controversial opinion about uselessness of online poker

[McStinky]

I decided a couple months ago to play poker for a living, and soon after that I realized that I like live poker a million times more than online. So I decided I would try to become a really good live player and hopefully beat the biggest no limit games at Foxwoods and in Atlantic City. This should be sufficient to make a solid six figure salary with little work, which is all I want to do.

At first, I assumed that I would still have to play online when I am not at the casino for training purposes. I figured there is no substitute for seeing hundreds of hands an hour and experiencing all the different situations that can occur. Plus you can do all kinds of statistical analysis with online poker.

However, I am now seeing that online and live are truly two different worlds. I haven't played full ring online, but I know that with 6-max, as you move up you encounter more solid multitablers, and you have to get more sophisticated about using aggression and mixing up your play. Also, the stacks are always short relative to live games.

In live games, even the biggest ones like 10/25 NL, the players' skill levels range from mediocre to horrible, and people skills and just paying attention come into play in a huge way. When there is a rich doctor at the table and he states that he won't lie about his hand to young kids because he wants to save them money, you better notice this and take advantage of it. I can give a thousand more examples of big +EV situations that come up because you see people sitting there with you and talking. There must be some level where people get good enough not to give off huge tells, but I have yet to encounter it.

Now, I'm not saying you don't have to master the math of the game as well as the people skills. For every interesting hand I play, I intend to solve all the little mathematical puzzles it gives rise to. But I'm just not sure where logging lots of hours online comes into play. The big money situations that come up live just don't occur online because the games are too different. Online is great when you are first learning the game, but I have been playing for a few years now and am somewhat competent.

So I am wondering if people agree or disagree with what I'm saying. I know that online players tend to be much better than live players, but my question is whether I can become one of the best live players (at least at Foxwoods or in AC) without playing another hand of online poker. Is higher-stakes live no limit poker really mostly about preying on the rich donators and predictable old-timers, or is there something I am missing?