After spending hundreds of hours in both online casinos and live casinos, there are plenty of differences between the 2 despite playing the exact same game. Below are some of the nuances I’ve noticed.
Online players are much stronger stake for stake
Normally the minimal live game you will find in a casino is $1/$2 ($200NL). This really is where all the beginners start. Online, the normal games may be as small as $0.01/$0.02 ($2NL) where there isn’t much money to be made. That suggests beginners in live casinos are playing for way bigger stakes than trusted online casino casino. Online Players playing $200NL are typically very strong.
Live low-stakes players generally do not have a clue
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been talking to live players speak about how online players don’t know what they are doing. They’ll say things such as “you cannot read his face” or “online players don’t know how to bluff and keep a straight face” – stupidness, really. Many live players do not understand the concept of frequencies and betting patterns, which in fact are far more informative than “his lip twitched when he reached for his chips” or what ever
Raising 3x the bb preflop does not do anything
Many live players don’t consider big blinds, they only consider chips. What I mean by that is if for example, at a $1/$2 game, somebody raises $6, many players will think “oh that’s just 1 red chip” instead of thinking about 3 big blinds. If you are going to come in for a raise in a live game, you are going to probably want to raise between 6-8bb, at least in the $200NL live game.
Very little 3betting in live games
Most players in a live setting are way more content to just call a raise as oppose to 3bet, even with big hands like AQ and AK – and it is certainly not for balance. Ordinarily, for anyone who is 3bet in a live game, the player will probably have QQ+ (weak players)
Live players think pocket pairs will be the nuts.
In a live game, players have a really hard time folding pocket pairs preflop for some reason. I’ve 3bet with hands like AQ+ and cannot tell you how often times I’ve been called by 22-77. Numerous dead money in the spot.