For instance, because you can see all of the cards on the screen at any one time then you are always aware of just who is exactly in the hand at all times. You also know whose turn it is to act, how long that player has left to act and how much they have on the table in terms of money.

But the sheer lack of this built in facility in a live poker game opens up all kind of avenues for unscrupulous players to exploit it and believe me when I say that certain poker players would not think twice about doing such things. Certain players will try and disguise the fact that they have any cards on the table, either by obscuring them with their hands or possibly with chips.

They do this to try and prompt a reaction from someone (either betting or checking) that they otherwise would not have got had they realised that they were still active in the pot. Some poker players deliberately attempt to cause ambiguity by checking in a manner that could easily be mis-interpreted. Then if you check after they “check”, they can then claim that they never checked at all and had intended to bet themselves.

There are all types of possible angles for the poker opportunist to exploit and it only takes the novice and inexperienced poker player to be the victim of one such trick on only one occasion to be on the receiving end of a serious financial loss. It is for a similar reason why certain players like to disguise how much money that they have on the table either in cash or chips or both.

Imagine for a minute how destructive it would be if a player who was playing No Limit Texas Hold’em poker tried to bully what he thought was a short stack out of the pot with a big all in bet of say $1000 only to then find that his opponent had four one thousand dollar chips concealed at the back of his stack.

If the all in player had declared himself “all in” then his bet is binding but he only made that bet because he believed that his opponent only had a further $1000 on the table.

Concealing your hand

This might seem very obvious but it is surprising just how many players in card rooms are careless when it comes to exposing their own hand. Once again this is something that the online player never has to worry about because the software does this for him.

But there is a certain amount of technique involved when attempting to look at your own hand and doing this badly or perhaps carelessly can end up costing the novice live game poker player an awful lot of money.

At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to look at your cards in the securest way possible and any information that you carelessly give away to the other players is even more ammunition for them to use against you. While most poker players do not go out of their way to get a sneaky peek at an opponents hole cards, others do and the card room rookie needs to keep a keen eye out for this.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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Sure you can have a great time playing live and it is a far better all round poker experience than playing online that’s for sure. But there are hidden dangers when playing live that may not be overly apparent to our online hero. Depending on where you are playing of course and against whom then the level of danger can differ substantially but rest assured that there is danger there all the same.

You may be up against players who are very experienced and streetwise who will stop at nothing when attempting to try and get your money. In this article we will be taking a look at some of the underhanded tricks and gamesmanship that the online player could potentially face.

Overbetting the Pot

Online poker players do tend to get soft in certain key areas of the game simply because they get used to the online poker sites software doing everything for them. The software deals the cards, shuffles the cards better than any human could, keeps track of the pot and any spilt pots and a whole host of other things. If you are playing pot limit poker online then you really cannot go wrong. Most sites have a “Pot” button that will automatically bet the pot for you and it will also not allow anyone to overbet the pot in pot limit as well.

But this kind of luxury is not afforded to live players in many games, most of who have to keep track of the pot size themselves. Most poker players tend to police the games that they are in very well and in many cases better than even the very best dealers can do simply because they tend to know best when it comes to knowing what to look for.

But in cash games where cash is being used instead of chips or a combination of cash and chips then keeping track of the pot is not always easy and the other players may not be so quick to point out any “deliberate” error when another savvy player “accidentally” bets £740 when the pot is only £620. Imagine the scenario where they have the nuts to your second nut. This tactic of overbetting the pot has escalated the next betting round substantially.

Imagine if this was done on the turn and your opponent bet and you called him. Instead of there only being £1860 in the pot there would now be £2100. Then on the river they bet the pot and you called with your second nut (or even raised), instead of the pot being £5580 it is now £6300. A difference of £720 all because you failed to notice that the pot was being overbet.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Come and see all the latest news on the bwin poker blog and its all for FREE!

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I would like to ask something. If in the event you’re holding the games at your house with all of your equipments being used up, is it wrong to take $5 off as a sort fee or the like? Let’s say for example, a small fee for the house or equipment maintenance or expenses.

Thanks!
Bryant
Bryant,

Legally, you aren’t supposed to do this. Only casinos are legally allowed to charge a fee or rake. However, if all players agree to this, I see no problem with it personally. One guy I know has a “Tip Jar” where he has people put money in to go towards his games. You may want to use that.

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Well, my main reason for writing this is to actually ask a question that keeps on bothering me. For a number of months now, I’ve been playing online poker. And just 3 months ago, I’ve won large amount of money by just playing on William Hills online card room. However, because of my curiosity about real poker, I eventually became interested in visiting a casino nearby.

My question now is about real games in casinos and with the question asked by one of your visitors by which is something about how people dress being an indicator of their skill. As I could remember, you said that you are not that convinced that the way people dress would mean something like for an instance their skill, but instead perhaps how people play based on their race. You also said that young white males won’t cause any problem. Well I’m a young, white male and I also play tight/textbook play, specifically online. But I’m disturbed about it as people might be able to see through me. I don’t know if you exactly get what I mean.

Similarly, in your another article, you said that players who first established their skills online become much better players than those who go directly to casino and poker rooms. In my case, well, I have already gained lots of online experience, but I believed this is still not enough assurance I will be good in playing real cash games.

As of now, I can afford to lose the money, but I’m not sure if I’m prepared enough to be pathetic or be a fish at the table.

Is there anything you could advise to me? Any thoughts or tactics to share? And is it true that “real card room” players are harder to beat than online players?

And any suggestion if how many times I should visit the casino?

Thanks for any help in advance.
Charles
Charles,

First, being a young white male, you will probably be perceived to be a typical holdem player. You may not be given credit for solid play, which may be of benefit, but also you may have some players play back at you and chase you down with bad hands.

Real card room players aren’t any tougher to play than online players. They can be more difficult to deal with as you can’t block chat etc. In some ways live players are easier as you can pick up additional tells on them you can’t see online.

Go in and play your normal game, and you will likely be fine. As far as how many times you should visit the casino, that is up to you. I would go at least 2 or 3 times to see how you do. If you like it, keep going. If not, then there are plenty of online card rooms.

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Ever since, I consider myself an above average poker player when in terms of winnings and the way I play home tournaments. But just recently, I’m considering making it to the casinos so I’m not sure if things will still be the same.

I’m also having problems on my games online. I just deposited $20 or $30 to eventually gain lots of experiences. But things went out of track and I was left alone with phantom swings in my bankroll. For an instance, I’ve taken $30 and with just a matter of two weeks turned it into over $400, but only to lose it in just a week. Same case with my $20 which have tuned to $100 in just one week. Do you think there’s something wrong on how I place my bankroll?

How much money do you think I should bring to the table? How about 20 times the big blind? Is it just right or it should be greater?

Another thing, what percentage of my total bankroll should I place at risk? 5% , 10% or more? Of course, as a player, I want to see my total bankroll to increase and get bigger and bigger, but I don’t want to be in possession of it too. Any advise? Most especially that I will be setting a total bankroll of $2000 and planning to place 5% to 10% of it at risk.

Thanks for any advice in advance.
Lee
Lee,

I usually like to sit down with 20 big bets when I set down in a limit game and a full buy-in for a NL game. At any one session I will risk no more than 30 big bets in a limit game and 3 to 5 buy-in for a NL game. 30 big bets is 10% of a 300 big bet bankroll, which is what I recommend to play with.

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Right now, I’m busy working with some things for my trip to Vegas. Well, it’s a known fact that Vegas is the place to visit when you are looking for big time casinos, poker room, etc.

I’m worried because it would be my first time to visit Vegas, but I’m also eager because I’m looking forward to NL Holdem (tournament play) which I’m longing to play. To prepare myself and my pocket, I’ve done some research on the current offering of casinos and I’ve found out that buy-ins are around $40.00 – $100.00.

Any idea you could share to someone like me who is going to visit Vegas the very first time?
Thanks,
Lester
Lester,

While the casinos of the strip are great and worth a visit, some of the smaller casinos and the ones downtown also are worth a visit. The tournaments at Binions are some of the best in vegas. You should also check out the tournaments hosted by the Orleans. www.Allvegaspoker.com is a good resource to check out regarding the tournaments in Vegas.

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