Home Games vs. Online Games

[kamjah]

does anyone else seem to have a lot of trouble staying focused in live games? I don't know but i played a game w/ some of my buddies the other night,and i came to the conclusion.... im terrible live. i just can't sit there with every hand lasting several minutes. and participating in a tiny portion of the hands.

I multi-table on empire, and live games just can't keep up with the pace of that. do you think its the stakes we are playing (10-25NL) that makes it hard to stay focused? on empire i primarily multi-table 50NL tables (3-4 of them).

i don't know, but these live games used to be all i had in terms of poker. and i used to enjoy every last bit of it. but ever since i began taking online poker seriously, these live games seem more like a chore.

does anyone else have this problem? and have you figured out any solutions to this? would you say that live games and online games require an entirely different strategy? i would love to be a winning live and online player. i hope to hit up the casinos some day, and i really hope that i wouldnt feel the same way about those games as i do about live games now.

[BobboFitos]

if you're used to playing 5x stakes online and 4x as many tables...

play 20x as many hands! =)

[Richie Rich]

If you're used to seeing 200+ hands per hour while multi-tabling online, playing 15-25 hands/hr in a live game can seem almost as hellish as watching paint dry.

Einstein calls it The Theory of Relativity.

[kamjah]

im aware of the reason, what im looking for is the cure (is there one?) it just makes me wonder how people make the transition. I mean i read not too long ago about a 2+2er who is playing 10+ tables at a time. how can you possibly stand a live game after that? the main reason i wan't to fix this problem is because i believe that for serious players, online poker is a tool of practice (and income) for major live games. i would hate to be tied down to just online poker simply because i can't handle the pace difference.

[mishafp]

I have had the same problem, and there are two solutions:
(1) have FUN at the table- joke around with people- razz guys about poor plays- have the tv on in the background. This works better in the casino with lots of people to razz and lots of dealers to small talk with…

(2) if the people at your home game are lame, bring something else to do. Lately, i have been so busy with law school that I cant really take the usual 6 hours on Thursday night for our home game- so i bring some work to read. Yeah, it might be lame, but it will keep you from playing garbage hands, and it will keep you productive (interesting, this has been a strategy that has worked very well at casino play at keeping me tight- i brought some fantasy baseball mags with me to AC last time i went, and it kept my range of hands played at the level I want, not at the level i usually do at a casino due to boredom/impatience)

[BobboFitos]

Ive played alot more online poker then live, and truthfully, I prefer live so much more.

dude, when you're not playing a hand just chat it up. you can run into really interesting characters ata poker table. or listen to music. or study people, if you're not into the whole talking thing. it's interesting seeing how hands develop, and linking that to a face as opposed to player icon online. if you're in a casino watch tv if you'd like. or the cocktail waitresses. i kinda want to go play live right now, actually.

[kamjah]

hrm, since you mention that, maybe the problem is that im playing with basically the same core group of guys every time, so i basically know their table personalities already and conversation amounts to nothing more than what we talk about daily. another thing is, we are allways playing late games (11-12PM - 4-5AM), maybe fatigue plays a role in this.

heres a question for you then. i know it may seem trivial, but i've never really known a solid answer. what aspects of your game change from online to live? as stated above, i am pretty bad at live games. i am never a consistent winner, and allways seem to miss my opportunities to make money. yet on empire, im a pretty consistent winner. what are some pointers for changing my game up for live games?

[mishafp]

Is your game loose or tight? do these guys have a good read on you? Are they good players? These aer the same questions you must ask yourself online, and the same ones apply here. I think most live games are looser than online (at least the ones i play at), so adjust how you would adjust to a loose table online. Its still 2 cards down, 3 card flop, turn, river...

[kamjah]

do you think that maybe another problem is that im too tight? a lot of my buddies say that im the tightest player that they know, because of times when theyve seen me fold aq to re-raises, or not call medium sized raises w/ kj, q10, j10 etc. in these home games, theres a raise almost every other hand. and im folding these mediocre hands to raises (assuming i haven't gotten bored yet), significantly cutting down on the number of hands that i play.

i know that theres times when you catch cards, and dry runs. but on average, how many hands out of say... 50, am i supposed to be getting one of the top few hands, or pocket pairs.

[kamjah]

heres another trivial question then. what exactly defines playing looser. does that mean im calling raises with mediocre hands(q10, j10, kj, etc), and fishing more?