Taking Online Experience Into Live Action

[TomKat1958]

I've done Carbon freeroll after Carbon freeroll for several years now. Most of these tourneys are a $50 pot, and have anywhere from 2800 to 5000 players. I make the final 2 or 3 tables in these tourneys over and over, and have won 1st once, and finshed in the top 5 countless times. Honestly, sometimes I just donk at the begining for about 3 hands, then play and pay attention, if I was lucky and I have the spare time to focus. Somehow, Carbon gives me two and a half bronze stars, which I don't know what that means or have the remotest clue what good it'll ever do for me. Furthermore, I know I prolly can't even ever cash out my little balance there, because I live in Louisiana, USA. But I grinded away online for the sake of live tourney practice and tactics, learning and improving my playing skills, and really do enjoy the hell out of online action.
So, I go to the Ameristar Casino in Vicksburg Mississippi and play a $70 buy in, Thursday night tourney, almost every week. There are usually 40-50 players. First place is usually $1000 or more, and the tourney always pays 7 places. I usually win or chop, and it's documented, I finish in the money almost every time. This is been happening since sometime in 2010. It's a matter of record at the Ameristar. Here in Louisiana, I occasionally go on Sunday morning, to the Eldorado Casino in Shreveport, La... There, a $200 buy in gets you into a tourney that's usually 6 or 7 tables. 1st is always close to $3000, and it generally pays 10 or more places. These are the real opportunities here for the tourney player where I live. Vicksburg is 100 miles one direction, and Shreveport 100 the other way. There are plenty of cash games available, even close to home, but that's not what I love to play. I love to win tourneys and SNG's. I can manage to earn $4 to $5k per month whenever I'll go play 6 or 7 tourneys. These are the facts for me about the legal opportunity, and my poker game, here in this neck of the woods.
Now, if online goes legal in Nevada, I wonder if I should move out there and make poker my fulltime livelyhood. It almost is now... Hmmmmm.... Just Sayin'..... Think about it. How is it really, for you?

[rghy2]

If you do move to Nevada, you have access to live tournaments around the clock. You stand a chance of grinding out a living live, but I don't know if they will have a player base large enough to make a living online. Online playing could supplement your income, but probably won't be enough to live off of.

[WILD]

rghy2 is right. There wouldn't be enought online players to really make any money, although you'd be better set with live tournies.

[LaserCats]

I cash out and live in the USA... I wont let my bank roll get above $200 b4 I think about cashing out.

Heres the rub... Play a $200 on line tourney - wayyy different. The free rolls are dumb - the Ribbon players that have won that thing are the worst players EVER at cash games. People don't have skin in the game in a carbon free roll and often don't have 4 hours (like me) to play so wind up chip dumping at some point for the fk of it. Im not sure how in the fk they let u final table every single time at ur casiono but that's impossible. mathematically. if they play their cards to any ability ie. don't fold kk, AA etc ur gonna get beat and donked out by 1 card flushes a % of the time. u move to vegas and ull have to deal with the dark times. When ur implied odds fk u back for a year.
1 take away from this - I gotta move to your town - very soft game.

If you want to make a living at poker u have to play a lot of them and plan your schedule around the big tourneys (1000 players plus) where you can pick out the weak players - dbl up through them to make $20k in a week - your gonna need that to survive the ups and downs. Your not always trying to win the WSOP main event but trying to make a living - their are many amateurs that donk the hell out of pros all the time but they try to avoid that till their at least deep in the cash to pay the bills. different mind set.

Theres only so much time in the day - if your 10% better than the other players - that's ur earning potential - got to play big tourneys for that 10% to mean anything long term.

[TomKat1958]

Very nice reply LaserCats. Thank you for your perspective and opinion. You're right about one thing for sure. My area isn't so bad to play if you have any kinda real tourney strategy that works. Each week there are new faces that donk and get in a hurry the first 30 minutes of action. Generally, within 1 hour the 40 to 50 player tourneys here are down to two tables, and then it's a different game than the donkey period. But, as you say, even the worse donks are lucky enough sometimes to stay in till the final table, where you have to be more careful than the first 80% of the time. If I could build my tourney route to add 4 more tourneys, I could avoid the cash tables and grind out a better living. I have never played a tourney with more than a $200 buy in and about 70 players. That's a high rolling game around here. I hope to play something much larger and deeper in the near future.

[TomKat1958]

I'm sure your remarks have basis from personal experience. Thank you for the reply. One of my old girlfriends lives in Reno. She's been trying to get me to come and stay with her for a visit to see how I like it there. What do you know about live poker there?

[abwil2]

I would NEVER take anything from online into a real game. Nothing to be gained IMO

I goto a game with this one group once a month buyin in 85 with 5 for vig. I have won this turny 3 times(right around 2400 for first) and cash about 60% of the time./ Too bad its only once a month but then i also play in alot of other games, like VFW, fund raisers and home games..

IMO there is nothing that transfers from online to live, sure bad beats will happen live but not every hand like online. That and body actions will betray you at some point LOL

[LaserCats]

Very nice reply LaserCats. Thank you for your perspective and opinion. You're right about one thing for sure. My area isn't so bad to play if you have any kinda real tourney strategy that works. Each week there are new faces that donk and get in a hurry the first 30 minutes of action. Generally, within 1 hour the 40 to 50 player tourneys here are down to two tables, and then it's a different game than the donkey period. But, as you say, even the worse donks are lucky enough sometimes to stay in till the final table, where you have to be more careful than the first 80% of the time. If I could build my tourney route to add 4 more tourneys, I could avoid the cash tables and grind out a better living. I have never played a tourney with more than a $200 buy in and about 70 players. That's a high rolling game around here. I hope to play something much larger and deeper in the near future.

I've known a few guys that tried the vegas thing only to realize its a bitch. But, you have to get in a few big tourneys and get really lucky at least once - that equals $80k to $100k win. That way you actually have living expenses and can play looser to get peeps off their 60% hands. If you cant do that your doomed. That's the diff tween pro and amateur - winning hands where the hands up in the air 60/40.

Good luck man! build it slow then take a few shots at the big time with 30% of the BR you built. Keep rebuilding that 30% back up and taking more shots. IF you don't win big in a year - maybe two. hang it up.

I cant play live - only play 2 hour tourneys and SNG - but have a soft game here or there on line that supports my $200 cash outs and now Im taking shots at $10 entry tourneys - just a matter of time b4 I cash a $300 to $1k win. Then I'll cash out $500 and play $20 buy ins etc. If I lose my day job I might go fro broke more in $50 tourneys and not cash out for a while til I needed it LOLOOLOLOL

[wwwin]

I would NEVER take anything from online into a real game. Nothing to be gained IMO

I goto a game with this one group once a month buyin in 85 with 5 for vig. I have won this turny 3 times(right around 2400 for first) and cash about 60% of the time./ Too bad its only once a month but then i also play in alot of other games, like VFW, fund raisers and home games..

IMO there is nothing that transfers from online to live, sure bad beats will happen live but not every hand like online. That and body actions will betray you at some point LOL

I think of the experience gained online does transfer to live and I dont see bad beats frequency any different from one to another.