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

[monkeymaps]

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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.

[SellingtheDrama]

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]

[Tablerat]

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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.

[daveT]

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.

[pa3lsvt]

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.

[bav]

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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.

[Cactus Jack]

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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.

[Holdfast]

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

[Cactus Jack]

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