Any tips for FRNL reg on how to crush the live donks?

I'm pretty green to the whole live poker thing, so this should be a pretty interesting weekend.

If there's interest, I can update this thread with how the crushing is going. Seems like it would be a good experiment to put a mass-tabler into a 25h/hr live game.

I'm staying in this place called Tahiti Village. It's supposed to be close to everything - any suggestions of places to go?

Thx all.

1 tableling ??

Grand Lux Cafe
Chicken with honey/chilly

and their 1/2 hour preorder desserts


The Naked Fish

GL. I suck so bad at live poker. I got lolbad tells, virtually like Im fistpumping when I get a good hand. Also I get really mixed up with the action, "is it on me?", "who is dealing?", etc etc. Of course the fact that I am usually heavily intoxicated whenever I play liven doesnt really help.

Drink. Heavily.

Not sure what limits you plan on playing, but the 1/2NL games at MGM Grand have always been full of tourists and I like the atmosphere pretty well.

ull notice rite away but if u play live and try to do ur bet sizing like u do for online ull get like 5 callers and/or are not getting enough value because they will call u light.

200 nl live is like 50 nl online

500 nl live is like 100 nl online

and the (5/10 and 10/20) are like 200 and 400 nl online

if u like steak i hear new york new york has a great steak house that im still looking forward to try so try it for me (i think its called gallaghers?)

drinks are mixed expertly from anyone anywhere in vegas.

go to strip clubs.

bet big on 24 black. trust me. do it.

Would probably drop the mini bet strat in live play.You will find live/online are two very differnt worlds and you will probably see your live rate tripple or quadruple.
For a really good steak/dinner take your wife and head to craft steak at the MGM.Be sure to get reservations and dress nice.

Mirage + Carnegie Deli = profit




oh, and bellagio 500nl is sick soft late at night. You'll probably have like 2 or 3 "regs" who are real bad, and a bunch of touristy folks who are real bad. Just bring something to do so u don't get bored as fk.

last time I was bally $1 $2, everyone calls $15 pre (4, 5 way pot every time) they call real light, chase any bottom pair, call down with K high on river to v-bet. u got to repop 5X pre to get HU.

If u like seafood, Michael Mina at bellagio is real good, ($$$)
Joe's seafood at Caesars Palace is very nice.

Nobu at Hard rock is good for sushi, but pricey

Last month I was there, Bellagio got best buffet as far as the price vs selections.

bottom line --- get drunk and have fun

i pl;ayed live yeste4day and lost 3 buyins at 1-2 game i really suck i think

Belok there is less preflop folding equity in alot of spots live, This means u should typically tighten up ur ranges to become more playable postflop, and also treat the players as if u have a somewhat bad image already since they are they dummest mother****ers on earth =). enjoy vegas, ill be there this summer.

What the helll, where is the Bellagio buffet? is it only at lunch or somthingg, I remember there only being a resturant with no buffet in the middle of that weiird pretty fake garden they have. I played there quite a bit last year with Tri but i think he always wanted to play at night so i didnt make it up there during the day.

Ty for all responses so far! Wish i had time to respond more detailed, but am in airport and have limited time.

All of this food sounds amazing.

notontilt, the picture of that sandwich makes my mouth water. A soft 2/5 game is exactly what I was looking for too. I'll probably just play some random 1/2 until my nerves settle, and then start scoping out better games.

I'd also like a little tournament experience, as I'm going to EPT Monte Carlo this year.

As for live bet sizing being different - yeah I 100% assumed i'd need to adjust to 4-8x preflop bet sizing. Pretty much knew the online minraise strat wasnt gonna cut it

I'm excited!

Has anybody been to Tahiti Village? I dont really know how far it is from Bellagio or other major spots on the strip - not sure what to expect.

If a live player makes a big move on you, he pretty much always has it unless you have good reason to believe otherwise (drunk, shortstack that obviously is ready to go home, etc.) Most live donks don't want the embarrassment of getting a bluff picked off in person. If the wife wants to see a show then Lance Burton is pretty good value if you're into that kind of thing.

Tahiti Village is a ****e timeshare place that isn't close to anything except a crappy outlet mall and 7 eleven. You could seriously have stayed on the strip for like $40 a night so bad choice imo. Live poker is boring, for food the only place you need to eat is naked fish. Olives at the bellagio is good so is noodles. Tao has great food as well and you can't go wrong with nobu but it's on the $$ side.

You're giving live poker too much credit imo.

But basically since you're competent at poker unless you get crazy fps from only playing like 30 hands/hour or w/e it is you should pretty much destroy any reasonable limit you sit at without trying too hard. Just pay attention to other players while waiting. Generally if people think and are not solid it actually means they have a marginal hand or draw. They also don't understand the concept of good boards to bluff so for example if they go check-call on the flop and turn then donk the river when any draw completes, they hit it.

But yeah, just enjoy it out there, and the donk crushing will take care of itself .

Yeah booger, I think 200nl live is more like 25nl online, if that. 500nl live I've never played, so I can't compare it to anything online.

Its open every day for dinner and I can confirm it kicks ass as well the buffet at the Rio is pretty damn good too all you can eat lobster and stuff on that one. If youre gonna slum it up at the buffets these are probably the best 2 I know in Vegas.

Make sure to valuebet thin, cuz people will call you down with almost anything. gl

Bellagio: No question, the 2/5 (500NL) at Bellagio is the game to play unless you can swing the 5/10 (1000NL) game they offer. I've yet to encounter a bad game unless you count the 1/2 (200NL). Trust me, don't play the 1/2 unless you want to gouge your eyes out with how slow it moves. Very very very easy game though - probably equates a 10NL game online.

Venetian: The 2/5 (1000NL) and 1/3 (300NL) at Venetian are pretty easy, but I find the game quality comes down to which table you get put on. Sometimes you get a nitty table but sometimes you find a gold mine. Move around until you get a good table. Very nice room though and worth checking out.

Hard Rock: Haven't played here in a while, but it was really good on Fri/Sat nights. Both the 1/3 (300NL) and 2/5 (2000NL). 2/5 had a lot of regulars but there was always a lot of action. On a good night it played with avg 1k+ stacks deep. Also a very nice room with great service and cool dealers.

Mandalay Bay: Incredibly inane rules, but I personally think it's the best low stakes NL game in Vegas. I know a lot of people will disagree though. 1/2 (300NL) can be very good and very profitable. In all of the times I've played this game, I think I've played with exactly one player who I thought played well. Very loose-passive. They sometimes run a 2/4 (600NL) but I rarely ever play it as the 2/5 at Bellagio is a better game. The room isn't that great either.

Personally the regs live at NL1k or below is like a fish at NL100 online, they think they're good but they're fu*kin terrible.

The recent DC Podcast with Nolan talks a fair bit about the difference between live and online play. One of the best points I think was less isolation raising live and more limping behind.

Agreed, I also find a lot less 3 betting light, since the opening raises are so big at these 100BB tables.

200nl is a brutal waste of time live... it pretty much plays like a table full of short stacks because of preflop bet sizes and effective stacks. but if you're just playing for fun it can at least be entertaining to watch. i would rather rail friends playing 1/2 than sit myself because i end up a tilted monkey in about 15 minutes (or 2 hands...whichever comes first)

and www.spearmintrhino.com ...ftw

by now I'm sure it's too late, but this isn't where you want to be staying if you want to be on the strip and/or you have no car