How do you maintain focus at the B&M?

[smoore]

[ QUOTE ]
Not at all, any chat causes me to lose track of the key decisions in the hand. Maybe I have ADD, even if I'm not distracted I have trouble following hands I'm not involved with without drifting away in thought.


[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like an online player transitioning to the card room. Do whatever it takes, calculate pot odds, keep tabs on whether the dealer is over or under raking the pots, count everyone's stack, whatever. I like to count everyone's drink total and note how quick they suck 'em down [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. Don't watch TV, cute girls or action at another table. Your table is all you see.

[Dharzhak]

[ QUOTE ]
You're not multi-tabling online?

[/ QUOTE ]

Good lord, no. I regularly play $10-20 HE and $5-20 spread-limit 7 stud (when they deal it) at Motor City casino. At those stakes, I want as much information about my opponents as possible. You miss out on a lot of information when you can't see your opponents, much less get to know some of them socially.

Never mind that, for me, live play encourages more patience and discipline. Online poker, IMO, is just a very boring video game.

Regards,
Noal

[Justin A]

You'll get used to live play, it just takes a little time. I played live before online, and I found online to be really boring at first. Then I played more hours and got used to it. Now when I make it out to a B&M I get really bored unless I do it a few times.

Typically once you get used to it you'll find that you can play a lot longer at a B&M than you can on your computer.

Justin A

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds like an online player transitioning to the card room.

[/ QUOTE ]

ding, ding, ding! Actually I four table online, so reading the table ain't one of my strong suits, Getting better at reading hands is the main reason I'm trying to carve out time at the B&M. Thanks for the advice...

[itsmesteve]

[quoteTypically once you get used to it you'll find that you can play a lot longer at a B&M than you can on your computer.

[/ QUOTE ]

i find that to definitely be true. i can go for hours at a live table w/o thinking about a break. not so online.

[Mike]

Here is what I like to do. First I try to catagorize each player. Who are the rocks, who are the average players, who are the donators.

Once I have them down to general catagories I watch their play for serious flaws, ie, who likes 69 anything because it gets them excited at some level. Who will push their hands to far, who will softplay. Who can't go two hands without finding a good hand to play. How do they stack their chips, anyway or patterned.

Who jumps out of their chair when the turn hits them. This one isn't obvious but if you look past them from the end of the table and not at them you will see it happen a lot. Who plays at chipstack, but changes the stack according to their hand.

Who jumps in the pot everytime someone else does. Who's related or friends with whom. Is any team play happening. The list goes on and on.

This sounds like a thirty minute job, but when you first sit down, players may be playing differently because of the hands they are or are not being dealt. And if you don't know most of them you really are at a disadvantage 'cause you don't know the guy in seat three loves to raise w/ T5 so he can part of any flop, or the guys in 2 and 9 like to go at each other above and beyond what their hands are worth. Or the guy in seven who loves taking down big hands with little cards.

I don't know if you do any of this all ready, but online poker sounds like a different world.

[ThinkQuick]

Yah just challenging yourself to compile more and more knowledge about the table is good, but I definitely can't do that all night myself.
The very best thing I've found is going with a friend that can actually play and read the table. Chatting with him (quitely) about the players means I've got a reason to maintain focus, and if I don't do it, he'll catch what I missed anyways.

[Luv2DriveTT]

[ QUOTE ]
who are the donators.

[/ QUOTE ]

thats EVERYONE at Casino Arizona.


[ QUOTE ]
will push their hands to far, who will softplay.

[/ QUOTE ]

again.... everyone...

At Casino Arizona!


[/ QUOTE ]

[LaGarde]

This may sound dorky but when I'm having trouble paying attention to hands I'm not in I keep track of the number of bets in the pot then do all the math for all the possable draws out there and figure out percentages. I've found it keeps the mind active and helps in future hands.

This isn't the most fun thing to do, but it'll keep your head in the game.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Once you begin to have a real appreciation for the true value of all the info you can get live (that you can't get online) from your opponents, your focus should improve in a manner directly proportional to your desire to win.

For instance, if you are looking at the basketball game, or the chick with the tits, and you miss the fact that the guy behind you in the no limit game telegraphs big time when he has a big hand, well you may have just given up a LOT of money's worth of information....

When I play, I don't care about football, basketball, or any other sports, including reruns of old WPT events. I care about MONEY, and I PAY ATTENTION to the game I am playing in. You will either DO IT or give up money, simple at that.

al