Online versus Live

[DennisB]

The Last game I played live was a 20-40 at the horseshoe in Tunica, MS. I won $2,100.00 in about 8 hours playin aggressive solid poker. (ok well maybe not so solid sometimes). Playing 15-30 Online at PartyPoker is about like playing a 50 cent dollar game at Paridise poker. (obviously because of the WPT tv ads) It would seem to be easier to win with these less experienced online players, but this isn't the case alot of times.

I've always heard the smartest guy in the casino industry was the one who invented the chip. Turning real cash money into clay chips makes it less like real money, therefore easier to get the customers to let go of.

Here's the real question up for debate, (and because I have not read any of the online poker books, which I intend to do) ......Does the transormation of real cash onto a poker website which alot of times comes from a credit card to begin with, create so much more of a NON-REAL money mindset that it causes great poker players to play less than perfect? Or a average poker player to play like a rookie?

All comments welcome, puzzled here..........

[Tommy Angelo]

Limit hold'em is the result of evolutionary pressures. The needs of the house -- that the money stay in action long enough for the house to get enough -- have balanced the needs of the players: to have the feeling that what they do matters.

Limit hold'em has evolved to be an essentially break-even game for the players, allowing the house to get the max. It is zero-sum, and zero expectation, minus some. In a B&M casino, it is still barely possible to win because some people can outwit others as long as air is shared. At online limit hold'em, the house gets it all.


Tommy

[droidboy]

In a B&M casino, it is still barely possible to win because some people can outwit others as long as air is shared. At online limit hold'em, the house gets it all.

Come on Tommy, you don't really think this do you? First, live games are beatable by more than slim margin, especially once you move into mid limits.

In truth, the house gets a much large percentage of total action in a B&M casino. Online games, are beatable at all levels, because the cost to the player is significantly reduced. While you would have no hope of beating 1/2 in a live casino, people smack the hell out of that game online.

Maybe you are having us on, but do you really think that there aren't hundreds, if not thousands of online players who make good earn?

[Vehn]

At a B&M mid limit hold'em table, about $120 is being dropped off the table per hour. At the online mid limits, about $180 gets dropped per hour. How is it cheaper to play online, again?

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
At a B&M mid limit hold'em table, about $120 is being dropped off the table per hour. At the online mid limits, about $180 gets dropped per hour. How is it cheaper to play online, again?

[/ QUOTE ]

So, if the online cardrooms slowed their games down such that they only got in 25 hands/hr, there would only be $75/hr dropped from the table, and it would be cheaper to play online?

I think you ought to consider cost/hand rather than cost/hr, but that's just my opinion.

[hutz]

Precisely! The rake online is less per hand than the rake at a B&M. Avoiding jackpot drops and tokes only adds to the online rooms' value.

[Ikke]

"At online limit hold'em, the house gets it all. "

I'd love to see where you base this conclusion on. I play online for a few years now and my experiences are the opposite of this conclusion. True...the online casino's get a lot. But there's lower rake/hand online, more gameselection, good bonuses, and well...I just tried Party Poker, and Oh My God, the players havent got a clue. For a good player, playing online is where the big money is. IMO, it's not that hard for a good shorthanded player to make $100/hour playing online.

Regards

[David Steele]

"At online limit hold'em, the house gets it all."

all?
There are a few people that are going to be annoyed
when their huge stash finally gets taken.

Also how does sharing air help?


D.

[Pot-A]

Tommy,

I find this amusing, given some of your previous comments regarding the time period you use to determine your profitability. As I recall, (I looked for the post but couldn't find it. Was it an article you wrote?) the key figure in the Tommy Angelo quarterly report was "profit per hand".

Now, if "cost per hand" is less in an online casino, what difference does the "cost per hour" make?

Not that online casinos are perfect. I think they have more collusion, and it's not a cash business anymore. But the food is better, and I can just push a button to shut the whiners up.

In my local B&M casino they drop $4/hand regardless of whether or not there's a flop. In online casinos I've seen the drop as small as $1 for every twenty in the pot to a maximum of $3.