Hi,

First time posting, although I have used these forums for info before.

There's a casino near where I live, and I'm jonesing for some poker, but I'm nervous because I've never played in a casino before or with seasoned players.

Does anyone have advice for what it's like transitioning from online play to real play? I have no idea what to expect. I'm worried I will not be able to count what's in the pot fast enough and people will get mad at me for taking forever. Or something.

What are the expectations people have for this?

I want to go because I think it would be fun to try a live tournament since the buy in is only $65 (this seems to be on the cheap end as far as I can tell?), but I'm afraid I'm going to lose in like 2 seconds and everyone will be an *******.

Any advice/tips/thoughts people have would be helpful.

Thank you!

For background:
I enjoy poker and have been getting into it more over the past year or so. I started a live game with some of my friends, which averaged between 4 and 9 people per session (with three of us who are total amateurs but trying hard, and the rest people that are kind of playing just to humor us).

My friend told me about Bovada, so I started playing on there. Mostly I would play cheap sit and go's. I found the 7$ buy in with a $21 payout for top 3 places to be a pretty reliable thing I could do (as in decent win rate).

I've read a few poker books, but I still sometimes forget to calculate pot odds and pot equity and such. I feel like I know way more about poker than the average person but basically nothing compared to anyone that uses this site constantly!

Live tournies near me all start at something like $215, so I definitely think $65 is a good price for the fun of live tournaments!

My advice is to go in planning to have fun. Sure it's nice to win, but do you really want to go home in the first 20 minutes because you went all in on AA? (Edit: Preflop/against an obvious flush on the flop LOL) if your gut tells you to go all in, by all means do it! But remember that you can fold any hand you want. The play is a lot slower in person, and patience pays off a lot more. You are going for the practise. You won't be playing hundreds of hands per hour, so you need to learn to make your chips count at the right time. The right flop, etc. Maybe your first set busts you, or maybe you triple up on the nuts, all in on the flop, and ride that stack to the final table!

Sitting back and watching other people play is not rude, it is the way other players get an edge. Learn about blind structure and tournament speed. Know how long the tournament normally lasts before you go in to the casino to play.

Good luck! I wish I could go play live poker too :P

Yeah don't fold aces preflop no matter if it is hand 1.

Be always aware of when your turn and what the action is. Don't wait to collect/look at your cards until it is your turn because you'll put yourself in a spotlight. Because live poker is so slow there is a lot you can do before the hand so that your decisions are much easier. Determine the stack sizes before the cards are dealt so you don't need to think about that and look at what position you are going to be in. For the most part you can already decide what hands you are going to play when action gets to you. You know you're going to fold 72o but you can draw lines before the hand so you have an easy and consistent decision when you get dealt a hand. If you decide that playing A7 isn't a good play and you'll only play A8 or better then you won't be in doubt when you get a hand that is right around that line.

Now you've made your life a whole lot better when you have an actual decision. Since you already know the stack sizes it is much easier to keep track of the stack/pot ratio and since you already know how much you have behind thinking about bet sizes is easier.

Also nobody is going to be an ******* when you go out in the first hand and if someone is then **** him. Don't play scared and let that influence your decisions. If you have to risk your stack for a profitable play then so be it. It's a tournament so you can't escape going all in at some point, might as well get it over with when you get a chance. Oh and whatever you do; don't mimic the play of others on the table. They are not a good example however much experience they have since they are unlikely to have learned anything over those years. You can look at what they do objectively but at no point doubt your plays just because they do something different.

agreed with the above, the worst thing you can do as a beginner is take forever on every decision because "that's what pros do" - even if you see others tank, act quickly and everything else should be fine

I don't quite get the logic here. I've folded pocket rockets plenty of times. Normally if I am up against several suited connectors, I will fold if I got in cheap. Flushes and straights are the killers of AA in my experience, so I tend to try to isolate if I plan to All in Preflop with AA.

I'm not sure what needs to be explained about aces being the best hand preflop and wanting as much action as possible?

The first piece of advice is that if this is your first time, don't try to disguise it. Experienced players will pick up on your lack of experience very early from little things (the way you place your bets, the way you stack your chips, etc.) You might be better served to go in with a friendly attitude and announce that this is your first live tournament. Don't worry about taking time to make decisions, but do try to make easy decisions fast (If you take 30 seconds to decide whether or not to call a three bet with AQs, no big deal. if you routinely take 10 seconds to decide to fold 92o or the like, you will exhaust any goodwill you have at the table)

Things to know

Verbalize action-I know TV has conditioned us to think all the cool players never say a word and just toss in chips to signify action, but it will always be safest to verbalize action. State call, check, or raise, or simply state the amount that you want to raise to or bet. Keep in mind that an ambiguous number is usually interpreted as the smallest legitimate action (for example, if the blinds are 50/100, and everyone limps, and you state '2', the dealer is going to hold you to a raise to 200, even if you meant two thousand)

Avoid using action words as a question-The second part of this is to avoid using action words in a sentence or question. If you ask 'did he check?' to the dealer, and the next player behind you only hears 'check' and then acts, it is very possible the floor or dealer will hold you to that action. Instead ask 'What is the action?'

One chip rule-This one gets a lot of first timers. Anytime you act by placing a single oversized chip into the betting area, absent any declaration of action, this is a call. Even if you had plenty of chips the right size to call, or already had chips in play from the same round of betting (for example, if you are the small blind), a single chip is going to be a call.

Minimum raise size-This one doesn't matter as much tactically, as you should never be min raising, but it is an easy way to spot newbies. The minimum raise is equal to the size of the previous raise. A lot of new players think it is the size of the previous bet. It is very common to see, with blinds at 100\200, a guy opens to 600 (a raise of 400), and another player raises to 1000, and someone else will argue that this isn't large enough. It is, the raise was equal to or greater than the previous raise, so it was legal.

Cards speak-If you table your hand at showdown, it doesn't matter what you declare, your cards speak for themselves. A tabled hand is live at showdown. Tabling means placing the cards face up on the table, not flashing them to everyone while in your hand before throwing them in the muck.

Don't block view of your chips\cards-It is very natural to clasp your hands in front of you while you are playing. This usually obscures view of your cards and chips. Players need to see if you have cards to tell if you are still in the hand, and players are entitled to a view of your chips to estimate how large your stack is. Also, if someone in the hand is blocking your view of their chips (and it is your turn to act), you can politely ask the player or the dealer to have him raise his hands. You are not actually entitled to a count of his stack, though many players won't object if you ask how much they have.

Don't ask questions when action is not to you-For example, if you are in the 8 seat, the 4 seat just raised, and the 5 seat is considering his action, don't ask how large the raise is. The dealer will address any questions when it is your turn to act.

Be careful of table talk or showing reactions-When you fold 95o, and the flop comes up 995, don't make any sudden reactions or tell the table that you should have called, as this will give away information on the hand inappropriately (and also, no one cares in the slightest). If you are not in the hand, don't discuss the hand, the players in the hand, or any relevant strategy.

Don't talk to players in a hand-Poker is social. Talking to table mates is one of the joys of playing. But as soon as someone is in a hand, stop talking to him, then resume your conversation as soon as he is out of the hand or the hand is over. I tend to treat players that are in a hand as being invisible, and then they magically reappear as soon as they fold.

PROTECT YOUR HAND AND ACTION AT ALL TIMES-If a dealer accidentally mucks your hand because you weren't protecting your cards, your hand is dead. If someone acts out of turn, and you don't immediately protest, and other people act after him, you may lose your ability to act. At minimum, keep a chip on your live hand, better to keep a finger on the cards. And always be aware of where action is, so you can protest if someone acts out of turn.

Kelvis was using an extreme case to make a point. A lot of people advise to play very tight in your first tournament in the early stages, but he is saying to play your hand. If you get AA in the first hand, play it strong, even if that means you go out in the first hand (my best being eliminated in the first hand of a $2,100 tournament with AA, rebuying, then losing over half my stack on the first hand of the second buyin with AA)

Yes, you can fold AA against certain wet boards, but you should never ever ever fold AA preflop, which is what Kelvis is talking about

I still think it's silly to say never fold AA preflop. Do you want me to do an actual analysis of AA preflop to show my logic to why your advice (NEVER fold AA preflop) is a little confusing? I can give some example hands and such.

Maybe my style is just weird.

I'm not saying anything about edge cases, I'm saying anyone can fold AA any time. I don't think it's so healthy to tell all players to NEVER fold AA preflop. That encourages Donk behaviour in the long run.

edit: You also said that Kevis used an extreme case to make a point. My argument is that AA all in has it's place, but in general going all in preflop in the early stages is setting a negative image for yourself. Perhaps you can help me by arguing that it is EV- long term to go all in with AA unless you are in the right spot in the tournament? I have a feeling AA all in is not EV+ for most situations you encounter.

I have no idea what you are talking about. If you aren't trying to play for stacks with AA pre, you are leaving tons of value on the table. And establishing an image early that you are willing to play for stacks can only increase your fold equity. I can't think of one logical argument for not raising the maximum that will get called with AA, early in a tournament (far away from the bubble)

The only way going all-in with AA would be bad (keep in mind, the original argument was to never fold AA) is if you fear an All-in won't get called. Absent some uncommon ICM situations, you should be betting the maximum amount that will be called with AA preflop. full stop.

Don't be nervous. You're going to see so much terrible nonsensical play that it'll hurt your brain. Don't ask them why they did what they did and don't berate them for doing dumb ****. Just make a mental note about the player and move on. There aren't going to be many people playing tricky and you generally don't need to "outplay" your opponents by doing some fancy stuff that you think it's genius. They won't understand the story you're trying to tell. All they know is that they have a pair and they aren't folding.

Just get used to playing live and handling chips. Don't worry about looking new. It probably can't be helped, but you're still going to play better than half the people in there. $60 live tournaments are basically $3 tournaments online. It's basically the lowest stakes available so that's what people play.


Have fun.

If the topic interests you that much, feel free to do so in another thread - there's probably already one about the topic. This isn't it.

He said don't fold AA PREFLOP.
Obviously, it's an easy fold on a very wet board.