After spending hundreds of hours in both online casinos and live casinos, there are several 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 smallest live game you can 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 means beginners in live casinos are playing for way bigger stakes than online. Online Players playing $200NL are generally very strong.
Live low-stakes players generally do not have a clue
Cannot tell you how often times I’ve been talking to live players talk about how online players do not determine what they’re doing. They’ll say things such as “you can’t read his face” or “learn online casino gambling players do not understand 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 whatever
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 as an example, at a $1/$2 game, somebody raises $6, many players will think “oh that’s just 1 red chip” in place of thinking about 3 big blinds. For anyone who is going to come in for a raise in a live game, you’ll 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’s certainly not for balance. Quite often, if you are 3bet in a live game, the player is going to have QQ+ (weak players)
Live players think pocket pairs will be the nuts.
In a live game, players have a very hard time folding pocket pairs preflop for some reason. I’ve 3bet with hands like AQ+ and can not tell you how many times I’ve been called by 22-77. Numerous dead money in the spot.