Learn Texas Holdem

After reading the list above you might assume that I'm all about online poker and gave up on old fashion live casino holdem. While I do still love playing texas holdem in my chair in my boxers listening to music, there are many reasons why it could never replace a live action game. These reasons include how loose the games are, the level of skill of the other players, seeing a person face-to-face, and sheer overall fun/excitement.

Loose Live Casino Holdem Games: If I had to choose one reason why I would prefer regular live action poker games to those played online, the looseness of games you find at cardrooms in California would be it. I can't say that all games in CA are like this, or if it is true of casino poker games in other states, but by far the games I play in when I play holdem live are much more wild then those online. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe the people who play online make use of books and other information to improve their game more then those in cardrooms. It would be interesting to see the demographic information for both an online poker site and that of a regular cardroom. I wonder if they are similar? The first thing that jumps out in my mind as far as differences between the two is that most of the people I play with when I play live are older. I can't see them using computers and getting online. Maybe they are all self taught players that have been around for a long time. You can't teach an old dog new tricks! Another reason is they might just be old and rich and like to gamble. If you are 70 or 80 years old then the last thing you want to do is sit around and wait for good cards. You want to have some fun now. There isn't anything wrong with that. So the looseness of the game translates into how much money you can make from the table. One warning though and that is the looser the poker game is, the bigger the fluctuation will be in your wins/losses. That's normal.

General Level Of Skill In Casino Holdem Games: This goes along with the looseness of the game, but it also deserves special attention. I think that on average the skill that a level player who players poker online holds will be greater then that of someone who plays the same limit offline. The reason I think this is that you will rarely find low limit games in CA that have only 40% of the people in on the flop on average while this is the norm online. Now how is the skill level of the game that different then that of the looseness? They are related but not the same. If the rest of the table is playing very loosely, then you would also be correct in loosening your poker play up some. That doesn't necessarily mean you are playing with less skill. The same goes for the other players at your poker game. The problem is though, that many of the plays people make in regular casino live holdem games are just plain wrong regardless of the looseness of the game. That's what this point is about. You won't find people making as many big mistakes like this online as you would in a regular cardroom. And remember, their mistakes equal money for you. Cha Ching!

Seeing Poker Players Face-to-Face In Live Games: When you play texas holdem online, most poker sites either have an icon to represent your opponents or a cartoon/rendering. This is much different then when you see the person sitting in front of you. I find that it is much easier to sum up a players play and keep my attention on them when they are actually playing at my table live. People are interesting and it never ceases to amaze me how many freaks I end up seeing at the local cardrooms. I can watch how they play, sit there, handle their chips, behave, socialize, drink, etc. This all is added into the body of information that you use to make your decisions about playing against them. After a while you begin to see similarities in peoples play and you can put them into a category fairly quickly. This isn't quite as easy when you are playing poker on your PC from home since the only thing differing from the person seated now and the person before is their name and possibly the number to show how much money they have. So often times if you play online poker you won't even notice when one person leaves and another one sits down. You might also miss things like the person cussing after losing a hand or them repeated calling, "chips" to reaload. Another positive attribute of playing live games in regards to seeing people face-to-face is that you can socialize and have a little more fun in person then online. Lately I've really noticed how much more fun I have at a table when everyone is nice and happy then at one where everyone is pissed off and only grumbling.

Sheer Fun And Excitement Of Playing Live Texas Holdem Poker: This is the second main reason why I would play in live casino games versus online (the first reason being how loose the games are). There is something that is very addicting about being in the heat of the battle. No matter how many times I get pocket aces, my heart still starts beating a mile a minute. And no matter how many times I have stacked a big pile of chips, it never gets old. Playing holdem online, no matter how advanced computers get, will never be able to compare to the feeling you get when you are having a great day and have a huge castle of chips in front of you. That feels so good that I don't think casinos will ever be out of the running for poker players action.