Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Hi,
I've been playing online poker for about 1 1/2 years and just played my first cash game at a casino. I won $375 after an hour, then quit. My problem is that I'm kind of nervous playing the live game. I played to live tournaments in addition to the cash game and my hands actually shake a bit. I win a bunch of chips and fumble around trying to stack them. Also, what sucks, is that I feel less aggressive betting because I'm fumbling with the damn chips! LOL I know this sounds funny. I'm just getting a little bored with online and, since two casinos are close by, I figure I might as well play live. I guess I just need to play more to get rid of the nervousness!

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

just play more and you'll get aclimated to the live casino games. Just remember, the players are much worse, on average, than online peeps. Are you playing limit or NL?

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Try to take your time when making a decision. If you see a big hand, don't excitedly reach for chips. Pause, think about how much to raise, and do it calmly.

When it goes to showdown, just stare straight ahead. Don't talk or give off anything that would give them an insight to how weak/strong your hand is.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

The shaking hands thing happens to all newer (and many experienced) live players as they try to stack their chips from a big pot, especially if it comes early in the session. Don't sweat it, or feel silly about it at all.

In general, the more you play, the more comfortable you'll be. Just keep at it.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

It's from adrenaline. Online, you can do a fist bump "booyah!" and release it, but that doesn't fly too well live. As others said, it's just practice, getting used to the environment, etc. Relax, try to breathe calmly and regularly, and look around and realize that you probably gave everyone at the table far too much credit regarding their skill.

Also, don't press the "fold to any bet" button. Act in turn, don't telegraph your action, even if it's "just a fold".

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

you are used to internet speed and it will take a lot of adjustments to SLOW down and to also get over your initial eagerness and anxiety; realize that there is NOT a 5-second clock and gong on you

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

You'll get better with it over time. One good thing to do is verbally announce your actions before you start to reach for chips. Determine how much you want to raise or whatever, say it, then look at your chips to see exactly what you need to grab before reaching for them. Doing this you should minimize the actual time your hand is on the chips during a pot.

After you win a big pot, no big deal. I don't care if people are laughing at my hands shaking when I know that I just took their monies.

Also, I don't consider this sound advice at all, but I'll usually have a beer or two before sitting down to calm the nerves a little. Not enough to give me a buzz or any kind of mental disadvantage (I don't think), but enough to get my body relaxed a little. Try at your own risk.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Cherish this time, really. I know it sounds corny, but it only happens once in your life, and believe me, after years of being completely cynical and jaded about poker, you'll wish you had it back again.

Turn it around and use it to your advantage. Lots of seasoned players notice everything around them (we're bored spitless and have nothing else to do, after all), so use that nervousness to completely confuse us. Don't try to hide the shaking when you DON'T have a big hand, and get us to fold. Since you've played online 18 months and have that experience, think of every reverse tell that you can use to your advantage while playing live, and use it, don't squander it. It only happens once, might as well make some extra money before it goes away.

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Play more, it will wear off, nothing else to it.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Drink.

Seriously, if I haven't played live in a while I often feel a little uptight, so I have a drink or two to relax. It is good for your table image too.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Turn it around and use it to your advantage. Lots of seasoned players notice everything around them (we're bored spitless and have nothing else to do, after all), so use that nervousness to completely confuse us. Don't try to hide the shaking when you DON'T have a big hand, and get us to fold. Since you've played online 18 months and have that experience, think of every reverse tell that you can use to your advantage while playing live, and use it, don't squander it. It only happens once, might as well make some extra money before it goes away.

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Felicia, you are so right about this. I play very little live and I'm always doing something silly to expose my lack of experience in a B&M environment (and it's not deliberate because it's quite embarrassing at times). I'm hopeless at handling chips, my hands shake, I ask stupid questions - sometimes I just want to crawl under the table and hide. However, it seems to work in my favor because people assume it means I don't know what I'm doing poker-wise, either.

Just make sure to be polite and if you screw up, for heaven's sake apologize and offer to buy a drink or something. Keep the table loose and happy. People will tolerate quite a lot from a "nice fish".

So OP, as you have been told revel in it and take advantage while it lasts.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Might as well throw this in here as well - what's the relationship between B&M NL and Online NL? I've played plenty of limit live, but I've never sat in a live NL game. A live 5-10 NL game plays like what level online?

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Might as well throw this in here as well - what's the relationship between B&M NL and Online NL? I've played plenty of limit live, but I've never sat in a live NL game. A live 5-10 NL game plays like what level online?

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.05/.10

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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A live 5-10 NL game plays like what level online?

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.05/.10

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zing! But srsly folks, how is it?

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

try not to be self conscious. everyone is nervous the first time they play live. one thing to understand, is that you will often be percieved as weak tight by regulars. so keep your aggression level high and you will pick up a lot more pots than you should.

also, people will sometimes come after you.

I still get this sometimes because of how young I look. There is nothing better than snapping off some retarded bluff from some middle aged lawyer who thinks he can push the kid around.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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A live 5-10 NL game plays like what level online?

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.05/.10

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zing! But srsly folks, how is it?

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I've never played as high as 5/10 online, but I would say that 1/2NL live is about equal to the .05/.10NL online. (seriously).

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

drinking isnt a bad idea assumin it doesnt eff up ur game baddly

i also suggest Beta-Blockers. not hard to get a perscription for them. they cut out all nervous type physical signs (like sweating, shaking, etc).

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

In my experience live plays much softer than online, with very few exceptions.
If you're happy with $2/$4 on Stars then you'd need to search quite hard to find a live game that puts you out of your comfort zone.

However it should be pointed out that when you play live you come across some guys in their 60s and 70s that have been playing cards (although not necessarily holdem, or even poker) since before your dad was born. They have no notion of sklansky's concepts, and have played a fraction of the hands you played, but they have a very keen sense for what's going on around the table and are capable of terrific reads, which to some extent compensates the lack of pure skill.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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are capable of terrific reads, which to some extent compensates the lack of pure skill.

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Guess you have a different definition of skill than I do. Being able to read players and situations is a huge skill, and the sort of thing you really seriously just cannot learn from a book. I don't need none of your "pure skill" to win if I can read you and know everytime you bet what you have.

Silly internet kiddiez, anyway... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

When i played at the Bellagio, the old fogies, on average, played better than the younger guys. Some of the younger guys didnt take it kindly to an old rock playing back at them. I saw one kid answer a $300 raise with only a pair of 8's (he had A8) and the old guy had a set..

But they are exploitable though..

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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just played my first cash game at a casino

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Congrats on your win; like FeliciaLee said, enjoy this time!

In all honesty, it's not a "problem" but it's also not something where there will necessarily be a quick fix. With experience in a casino and at the tables, this will steadily diminish. I'm not sure how many novice casino-goers can directly relate to nerves manifesting themselves as physical signs, like shaking hands, but I still struggle with this at times, and regularly see others with the same. It's one thing if it's after a major hand, but there may be more to the story if it's nearly every pot you enter (doesn't seem the case here.)

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I guess I just need to play more to get rid of the nervousness!

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You know what to do. Get back to this thread in a couple of months if things haven't significantly improved. Don't let this minor thing discourage you.

And one last thing in general - this site promotes a critical analysis of poker, to look for every little window of opportunity to gain +EV situations, raise and track profits, and just out-think and outplay opponents. This is great for our purposes. In a casino, though, a much greater proportion of people are there to just gamble, kill a couple of hours, get away from their spouse, or just be in a social environment. Sometimes, I think, that initial transition from the computer, with the spreadsheets, and PT, and multi-tabling, to the rather monotonous milieu of a poker room, makes it difficult to immediately scale down or manage the level of energy and non-stop competitive drive you may have had in your online sessions to a stone-cold poker face and steady hands for every poker hand you play in the casino.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

buy some casino type poker chips, learn a few shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

I am reltively new to poker. I started in B&M. The first few times that I went I would feel nervous and shake when betting. But that has gone away. It will go away, don't be concerned. When I play on vacation, and have a few beers, I didn't shake. I also found that I would feel cold so I wear a light jacket or hoodie. I don't put the hood over my head! I just get cold sitting there not moving, the jacket helps and helps with hand shaking.

Just my 2 cents as a newbie.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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buy some casino type poker chips, learn a few shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax

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Don't buy some casino chips, don't learn any shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax. Chip tricks don't win pots and contrary to what Dutch Boyd would have you believe, it is *NOT* intimidating at the poker table.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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buy some casino type poker chips, learn a few shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax

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Don't buy some casino chips, don't learn any shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax. Chip tricks don't win pots and contrary to what Dutch Boyd would have you believe, it is *NOT* intimidating at the poker table.

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I'm pretty sure he just said to do this so that OP would get comfortable handling chips. I think it's a good idea. Obviously, chip tricks don't win pots, but handling chips is part of the B&M experience, so a little practice at home wouldn't hurt.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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buy some casino type poker chips, learn a few shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax

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Don't buy some casino chips, don't learn any shuffles/tricks at home, have a beer, relax. Chip tricks don't win pots and contrary to what Dutch Boyd would have you believe, it is *NOT* intimidating at the poker table.

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I'm pretty sure he just said to do this so that OP would get comfortable handling chips. I think it's a good idea. Obviously, chip tricks don't win pots, but handling chips is part of the B&M experience, so a little practice at home wouldn't hurt.

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Telling someone they need to practice chip tricks to play poker is like telling someone who's training for a marathon that they need to practice by setting up a card table with lots of cups of water so they can properly run by and grab a cup successfully during the race - while it may be part of the actual event, it's so insignificant to the actual going ons of the event that it's pointless to practice.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

First, enjoy it. Your nervousness will pass, along with the novelty of the experience. Eventually it'll be just another day at the casino.

There certainly isn't any harm in taking home chips to get comfortable handling them. Personally, I think it is a little therapeutic to be able to do something repetive with your hands when your stressed and shuffling chips is more in character then playing with a stress ball.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

I know what you are saying, but what limits are you playing online? I really don't care if I lose a few bucks live, but if I would lose $500 I would hate it as a 100nl online player. People are so bad live, which is great, but if I get sucked out twice for my full stack, that takes a big chunk out of my bankroll. That is more or less the reason I only play 2/4 limit live.
I have no problems keeping my hands under control there, I seem to be quite good at shuffling chips though. Other people might say it doesn't matter, but when I'm shuffling I feel more comfortable, and so I shake less.

Just ask yourself if the reason you are shaking is because of the amount of money that you are playing for, or simply because you are excited about playing live.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Telling someone they need to practice chip tricks to play poker is like telling someone who's training for a marathon that they need to practice by setting up a card table with lots of cups of water

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Did you read the post you quoted? Also, flawed analogy. Chips are handled in every single hand you play. It's the major tool of the game, and your hands are where many tells originate. I don't think it's a bad idea at all to get comfortable handling chips, and a good way to do that is home is to practice chip tricks. It's not that one needs tricks to play, it's that tricks are a convenient way to become comfortable with the medium. Makes sense to me.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

I was this way when I first played live. If your personality is like mine, then you are self-aware enough that you want to avoid the embarrassment looking like a clueless idiotic newbie. I'm sure that you probably (except for maybe your shakiness when handling chips) aren't even coming across as a new player.

It turns out that the people who really are clueless morons who hold up the game and annoy everyone are always the kind of people who always think they know what they are doing and feel no shame.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Telling someone they need to practice chip tricks to play poker is like telling someone who's training for a marathon that they need to practice by setting up a card table with lots of cups of water so they can properly run by and grab a cup successfully during the race - while it may be part of the actual event, it's so insignificant to the actual going ons of the event that it's pointless to practice.

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OP isnt asking how to play poker just how to become more comfortable at the table AND better at handaling chips.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Chip tricks aren't even the best way to get proficient at chips - simply being used to grabbing a stack and cutting out an amount takes time for some. Coupling nonfamiliarity with handling chips/cards with the natural nerves from the first couple trips to a live game is a tough combination.

I do agree with Felicia though, it was alot more fun those first couple times [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Just ask yourself if the reason you are shaking is because of the amount of money that you are playing for, or simply because you are excited about playing live.

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This is a great point.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

My hands always shake as well, but it is because I have poor coordnation with the chips. I was dead scared when I first sat down at a table. Just like anything, it will wear off. Back then, $50 was a lot of money to me.

The only thing you can do is try not to think about yourself too much. If you are worried about giving off tells, remember that 98% of players wouldn't notice if you used a dildo as a card protector.

I would also suggest buying sunglasses, a billed cap, very baggy shirts (preferably with numbers), sweatpants and an Ipod. Also, bringing your girlfriend and kissing her between hands seems to do wonders.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

I consider myself an "intermediate" live player (meaning I'm more experienced than nearly every low stakes live opponent I sit with). I still get an adrenaline rush when I play my first contested hand of a session - win or lose. The more I play, the less pronounced it becomes. Early on, it was the first half dozen hands I played or the shakes lasted for 10 minutes after the first skirmish. Now I'm done with that nonsense once I rake my first pot. Soon, it won't happen at all.

Cliff's Notes: Experience = Wisdom. The nervousness will dissipate with time.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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Chip tricks aren't even the best way to get proficient at chips - simply being used to grabbing a stack and cutting out an amount takes time for some. Coupling nonfamiliarity with handling chips/cards with the natural nerves from the first couple trips to a live game is a tough combination.

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Agreed. In our home game with newbies present, between hands and during breaks we give 'em brief chip cutting and stack handling lessons. Takes about 30 seconds to show 'em what they need to know, then they practice with the stacks in front of 'em during the game. In an hour they've stopped counting out their chips one-by-one. Yes, that's a useful skill because it will knock the "total newb" image off you and speed up the game.

But chip tricks? Useless. Whether you fumble trying to shuffle four chips or can shuffle 30, I don't care. Whether you can splay four chips out between your fingers in one smooth motion or they end up flying around the table when you try doesn't matter. These are the things you can practice while seated at the poker table with nothing else to do. Life's too short to waste at home practicing chip tricks.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

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I still get an adrenaline rush when I play my first contested hand of a session - win or lose.

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Me too, and I play almost every day. Hard to control your adrenal glands. Sometimes it's even hard to breathe. That happens when I get a big hand in the first orbit, which means it rarely happens. After a couple of orbits, no problem. Naturally occurring phenomena.

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

Thanks for all the posts! I appreciate the feedback. My nervousness just stems from the environment being new compared to online. Also, after I left, I thought I better learn how to stack chips to make them "easier to fire" (IE: $100 stack, $50 stack, etc.). This way, as I think was also posted, I'll be much faster with bets and raises. Online, it is so automatic to throw out a big raise to pressure someone. At the live game, I was still fumbling around with stacking my chips, putting out bet sizes that were smaller than I normally would put out, etc. So, while I took down pots with value bets, there was one time I would have bet someone off the pot if I had a $100 stack ready to fire (I had KJ with K on flop vs K3 & let him draw to two pair on the river as a result of not raising). The lamest thing I did was try to tip the dealer by putting a chip on the "house trap door" twice! Again, thanks to everyone who has posted!

-Holdfast

Re: Moving from Internet to B&M and am \"nervous\". How to fix
 

I rolled a chip to the dealer and it went down the slot for the jackpot. Everyone stood up and looked down at where it went. It was funny. Couldn't do that again in a million tries.

Be careful about "firing" at the pot. One thing that was (is?) hard for me when going from online to live was acting too fast. Online we get used to making fast decisions. We get a lot more time live, and most of us who started on the Net don't take advantage and we act too fast. I make a concious effort to slow down.

Good luck.

CJ