online swith to card room advice

I have been actively playing on-line low limit hold em and live pretty far from a card room. I have played on line-line hopes to learn the starting hand, how to play my position and play the turn and river. Now I'm headed to a card room to play and wanted some advice and what differences to expect when I get there. I would not mind getting some sound advice to practice figuring pot odds faster.

On-line its OK to hover your pointer over the "raise" button, but if you do that at the casino the guy in front of you can see you are about to raise. Practice keeping your hands in one place. You also need to insure you have enough chips to "raise" all at once, or announce "raise".


Pot size is best counted in "bets" and not in Money. Keep a running count. Divide by two on the turn since bet sizes double. So, there are 4 callers, the SB calls, and the BB checks. That 6sb in the pot. On the flop there is a bet and 2 calls, then a raise, and only 2 people call the raise. That's 7sb more for a total of 13sb. Divide by 2 on the turn leave 6bb. There is a bet and a call on the turn, up to you. That means there is 8bb in the pot so you are getting 8:1 to call.


Counting may very well distract you too much. If so, keep a subjective notion such as "small", "medium", or "large". If you ever KNOW what your actual odds are (say you have a gut-draw and cannot win without it and are therefore a 12:1 dog), then pause and reconstruct the size of the pot from memory.


I think the reall issue for "odds" is determining your actual chances of winning the pot, not the current size of the pot.


- Louie

Here are some tips I usually give to players playing for the first time in a card room.


Before you sit, read the rules of the card room. They should be posted in several conspicuous places for everyone to see. Take note of the number of raises allowed, table stakes rules, etc.


If you have to wait to get a seat, wander around and check out the tables. Take note of how the players and dealers do things. Every card room is different, so note the local customs...how much they tip when they win, how fast play usually is, etc.


When you get a table, tell the dealer that you want to buy-in for however much money you want (there should be a minimum....I usually buy in for $100, or "a rack" at a $4-$8 table.) Lay your money on the table, and he'll call the chip runner to come over with your chips.


When you sit, you will actually have cards in front of you. You need to look at them in a way that no one else at the table (or behind you) can see them. Cup your hands over your cards and peel up the left corners so that you can just see the ranks and suits. You may want to practice this before you get to the table. With practice, you'll glance at your cards for about a second and remember them throughout the hand. Of course, you can check them as often as you'd like...just to make sure you hit that flush ;-)


Protect your cards at all times. I usually keep my left hand on my cards and my right hand free for betting. Some players feel comfortable putting a chip on their cards or tucking them under their stacks, but do something to make sure your hand doesn't get fouled by stray folds or overactive dealers.


I think the biggest difference between cardroom play and online play is that, oddly enough, cardroom play goes much faster. To get used to the speed and everything else in a table game, I suggest that you tighten up your starting hands considerably. Play middle position like early position and late position like middle position until you get comfortable with the game.


Don't make any betting or folding motions until it's your turn. When you fold, simply push your cards to the middle of the table. Try not to expose them to anyone. Make your actions relatively quickly to keep the game going and to keep everyone happy.


When you do bet, call, or raise, announce your action before hand. If you don't announce a raise beforehand, you must have enough chips in your hand to make a raise. You may not go back to your stack to get enough chips to make the raise (called a string bet...usually not allowed in a casino game.) Also, don't "splash the pot" by throwing your chips in the middle of the table. Put them in neat, easily counted stacks in front of you.


When you do make it to a showdown, turn both your cards over and lay them down in front of you. At our cardroom, showing just one card (like one for a straight or trips) won't cut it. You may want to announce your hand to the dealer so he can verify it. One time the dealer almost swept the pot to my top-pair opponent because he missed my one flush card. Keep your hand on your cards until the dealer takes them from you to declare a winner.


In an online game, you can chat with other players. You can chat with other players at the table, too...but don't talk about how to play your hand or anyone else's hand. Don't talk to the dealer about whatever when he's dealing or involved in a hand. As you get more playing time in, you'll feel more comfortable about when to talk.


That's a lot to think about! As far as calculating pot odds, Louie's advice is right on. Go get'em & tell us how it went!

well, after my 1st 18 hour session in a card room, I just got pummeled. I am still learning how to evaluate a game, so it took me a little too long to figure how to play in this one. I was expecting $3-6 structured and got $2-5 spread. The action was loose, fast and very aggressive. I was repeatedly raised and when I folded would be shown 93o and the like. I was a little scared and tightened up . . . this is where I lost the most money, I think. I was folding many hands that were getting huge pot odds, that would have been the winner. Drawing to an inside straight by cold calling 3 bets just seemed wrong. In hind site I see that I was getting 12-15:1 odds and folding was a huge mistake. Again, I am a very new player and would welcome suggestion to my after thoughts of this game. I am headed back in 3 days and I'd like to have the best of it.