BLOG – Live and online poker; the pros and cons

BLOG – Live and online poker; the pros and cons

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

I hate playing live poker. I mean, it’s a lot more fun than online poker in the sense that you get a social interaction with people rather than just bathing in the glow of your monitor over 12 tables but by God is it boring.

It’s so slow. To someone used to playing upwards of 500 hands an hour, being lucky to hit 25 hands per hour is pure tedium. In addition, the only games I play live are tournaments which tend to be crapshoots with a ridiculously fast clock. Cash games are usually £1/£2 or £1/£1 minimum so, in actuality, a £200 or £100 buy-in. I’m not rolled for that.


However, I recently received an e-mail from The International (formerly Gutshot), the club that launched the careers of such British tournament champions as Liv Boeree, James Mitchell and Neil Channing. They’re now spreading a £0.50/£0.50 cash game with a £50 maximum buy-in on Tuesdays and Sundays.


Pro – live games are much, much softer. I’ve often heard that if you can beat a $0.25/$0.50 game online (I can) then you can crush a £2/£5 game live (hope so but can’t afford it). This 50p/50p game must be softer than Jennifer Tilly’s bosoms.


Con – lack of bankroll. I have it on good authority that you don’t need a huge bankroll for live games (due to the above point, I should imagine) so £750 - £1,000 would be fine for this £50 buy-in game. I don’t have that, though, not lying around.


Pro – it’s only £50. While I don’t have a spare grand, I can afford to lose £50 in a night. So I will be heading down at least once, anyway. I just want to consider if I can do this regularly. Of course, it would be nice to win a few hundred on the night and solve all problems.


Con, maybe – it’s not just NL. They’ll also spread PLO, possibly as much if not more. I’m not the best PLO player in the world but I know that you want to play four-card hands (that’s 8765 rather than AK44) and use position well, only draw to the nuts, be prepared to fold sets yadda yadda yadda. Given the point that live games are softer, I hope my PLO game can stand up.


Well, I’ll be doing it probably this Sunday, though I do have an exam next week so maybe the Sunday after. I’ll of course let you know how it goes, and if you decide to come down yourself then please sit to my right.



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