Aloha,

For those who play live and online:

What online limits is the average 5/10 comparable to? How about 2/5?

Thanks for the insight.

Having played both at a high level at various times in my poker history, I don't think you will find comparing the two is really worth the effort.

Live games just aren't comparable to anything online. Live and online games are completely different and require totally different strategies (unless you just play GTO all the time and are willing to settle for less expected EV). In online one should be much more concerned about balancing, GTO play, stats, etc.

In live games, much more of the game is about the power of observation and playing an exploitable style based on the opponents in the hand against you. Sure a solid online pro will have success at 5/10 or 2/5 live, just playing solid winning online poker, but because the player pool in live poker is so much weaker, you would be giving up a ton of value. IF there is a comparable online game, it would be a very low stakes game, but it isn't comparable entirely, because the flaws of player in live games are very different from the flaws one will encounter in low stakes online games.

In terms of the raw quality of play, live 5/10 is about the same difficulty as $0.01/$0.02 or $0.02/$0.05 online, and 2/5 is probably the same as a nitty high stakes play money game.

But there are some other skills you'll need to develop to do well at live poker; reading physical tells, analyzing the tempo of the game, how people's emotions and tendencies fluctuate throughout a session and how this impacts their frequencies, etc. I think live poker takes more mental fortitude as well.

Dear green,

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

Ive played lots of 2/5 and 5/10 live and I guess I was wondering which "online" forum to dig into to read some different perspectives.

You are right when you say live is different. People get bored. They want to see flops. They don't think as much about pot odds or math in general I think. Although I do incorporate some math into my style, a lot of my edge comes from watching people intently and seeing expressions and reactions and hand movements. Also, people get more emotional live imo and this leads to them stacking off lighter. It is also useful people give away SO much information almost every hand by showing cards or talking.

Some differences between villains at 5/10 2/5 live versus low stakes online:

1. Live recreational players seldom adjust their play to table dynamics;
2. Live recreational players are mostly there to 'gamble' or 'have fun', winning is a bonus to them.
3. Live players tilt much easier overall.
4. Live players tend to get bored quicker and thus are more likely to enter pots with weak hands and bluff.
5. Most non-regular online small stakes players are playing to kill time or to learn the game.
6. Live players are much less focused on the math of the game.
7. Winning regular live players have much more patients than even good small stakes grinders.
8. Live players skills sets vary wildly, some good at reading physical tells, some relying on 'online skills' (establishing ranges, using math, etc.), some just looking for any spot to gamble, etc.
9. Good live players get stronger as the session goes longer, bad live players get worse.

I can think of more, but as you can tell there are just a ton of differences that make the two games not very comparable.

Damn dude you play in some juicy 5/10, and 2/5. Must be nice.

I think absurdly high live rake levels things out a bit more than most live pros are willing to admit. A lot of opportunity costs too. Having to wait for hours to sit in a decent game, having to constantly hound around for better games which eventually die or move to other places. And 20 hands per hour. Most of my live experience has been in asia where the games are extremely soft, the rake is extremely high, and the dealers are extremely slow, though, so I probably have some biases.

FWIW, I now play mostly live and I usually read this forum, high stakes, and medium stakes.

I hear that folks sometimes fold value hands online.

or has never played live 5/10 if he thinks his bull**** is true for 95 pct of games

agreed and another reason i laugh at the spoiled brats who have ruined the online games then cry about rake. like it's normal to sit on your ass in your underwhere and be able to print money playing a ****ing game.

try paying for live rake rental cars hotels flights etc

lol...