Learning Poker – Part II – Live Casinos
In the last article, I covered the advantages and disadvantages of learning to play poker via online card rooms. In this article, I will look at the same but in regards to live brick and mortar casinos. Up until a few years ago, the only way to learn poker was either in home games or at a brick and mortar casino. If you wanted to play poker professionally, then live casinos were your only option. First, let’s take a look at the advantages of learning to play poker in live casinos.
One major advantage of a live casino over an online card room is easy access to your money. You take in the amount of money that you want to play with and you can buy-in for any game you wish to play as long as you can meet the minimum buy-in. Next, when you are done playing, you can cash out right in the casino. You do not have to wait for your money.
Next, live poker gives the actual tactile experience to a player as opposed to playing online. For some people, being able to actually hold the cards in their hand and play with the chips allows them to better be able to learn. This is known as tactile learning. While online poker is a form of tactile learning, to some people the game does not have the same “feel.”
Another advantage is the ability to actually see your opponents and interact with them. You can actually see what actions they make when they bet, listen to how they talk while in hands, and even interact with them. As a result, you can pick up physical tells on players that you can never pickup online.
In addition to the advantages of playing live as opposed to online, there are a few disadvantages as well.
First, one of the main disadvantages can be game selection. Depending on your card room and preferred game, there may not always be a game at your level. If you are a mixed games player, you will often experience the frustration of there only being Holdem games available. If you are a higher limit player, there may not always be a game open. Even if games are open, the games may not be good. The game may be full of locals or rocks that will not give up much money. You cannot switch games easily in many card rooms if there are multiple tables either since there are a limit number of tables as opposed to online card rooms.
Next, safety can become a concern in many casinos. Some casinos are in somewhat seedy areas or attract seedy clientele. While many casinos have security guards, they cannot be everywhere and you can run into various experience of being angled for money on up to being assaulted. I am not saying you will be assaulted if you go play live, but the possibility is there, especially late at night.
Some poker rooms have limited hours of operation depending on where they are located. Even if a poker room is 24 hours, that does not mean there is plenty of action. You are usually limited to a specific window during the evening that the best action is occurring.
Another disadvantage over the online card rooms are the games are run manually. This means that a dealer must deal the cards, rake the pots, award the pots, etc. There are times where there will be misdeals, incompetent dealers, or other circumstances that may slow down the game. There are no automatic time limits in live games and as a result you typically play about half as many hands.
The other players can be a disadvantage to some playing live poker. If you have an abusive, disruptive, odorous, or otherwise generally unpleasant player at the table, it can make for a bad experience. Online, if you don’t like what a person says, you can cut off the chat.
The biggest disadvantage to learning poker live as opposed to online is lack of convenience. If you are fortunate to live near a casino town, then this isn’t an issue, but most states do not allow gambling and not all that allow gambling allow poker. For many, just going to a live casino is a long trip and no conducive to proper learning.
From the looks of this article, you may think that I prefer online poker over live. That is actually incorrect. Personally, I prefer live poker due to the amount of information that you can pick up. Also, I am a person that can focus more when the whole game is in front of me as opposed to on a computer screen. There are many other players that have similar thoughts. To others, poker is a social game and they prefer the social aspect of the game in a live casino. Regardless of the venue that you choose, take full advantage of the venue and maximize your learning experience. Good luck to you at the tables.