in a showdown (at Paradise), opponents tend to be more aggressive online, both you and your opponents sometimes suffer disconnects and other on-line oddities, and at least sometimes your online opponents are sharing folded cards or doing worse (though there is some of this in live games too.)


The EV per hour of an on-line game playing two tables is generally higher than the EV per hour of a live game at the same limit, simply because you're getting 3-4 times the hands per hour. However, that means some higher limit players will be attracted to lower limit on-line tables, so if you're a marginal winning player in a live game you may be a losing player in an on-line game at the same limit.

I also think that online players as a subset of poker players are a very literate/intelligent subset of poker players. Some of the players at my local casino appear to be uneducated and living in near poverty. The neighborhoods in the area are horrible and some of them live there.

"The EV per hour of an on-line game playing two tables is generally higher than the EV per hour of a live game at the same limit, simply because you're getting 3-4 times the hands per hour."


How do you know that?


Tom D

Can there be any doubt about this?