game transitions

I'm begining to suspect that I play in much looser games than most of the posters here. This bothers me, because some of my advice and discussion might not be as useful online.

I play a lot of bar tourneys and side games, home games with casino employees, and casino ring games. I will probably start playing online again this week. Is there anyone else here with experience in both the real realm and the online realm who can give me an idea of how much different it is?

I play both. In home games, I play like a crazy maniac. I get drunk, loud, and will drop $400 on a $50 buy-in game. LOL.. I have a lot of fun lagging it up in home games.

In a real casino, I take it much more seriously. I play my rocktastic game, playing only premium hands in the first 2 hours or so. I play very patiently, only play hands in position, etc. This is most likely around 20% or less VPIP. I try to establish a very tight, rock solid image. My experience is that this takes at least 2 hours for me to establish, sometimes longer.

My experience is that the lower-stakes live games (in Vegas and Los Angeles) are pretty soft, pretty loose, a straight up tight game is usually profitable here.

However, after several hours of very tight play, I try to loosen it up a bit in position, trying to work some sneaky hands or buying pots/blinds.

My game online is slightly different. I usually do not include loosening up, and usually just camp for monsters. Playing multiple tables takes a lot of concentration if you're going to monkey around here and there. I can do pretty well just sticking w/ a tight game plan without getting too tricky. And unlike a brick & mortar casino, the players and table dynamics change more frequently, so setting up an image I think has less value here.

Just what I tend to do...

I've never played NL in a casino. I've played in lots of home games, usually around 5 or 6-handed. To me it seems like home games I've been in (which mostly involve people who aren't really serious about poker) compare to $10NL online. Lots of loose calls, minraises, minbets...that kind of stuff. Online it seems like people fold a bit more to me - I guess cuz they have plenty of other things to do while playing and can afford to wait for a better hand. Live games can lead to boredom sometimes and make people freak out when they finally catch a "real" hand like QJo and call down with their gutshot.

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Online it seems like people fold a bit more to me - I guess cuz they have plenty of other things to do while playing and can afford to wait for a better hand.

*Great* point!

Good info, thanks guys.

I'm transitioning TO online. I *kill* casino games with a cheap flop/stack with bottom two/super draw kind of lagg game (limping everything HJ/CO/B). Even the decent tight players think they can outplay me, it's amazing how few good laggs play these games. It's not uncommon for me to make 3-4 bills in an hour at 1/2, half of it off of starting hand nazis.

BTW, try it in a casino 1/2 game...
It's so readable, and no one gets it except a few players, and you get to know them from playing there. I fold utg-mp2, call/raise from mp3-b, call/fold the blinds. It's so simple! Even the aware players don't want to play against you when you're in position.

The problem I see is that I don't think I can pull that style off online, at least not at lower limits (I'm planning on throwing down $500 + the cost of poker tracker). Am I going to have to tighten up in position, or will the players be just as oblivious to position as at the casino?

Well, if you're playing with a BR of $500 then it's $25NL, and I'd say half your opponents don't really undestand the ins and outs of position. It's a safe bet that you'll be one of the better players, so start playing cautiously, watching more than getting involved, make notes (if you play online regularly you WILL play the same players many times and it is worth it), and gradually start to experiment with trickier hands, all the time seeing how the average villain reacts.

You'll be fine.

I've only played 25NL & 10NL online but many times I am a maniac when I have position. Most players just seem like they are either loose passives (who just see tons of flops but not many other streets) or stubborn calling stations. I find out who the calling stations are and adjust or just leave the table if I don't like my position. Hardly anyone is really aggressive it seems.