I am back to ask questions in the sub-thread that has helped me so much in the past.

A few months ago I learnt PLO8 whilst being able to play online poker. I was a decent winner at 10PLO8/25PLO8/50PLO8. 5-6PTBB/100 over 25kish hands I think.

Anyways, I've been considering playing in a 8/16 full kill LO8 game at a nearby casino. Dealer tells me the game is soft, and it looks perfect for my BR (I normally like to play NLH $2/3 or $1/3 deep or $2/5).

What types of adjustments should I make moving from online PLO8 --- > Live LO8 ?? Any recommendations? reading material I could skim?

Thanks but this particular topic deserves its own thread.

Congratulations. We love to hear success stories.

Do you know this dealer personally? If not, I wonder why he would tell you of a “soft” game. That is not to suggest the game he’s describing is anything other than what he says it is. (But I’d be looking this gift horse in the mouth).

(1) Live poker plays very much differently from on-line poker and (2) fixed-limit poker plays very much differently from pot-limit poker. That’s aside from the individual differences as you go from one group of opponents to another.

Thus there are two big steps involved. (on-line to live and pot-limit to fixed-limit).

If I were you, I’d consider either taking one step at a time or adding a third step.

Taking one step at a time might involve first trying some $8/$16/kill on-line to get a feel for fixed-limit at these limits.

Adding a third step might involve trying some $4/$8/kill in the casino to get a feel for fixed-limit in a casino at a lower risk. Then when you shift to the $8/$16 game, expect to make another adjustment. (In general, expect the higher fixed-limit game to involve more highly skilled players and expect the higher fixed-limit game to probably play more tightly).

Maybe learn something about tells, if you can. Some regular players become quite clever at acting - not at all obvious.

You might see a flicker of a frown when someone doesn’t like a hand, or you might see more or less the same flicker of a frown from a good actor who does like a hand. You have to know the players and how well they act to determine the difference.

It’s just a flicker. That flicker can be real or from a good actor it can seem real.

However, the last tell I picked up in a live poker game was not even a flicker. And it was subtle enough that I think I’m the only one in the game who caught on.

After the turn one player became a teensy bit more quite than usual. It was honestly hardly noticeable. But I read him (correctly, as it turns out) for a big hand and got out of the way. Indeed the guy had turned a straight flush wheel.

It wasn’t as though I stared at him and read his mannerism. It was just a slight difference in temperament that I read but nobody else noticed.

Reading those subtle tells correctly is an important part of successfully playing live poker.

But this thread that I’m starting for you isn’t really about tells. Instead it’s about the differences between on-line pot-limit and brick-and-mortar fixed-limit at the $8/$16/kill level. Tells are only part of the difference. There's lots, lots more.

Buzz

There is almost no comparison...live players are generally not very good. Obv there are exceptions but particularly at lower levels they play either very loose passive or super nit/rocks.

If you are beating the games you described you really should have no trouble beating up to at least 10/20 live.

You will need to adjust a bit but teh adjustments required will vary by lineup.

Buzz, I think your right with the multi-step adjustment plan. I can only play on merge atm which has $1/2-$3/6 no kill which runs regularly. I suppose I'll put in a few thousand hands then try $4/8 with kill at a casino, then try the $8/16 full kill.

In terms of tells, I've got a decent grasp on that. I suppose a re-read of Caro's stuff couldn't hurt.

if u beat 3/6 online,10/20 in a brick and mortal is no problem anymore.

Other than maybe playing a session or two at a lower limit first, stop being a nit and just try it out. There's not as much difference as you think there is. Showdown a bit more, open up your high only range a decent amount, be more willing to call with draws in multiway pots.

One thing no one has mentioned is that you can afford to limp some speculative hands in PLO8, but regularly playing, say, A489r is going to be a leak in LO8. I don't play for a living, but when I've played live LO8 and won, it has been because I've played with VERY tight starting requirements. When I've lost, I've caught myself getting aggravated and bored and trying to 'open up' with hands I should be laying down.

Played my first session last night. I missed a couple bets and got into some spots where I wasn't sure if I should raise or call. Also, was not sure what hands to be limp..

Example 1: 6 handed limped pot no kill, Hero($~300) has As3sKx3x, flop comes 7s 6x Ks, super aggro fish to my left who bets/raises way too much. Hero checks, super aggro fish bets, call, call, call, call, call, hero raises?

Example 2: Hero has 3456ds on CO with super aggro fish to left, 3 limpers, does hero limp?

Example 3: Hero has A23T 9-handed loose-passive game UTG+1, hero.. raises?

It was a super strange game. There were 3-4 regs, 2-3 fish, 1 super aggro fish, and me. At the beginning of the game I got confused with how the kill works, how much to bet on the flop/turn/river, and once I even mis-read my hand and didn't realize I had a straight for the high. This ended up supplying the table with a steady supply of bum-hunting below-average poker players who saw me as the live one. Aside from feeling/acting like a noob I felt was hand reading well and making good lay-downs/calls. I was pretty card dead overall but scooped a massive kill pot when it was capped preflop and I capped the flop with with A268 on a 3 5 7r flop versus AAxx and KK35.. lol.. So yeah, the game was soft.

I probably missed 3-4 bets and check/raised in a spot where I should have bet/raised (example 1). Overall won $117 in 3 hours.

Yes
Meh/No
Yes if Ace suited

IMO

Yeah, the big problem with hand 2 is you're rarely going to scoop. And double suitedness adds very little value when the cards are that low.

Well you say you were card dead and made $117 in 3 hours...

It probably just seemed that you were card dead; welcome to the mind numbing 20-25 hand per hour game that is live low stakes LO8!

If you are playing top 25% hands, you will be seeing about 5-7 flops an hour.

Definiteley try to avoid the "too many hand" tilt that comes from boredom.

LOL at the "regs" in these games... last week I bet utg with nut low 4 handed, everyone calls, I proudly declare nut low and Ace Jack hi. Two of the "regs" look at each other and start saying how that was such a bad bet that I made with just the low. I guess they didn't notice that I didnt get quartered and made an extra $12.

For an online player, it's tough to play live flo8 without getting inebriated. On the other hand, drunk late evening/night flo8, is a lot of fun; when the teribad reg nits have gone home, and the average table age drops from 80+ down under 55ish or less...

LOL We play at the same place... what a cast of miserable old people playing there. Welcome to South Florida!