Online poker has become a booming business. The competition is fierce, especially in high stakes games where many of the players are serious grinders and know how to win poker. Live poker however is a different game. It takes a lot of adjustment to play in live games after playing online poker for a long time. Here are a few things you should keep in mind if you decide to move to live poker.
First of all, live poker is much slower than online poker. There are a couple of reasons for that. It takes some time for the dealer to shuffle, deal cards, collect chips, make calls and so on. In addition to that, a lot of players like to take their time and are not necessarily focused on the game (they might inspect the behaviour of other players in order to detect bluffs etc). This can be annoying at times, especially for online players who are used to the fast pace of an online environment.
Another thing to consider is that you will usually get a lower win rate in a live game than online. This is due to the fact that it’s harder to log a large number of hands and that there is more short-term variance. Moreover, it’s common for good players to go through periods of bad luck, so they might lose money even though they are making the right decisions on average.
In live poker, the rake is also higher than in online poker. This is because a part of the pot goes to the casino, which is the case in all casinos and card rooms. This is not a big problem, but it can be annoying for some people who prefer a faster pace of the game.
Finally, it’s important to remember that most of the players in live poker are less experienced than their counterparts online. As a result, they will tend to play looser and more aggressively. This can be a huge disadvantage for online players who are used to more conservative opponents.
If you are planning to switch to live poker from an online environment, the first thing you should do is learn as much as possible about the game. There are thousands of poker guides, tips and tricks available on the internet, so you should have no problem finding some helpful material. The next step is to start playing and try out different strategies. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you should start to see the benefits of playing live. Then you can start thinking about making a final decision on whether or not to stick with live poker. Good luck!