Why am I so much better at online poker then I am at live poker?

Question

In online I play high stakes and do really well

But when I play low stakes live games I seem to do rubbish

I don't think its got anything to do with any tells

Anyone got any ideas of why?

Thanks

Answer 1

What are you calling high stakes?  Are you playing 100/200, 25/50?  What are you calling low stakes? 1/2 ,2/5? What poker games are you playing, the higher stakes games online tend to be pot limit omaha, is that what you are playing?  It is hard to give  you an answer with all of that information left out, are you playing limit, no limit?  

Without any of that information I would say that you probably playing too loose in your live games, that is the tendency that I see most people converting from one format to the other make.  Live play, in no limit at least, people tend to bet their hands harder preflop to keep that loose play at their tables to a minimum.  In a 1/2 live game, it is not unusual for a big p.p. to bet 10x or more the big blind if they are the first to enter a pot.  Online I see more 3x b.b. preflop raises or tournament type play than I see in live games.  If you are playing limit low stakes, forget about it, that is a craps shoot.

There is nothing wrong with being better in one format than another, be an online specialist. If you are making good money playing high stakes online, try it once live, stakes tend to determine how alot of the folks at a table play.  Try other games besides hold'em live, there is a whole world of poker out there besides that one game.

Answer 2

I think its because when you play live you play against live pros such as my badself rather than online donks your used to.

Better luck next time HutchyW117 :P

Answer 3

What da_hal said. He nailed it.

Answer 4

It could be that you feel like you're only playing a game at home against the computer, and you think nothing of it. While you're at the casino's playing live games, you feel the chips, see the players, and hear the noise. It is probably a state of mind.

Answer 5

several possibilities:

1. you lucked out and found a particular strata of player/game/buy-in where the fish/pro ratio is high. at pokerstars, where I play, there's much better players at $1 multitable SNG's than $3, and much better players at $5 than $10. Also, interestingly (although I've only heard this anectdotally) you find very rich fish at the bigger tables. they not only have bigger bankrolls, but they're correspondingly worse at poker. i would imagine that these are the self-made millionaires who have too much pride to fold losing hands.

2. The main difference between online and live is speed. Most people have a hard time paying attention in the downtime of dealing, shuffling, etc. and even though they've been playing carefully for hours, one impatient decision costs them their entire stack.

3. Online helps a lot in calculating pot odds. Possibly, you are having a hard time estimating the pot in live games, and thus you are overpaying for certain hands.

4. Tells are a strong possibility. I know I don't try to hide anything at home, and often will get visibly excited on a big hand.

Answer 6

The differnce is probably not betwen live and online, the difference is in the stakes. It's a much different game playing lower stakes then higher ones.

In tournements, I find that I would rather play good players then bad asgood players are alot more predictable. Maybe that is what is happening to you

Answer 7

In a nutshell, I think it's because you've never practiced the skill of reading players.

Online play is pretty much by the book and only betting paterns can be honed and practiced, in live games, you've got to read your opponents too.

Answer 8

When you play live many people play really bad, for instance if you are playing $1/$2 no limit it equals to about .05/.10 online, people play poorly live, and if you are patient and half decent, you can grind out a profit, just hang in there and learn to read people (not real hard, just need to pay attention to every hand all the way through a couple of orbits), remember never gamble more than you can afford to lose.  good Luck!

Answer 9

Many people do not play well when they are not playing for stakes that do not matter to them.  Sometimes it is out of their comfort zone and they play much different than a winning game.

Answer 10

You probably play live poker with a bunch of fish that make a bunch of bad calls but "suck out" often. Trust me though, you will also experience times at any online site when you are convinced you cant win with anything. Been there, doin that.