At what level does online become real poker?

[Tosh]

Whats been said already is totally correct. Skill will always get the money in the long run at any level.

[George Rice]

The higher you move up the more skill there is. Skill probably starts to show it's value as low as 1/2, or even lower. That being said, there are still a lot of bad players there. As you move up, the skill required to win increases. But even at 5/10 there are a ton of bad players. Be thankful for that.

As you move even higher to 10/20 and 15/30 you may be surprised how many bad players there still are. But you won't be able to win without skill, as enough of your opponents have skill to make you a loser if you lack enough of it (ie. hand selection isn't enough).

I haven't played the 30/60 game but I suspect you need a lot of skill there to keep your head above water.

All of the above applies to Party. At Paradise the 20/40 game is largest and toughest, and all games are generally tougher than Party. At Pacific tough games are rare. The games at Stars used to be tougher than the other sites, and sometimes it's hard to find a game or keep it going. Forget about Planet. UB's interface is different and either you like it or not, and it's tougher than Party but not as tough as Paradise or Stars. They have some very big games (as does Stars).

Look to advance to 5/10 and higher on Party. Skill will matter and there are enough bad players to make some money.

[poker-penguin]

It becomes real poker at $0.01 / $.02 level. Sure it's wild loose poker with fishy fish. But it's still poker. It might devalue WSOP moves, and increase the value of starting hand selection and knowing when to fold, but it's still "real poker"

[George Rice]

I don't understand why you would waste the time posting something like that. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Ed Miller]

At what level do you think it becomes less gambling and more skill?

No matter what stakes you play for, poker IS gambling. If you do not like that, I suggest you try solitare instead. Those who fear action will never be successful poker players.

[BC48310]

Depending on the table type and the players, low limit with real money has several things you don't generally experience with play money. With play money, everyone seems to be in on every hand, the pre-flop raise is not respected, buying a free card is difficult to pull off, and you always get callers to the river. With real money, you can run into loose tables, but generally I have experienced that raises, check-raises, buying free cards, slowplaying, ... are a huge part of the game that isn't as effective with play money. Even at $1-$2 tables, you will need some effective skills to remain profitable else you could be bleeding away $50 an hour. Don't get me wrong though. Play money is a way to test different hand combinations in loose game situations and see what is really profitable against many callers.

AMEN!!! To that

[Thats Interesting!]

Why dont you just get some money and join in the games? Dont worry we'll just take whats our share! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Al_Capone_Junior]

morons are at every level, even the highest games. obviously they drop off as you go up, but if you want a typically tighter and less "nine players to a flop" or "six out of eight in on every stud hand" then you'll probably have to play 3-6 or higher. I'm making a generalization of course but hopefully you get my drift.

al

[bagger]

[ QUOTE ]
Well - I've played LIVE games at 5/10 that are WAY WAY worse then .5/1 online.

Unless you live in LV I think online players may be better then LIVE players

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL this is true. At the local casino here in AZ players tend to get WORSE as you move up in limits. I think you have more of the casual rich players who have watched the WPT and think they can now play at 10-20 compared to a lot of people who have read books and studied more of the game at the lower 3-6 and 4-8 levels, where you will find most of your players.

Moving up in limits to avoid poor, loose players is never a good idea. They will always be there.