How do you spend your Comp Points?

[ArcadianRock]

I don't make a lot obviously at this level but at FT usually after a days play I receive about 20 which allows me to do the 180 man tourney which is so incredibly lose it's laughable. wait...

haha

So what do you think is the best way to spend them. Hats perhaps?

[LawDude]

I use them to play in freerolls, mostly for entertainment value but also because I've found the loose-aggressive and loose-passive styles poker in them is similar to the sorts of play that I often experience in my live games where I play serious poker, making them decent practice.

[Sir Pawnalot]

Are live games really that bad?

Too bad Casinos are not legal in Norway.

[Taicho]

I usually save up my FPPs on PokerStars and buy-in to the 54FPP 4-max 3x Shootout to the Sunday Warm-Up. The Sunday Warm-Up is way out of my price range, so I figure if I can get in even once it'll have been worth it ^_^

[LawDude]

Are live games really that bad?

Too bad Casinos are not legal in Norway.

Yes and no. It isn't that every live player is a fish or a maniac. There are some real sharks who frequent casinos who you have to watch out for.

But there are a couple of crucial differences between live ring game players and online ring game players:

1. Live players see fewer hands and get bored playing tight, so a lot of them look for ways to loosen up and play more hands. The result is, I'd say there are many more loose players in casinos than there are online (where you can cure boredom by multitabling or doing something else while you play poker-- I don't recommend the latter, but it clearly is done by some players).

2. Live players are often playing well above the limits they should be and playing with scared money.

The flip side of these two things is that a live poker game has the same variance as a very low stakes online game, i.e., there are a lot of people staying in hands too long and playing longshot draws, which means some of those draws hit and you can have bigger swings up and down despite playing solid poker.

If I were you, I'd try it sometime-- there are obviously some world famous casinos in Europe that you can reach with a train ride.