I'm wondering which online stake is equivalent to 1/2 live. I just got started in poker and am learning fast. I've beaten $2NL for 22.86 bb/100 over 9K hands. I've beaten $5NL for 11.72 bb/100 over 2.3K hands. But I've lost at $10 blitz at a rate of -10.7 bb/100 over 8.6K hands.

I'm guessing I'm not ready to play at the casino yet since I cannot beat the ten dollar game.

But what stake online (ACR) is equivalent to NL200 live?

Thanks.

Win rates are calculated after many many more hands than you have in total, not to mention at each stake. So, I don’t think you know, yet, what your actual win rate is. Variance still plays a huge role in your win rate with as few hands as you have. (The number that used to be thrown around was 100k hands. But I’m not sure if that’s still a thing.)

however, I have heard that someone who beats 25nl can beat 2/5 live. So, I would assume that if you can beat 10nl you should be able to beat 1/2 live. But that’s just a guess.


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I believe you will never know until you actually play. My guess is that you have the skills to be able to play 1-2 live, but there is no direct comparison of one online stake to a live stake. The games are simply different. You have to be prepared to sit down and have a) a lot more limpers; b) much larger raise sizes; and c) lots of people calling big raises preflop.

I remember the first time I played 1-2 live, and someone would regularly open to $15 and get 4 callers. And then I would see the kinds of hands people called with - and I was genuinely shocked. So just be prepared that it is a different game than you are used to.

You’re ready for 1/2 live if you can afford to lose a couple buy-ins without that having any impact on your life.

Only a couple?

If you are winning at any stake online you should be in good shape at 1/2. Make sure you have a proper bankroll if you are going to play 1/2 seriously.

Yes. If you are down 10 BI at 1/2, I’d suggest a different hobby if your goal in poker was to make money.

1/2 live is way easier than 2NL online, but you have to adjust your playstyle

if you play 1/2 live like you do 2NL online you will lose

just study up a bit on live play and if you can afford to lose 2-3 buy-ins, go take a shot

Made a big post the other day which relates. As mentioned above, you don't have enough of a sample to know if you are beating online. Main barrier is having multiple buyins that you can live with losing at the casino.

Welcome to the forums .. Hopefully you will find lots of helpful interaction here.

I'm not sure what a blitz is, but you have over 10k hands with positive results in a cash game scenario. I think that's plenty to take a run at live cash .. if you have the funds.

Search for other 'first time' cash game threads and read through those comments. Typically you should go into a cash game session with 3-4 BI in hand so you don't play scared with all your chips on the table. That doesn't mean you have to buy-in full, you certainly can start with a shorter stack, but I wouldn't recommend less than 50bb.

Yes, live 'lowest' stake NL is 'more beatable' than online typically, but as stated it is different in style. Just remember that poker fundamentals still apply .. position, range and stack size.

Buy in, sit on your hands for a few orbits and I think you'll be fine after you see how some of 'those' Players play their holdings. The larger the room and the more tables at higher stakes that are running typically means the weaker the lower stakes will be. If there's only one stake running, then you'll have all skill levels forced into the same tables .. pay attention to the Players and don't be afraid to ask the Dealer any questions before you act (only when action is on you) and between hands. GL

With the pandemic this may not be possible depending on where you play, but if you are on a wait list for a table, it might be a good idea to waist near a 1/2 NL table and just observe the game for a while. If you’ve played online successfully you probably have a decent grasp of the fundamentals, but observing a game will give you an idea of the differences of live vs online play. You also can pick up on the mechanics of live play that aren’t applicable online.

If you can’t observe, here are a couple things to be aware of if you’ve never played live.

1. Suppose a pot has not yet been raised (so it’s $2 to call). A player puts one red chip ($5) across the line without saying anything. This is NOT a raise to $5, but rather a call. This is known as the “single chip rule” and in general the rule states that a player who silently puts a single chip of value greater than the amount to call is deemed to have called the action. If you wanted to raise to $5 in such a case as I described, you MUST announce your intention verbally. Also, in line with this, if you put in multiple chips when one would be enough to call, you have raised to the total value of those chips. If you want to raise to a lesser amount, you must announce that. For example, if you want to raise to $18 but put 4 red chips in, it’s a raise to $20 unless you announce that you are raising to $18.

2. When making a bet or a raise, you must put all the chips comprising that action across the line at once. If, for example, you intended to raise to $40, you must put 8 red chips in all together. If you try to put, say, 5 reds in, you will NOT be allowed to put in the remaining chips — it’s a raise to 25 (or a bet of 25 if you’re opening the action). If you are making a large bet with a consequently large number of chips, you can announce your bet amount, and in that case you would be allowed to add more chips if you needed to.

3. Online, it’s very easy to see opponents stack sizes and the pot size. This is not true live. Players are required to keep their stacks in plain view but (this may vary depending on location) you typically cannot ask for a count of their stacks. You can get pretty good at estimating this though, so it’s something to be aware of, not something that should stop you from playing. Similarly for the pot size — the pot will be in plain view and you’ll get good at estimating it, but you won’t be able to ask for an exact count. (An exception to this; if a player makes an all in bet you are certainly entitled to an exact count of his bet amount).

Thank you everyone for such great posts.

Just adding that it's generally required to have the higher denomination stacks in front so that it's easier for others to assess how much you have.

One could say that players play better online, but I'd actually argue that players play worse live. I'm not just saying that live players are worse, but rather that all players play worse live than they do online. This is largely a function of only receiving just 30 hands/hr and there is probably some correlation to playing with a bunch of bad players and some of the unique qualities of live poker such as large opens.

I do agree in principle that live tables are softer, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be easier for OP.

As for the original question, it looks like you should put more hours in online to make sure you are a good winning player at the stakes you are playing. Then go take a shot at live 1/2 with the understanding that even though your opponents will be terrible, live 1/2 is new game for you and you will need continue to learn and adapt if you intend to be a good 1/2 player.

If you have a couple buy-ins to blow I would recommend getting in as soon as possible. In fact that's just good life advice, if you're interested in something, try and get a little experience as soon as possible unless it's unsafe to do so.

There is a wildly different skill set required to win live than online. I'm not even good but there is SO much to live tells.

I highly recommend getting at least a few sessions in just to see if you even like it as soon as possible.

But even though I am not even good, just reading Mike Caro's book of poker tells, which is like from the 1980s, I still feel like I had the cheat codes to reading people's behavior with no prior experience.

That being said I'm probably displaying every tell possible by myself, as many of the tells are just learning common responses that rational people make to certain stimuli.

Ultimately the answer to the OP is that it is not possible to beat live poker without having played live poker. But at least if you have a basic understanding of the math you can begin learning without lighting money on fire at least.

One thing I love about live poker is that you don't realize how many ways humans express emotion through body language until you try to turn them off.

Agree 100%. If you can afford, just start playing, get used to the enviroment and see how it goes

Agree with the two big adjustments of bankroll and boredom. Those alone are enough to sink many online players moving to live. There are a couple more.

The next one is the lack of a HUD in front of you. Nobody is going to show you what the villains's VPIP and raise percentages are, let alone pot size or stack size. Therefore, you have to pay more attention to the game and calculate/memorize the numbers. At the same time, live play is mind numbing slow. An online player used to make a decision every 10 seconds or so is going to find it an agony to go an hour's time without having to make any significant decision. Besides causing more reckless play, it can cause ignoring the 4th area.

The social game. You're other temptation is to retreat into listening to music, watching a video or even playing online with your phone. You'll miss people telling the table exactly how they play or even having people show you their cards while they are playing. You don't have to be the life of the party. Just laugh along at a joke, contribute to an ongoing sports conversation and smile a lot.