B&M live poker : Duh?

I would say that a good analogy is to a musician.

Most of the money a musician makes is off the work they do in the recording studio - most of which involves long hours, a lot of repetition, and isolation from the outside world.

For most bands, a significantly smaller amount of money is made by touring - most tours tend to break even or make a small profit (acts like the Rolling Stones and others are the exception) - but almost all bands prefer to play live because it is a more pure experience.

I agree that online is more profitable - smaller rake, more hands, no tips - but it can also be completely mind-numbing.

I like to play life once a month or so because it is a chance to interact, to engage with real people, and to actually hold cards. In other words, its FUN goddammit!

[mrkilla]

Poker in a B+M environment is a social game. I like online play but nothing beats live play for pure enjoyment factor. If you get a good card room with a nice bunch of players [good or bad ] then the experience is something you'd enjoy as well.
I table full of stiff's is no fun, especialy if the dealers are garbage too.
As for your tells, thats what makes it more challenging, you get to try and read and not be read.

[NoRiverRats]

I understand your frustration with volume of hands and $$, but I think the quality side of things makes B&M more fun. Pure onliners should read Zen and the Art of Poker. Relax, enjoy everything a casino poker table has to offer. Between the social aspect, poorer players, great tells and hot waitresses its way more fun than online. I pay for two trips a year to Vegas playing nothing higher than $15-30.

[paul0503]

Nice brag post....

I think you clearly don't like the company of real people. I bet you creeped the sh*t out of evryone you played with. You're problem isn't live poker...it's live interactions.....

Life is so much easier in front of a screen, isn't it???

[obsidian]

I stated with online poker as well and I find live poker much, much more fun.

Im a college student who hasn't the time or money to go to a casino. When i came back this semester i played online almost exclusively for about two months since my poker buds were busy with fraternities and classes etc., but since things settled down i've been playing live about 3-4 nights a week and winning money or breaking even almost every single night, regardless of the quality of my cards. Live poker (even my little $10 buy-in dorm game) IMO is infinitely easier and more fun than online. Obviously 8 sessions is statistically insignificant, but I know I'm many times better than all but like 2 of the 15 guys that consistently play, and thats why I've been winning. Since my home game started back up 2 weeks ago I've only played 7 sngs and no more than 3 hours of NL/LHE ring online because I've had no desire to after killing my juicy home game for about 50 BB/s per 2-4 hour night. I love having actual cards, actual chips, and just the general feeling of using skill to win rather than the formulaic approach I feel online play has most of the time. I like being able to play more than 20% of hands and still win because I can tell when I have the best hand instead of wondering whether I'm playing with donks or pros that have either crap or premium hands respectively.

Of course, I play poker for different reasons than most of you, although I probably could make a good amount of money 4-tabling online if I would just set my mind to it. And if I devoted more time to playing online, my PT stats would actually mean something and I would be able to have reliable "tells" on players based off of that data, but I just like being able to see my opponent. I feel that only live poker brings the elements of the game that make poker more than just a job. I spend enough time in front of my damn computer coding for school.

Anyhoo, I've never been within a mile of an B&M cardroom, but I think you need to give live play another shot and get away from the monitor for awhile if you find winning money in a casino boring. I'd probably bust a load if managed to find the time or money to make a trip to a casino to take the fishies money.

Steve

[Baulucky]

Your wife seems to like my dirty chat.

[JJNJustin]

Playing online gives you the benefit of having played many hands in many situations in a short period of live time. The rake is also less significant, and you can earn a siginificant hourly rate with much less standard deviation. There are also a larger variety of games, and when players start to catch onto your play, you can change websites, etc.

Playing in a B&M casino gives you the benefit of knowing how others act physically when they hold a specific hand, and allow you to act accordingly. Some players often "telegraph" the kind of hand they hold in how they bet. The players tend to be much looser and the games more lucrative. The downside is that the rake is a bigger factor, you play much fewer hands/hr and there may or may not always be a good game.

-J