Return to Paradise .....NOT (way long)

I'm sure my story is not unique. I saw Rounders. I decided my destiny was to be a professional poker player. I bought a beginners Hold'em book complete with start charts. I learned to play poker online. I took some beatings in the early going. I bought more books. I studied some more. I played some more. I won. I moved up. I eventually took a beating. I moved back down. I bought some more books. I studied some more. I won. I moved back up. I took a beating. I moved back down. I studied some more...etc.


I never really got anywhere but could tell I was much better than most of the other players I encountered online (at least at the limits I played). I felt that the meager amount that I was down overall was pretty reasonable tuition for the accelerated learning experience that online poker provides. I continually read posts on here about people teaming up in the higher limits. This seemed to correlate with the fact that I always lost when I got above a certain limit so I knew my future was not at PP.


Having never played live poker, I decided that I couldn't give up my dream without at least trying it. After all, the greats of the past hadn't played online. They worked their way up the ranks in dark smoky poker rooms. I entered into my first live poker game a very slight loser after almost two years of online play. It has now been a few months since I switched to exclusive live play.


In case there are any readers out there whose experiences mirror mine, my observations are as follows:


1. Live poker is MUCH easier than online poker.


2. MANY more people pay to see the flop in live poker than they do online at the same limits.


3. When opponents in live poker draw uphill against you they get there much less frequently than they do online...it really amazed me at first when the scare card never seemed to hit on the river. After years of Paradise I came to expect it.


4. 5/10 live plays like 1/2 online. 4-8 plays like .5/1


5. Opponents make a lot more moves against you online than they do in live poker...probably because they have to look you in the eye so they are less inclined to bluff with air.


6. People don't tilt as bad or as often in live games. I have concluded that PP tends to push people over the edge with the propensity for river suck outs.


7. It is MUCH easier to read hands and read opponents in live games. People seem to come in with a strategy and stick to it rather than Paradise where everybody is constantly adjusting their play to try to compensate for the ridiculous frequency of bad beats.


8. It is actually possible to gain control of a game in live poker because your opponents stick around for a while rather than jumping tables every few minutes. If you get in a good game you can really take advantage.


9. In live games most players in the same card room seem to gravitate towards the same style of play. Because of this it is easy to adjust your playing style to beat the majority of them, as opposed to Paradise where playing styles are all over the board.


10. The number of hands played per hour is soooo much less it is very difficult to get used to. I think this is one reason so many people pay to see the flop. If you pass, it takes a while to get another hand as opposed to PP where if you play two tables you get a new hand every few seconds.


Now that I have played both live and online Hold'em I have come to realize that playing at PP is a great training ground. You gain experience at a very rapid rate. You encounter every possible type of opponent and every type of game imaginable. You get bluffed often so you develop the ability to play stronger. You get rivered so often that you have ample opportunity to develop the right attitude towards suck outs and bad beats. You learn to adjust to rapidly changing game conditions. You have to make fast decisions so you become good at assessing many variables quickly. You learn to make correct decisions without knowing much about your opponents because the seats roll over so quickly. And most importantly, you learn how big the downswings can be and develop an advanced understanding of bankroll requirements and fluctuations.


In summary, if you are exclusively an online player...get in the casinos. If you are even close to break even or a slight loser over a long period of playing online you will absolutely rip up a live game at limits much higher than you play online. Just like the track athletes who run with the leg weights on...once the shackles of oppression are removed you will find that you have developed into a BAD MOTHERFUCKER of a poker player. Don't take my word for it, go see for yourself.

great story. Gl n/t

Nice post. On-line poker is the best training to play live poker.


There is a key for winning on-line: wait, wait, wait, wait. This is hardest to do in live games for the reasons all the world knows.


Why Las Vegas players are tough to beat? Because they have all the time they want waiting good cards to play. They suck out tourists who cannot stand hours to play few hands. I entered vegas games (low-medium limits) and they wait you. Waiting is the key. At Orleans, 1-5 stud, I bet on the river three Queens (rolled up) with NO pair showing, no evident straights or flushes possible, a old lady called after 3 minutes of thinking with three ACes!!!! Stupid example to confirm the waiting theory.


Online it's impossible to lose if you wait and you take the right spots. I repeat it, it's IMPOSSIBLE.


ON-line bad beats are what we want to look at. Weak players have a positive enforcement when they beat you with a stupid holding. GOOD!!!!! EXCELLENT!!! We want this. We want to lose 5-6 times in a row with pocket aces against J-9 off or other weak hands.


In the long run they SURELY GO BROKE. Otherwise we have to throw away all the statistics books, all phisycs rules who lead the world.


What the only problem we have to face? BIG PROBLEM THOUGH. Not going on tilt. This is another key of success.


They beat me with J-9 when I'm dealt pocket Kings? very good. I KNOW IN THE LONG RUN I'LL BE THE WINNER. Players who give us bad beats are consistent losers. This is a law. And my play must to remain solid.


In my opinion at on-line games there is a higher psychological aspect than in live games.


Marco

well said, my friend . . . well said.

Pshychology? In online poker this amounts to not going on tilt. In live poker, one can physically manipulate his/her opponents into worse play and bad calls. Live poker adds a whole new dimension. Online is great training, and can be more profitable because of the hands per hour, but live play, as the original poster said, is much easier and much less stress.

You wrote, "In the long run they SURELY GO BROKE. Otherwise we have to throw away all the statistics books, all phisycs rules who lead the world."


You miss the point. The original poster implied that "they" DON'T surely go broke. He implied that "they" DO surely keep sucking out. Given that is the case, you do have to throw away all the tried and trusted statistic books and all the laws of physics when playing at Paradise.


You also wrote, "What the only problem we have to face? BIG PROBLEM THOUGH. Not going on tilt. This is another key of success."


Who goes on tilt? (rhetorical) Tilting isn't an option, except for children.


Tom D

I agree toally. The live $3-$6 game I play in is weaker than most of the $0.50-$1 games on Paradise. It's been awhile since I've played live, though, so maybe the game has toughened up. I doubt it. The only thing that struck me funny was the Rounders reference. The movie was ok, but it wasn't that great. It seemed strange to me as I watched it to hear all of those cliches about if you can't spot the sucker... No limit hold'em is the cadillac of poker... Those lines should only be uttered by the masters. to bring in another influx of fishes. Most of the people that reference Rounders are chumps, but you seem to have a grasp on it. Online is way tougher than live. Why are the suckouts much fewer amd further between? It seems that every time I hold black Aces online, the flop comes up three suited in red. When the river brings the 4th diamond or heart I dump them without a second thought. Is this the quality that will make me a bad ass live player? I'm so used to the unbelievable suckouts that I will be unaffected by them live? I think that another difference is having to physically place my chips into the pot. That alone keeps me from making stupid calls live. I'm far less likely to get a bad attitude live. That makes live play better for me, but I'm addicted to the convenience of online poker.

the first time i played poker was about 14 months ago. it was in the taj mahal in atlantic city. i think i didn't even know that a straight was lower than a flush [img]/images/smile.gif[/img]

i played $2/$4 hold'em and won about $300.

then i noticed paradisepoker and i was addicted. the first sessions at $0.50/$1 were a disaster. i thought: ??? how can this be? of course i bought some books and i was amazed at how many books have been written about poker.

now i can beat the $2/$4 games at paradise and i'm still addicted. i haven't played poker in a real casino after the first time. so after your story i think i'll need to go to a cardroom real soon!

Tom, you are absolutely right. I mixed a bit what the original poster sayed. Sorry.


Keep playing on-line, though


Marco

If you can beat Paradise 2/4 regularly you should be able to beat a live 10/20 game (providing of course that you have a sufficient bankroll). Most of the people that you talk to at Paradise Poker in the low limit games will tell you that they play much higher in live poker rooms.