NL Hold'em: level of competition Live vs Online (by stake)

[Paul Levy]

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"Most people here laugh at the whole proposition of "tells" in a live game"
-not sure what you mean by this

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Maybe "most people" is exaggerated, but recently I've read a couple of threads (can't point you to them though) where posters were saying that the whole idea of trying to decipher tells when playing live is largely overrated, and betting patterns are the only item that really matters, either in online or live play.

[BradleyT]

I think where you play is a factor.

I've never played higher than $.25/$.50 NL online (and haven't played much of that) and the lowest we have live is $3/$5 NL. I played last night and it's a freaking donkfest. People calling $250 river bets with TPWK, 7 people seeing flops for $15-20, etc.

[LocustHorde]

with so many donks playing the live game, it's hard to blame someone for wanting to go "pro"

[jiacstrap]

I'm a winning 1/2 and 2/5 player live. But I can't keep a roll going up playing .25/.50 online.... I'm also not an online player and don't take it very seriously. Totally different games.

[Jerry D]

If anyone lives anywhere close to a casino that has a poker room there is really no damn reason to even bother with playing online. At all.

[PokerEveryDay]

I would say live play is 3-5 levels easier than online play. This could be higher and lower in some cases.

[OrangeCat]

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Actually alot of 1/2 games prob can be beat buy anyone who wins at .01/.02 online

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LOL. Too bad they don’t allow twelve year olds to gamble with their lunch money in casinos, otherwise, we might be able to test your hypothesis.

[Taso]

hahah, exactly.

I think the main reason that live $1/$2 is easier than online is because these live players playing 1/2, a lot of them are just starting out. So their skill may be the same as the online player who is playing .25/.50, because that online player started lower and worked his way up, or is just starting out at .25/.50. What I mean is, the live players don't have that .25/.50 level (in a casino) that the online players do, they have to get right into it at $1/$2. Online players playing, by the time they get to $1/$2, they already have a lot more experience.

Generally speaking of course. I'm sure some online players start at $1/$2 if they can afford it. Just as some live $1/$2 players had played in .25/.50 home games before the casino.

[Ghazban]

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If anyone lives anywhere close to a casino that has a poker room there is really no damn reason to even bother with playing online. At all.

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LOL

[OrangeCat]

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I think the main reason that live $1/$2 is easier than online is because these live players playing 1/2, a lot of them are just starting out

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Right, 1/2 is the lowest live NL level so the skill distribution is way skewed compared to online.

Online, there is more of a work your way up mentality because there are so many levels. I don’t think the perceived skill of their opponents has a lot to do with how people choose a level in a live game. Live, I think people choose a level in limit and capped NL games because

1- It is the lowest level available
2- What they can afford or gets them excited.
3- A seat is available

Skill level goes way up when you get into the uncapped live NL games.