After spending hundreds of hours in both online casinos and live casinos, there are lots of differences between the two despite playing the same game. Here are several of the nuances I have noticed.

Online players are a lot easier stronger stake for stake

Normally the minimal live game you can find in a casino is $1/$2 ($200NL). This really is where all of the beginners start. Online, the minimal games may be as small as $0.01/$0.02 ($2NL) where there is not much cash to be made. That means beginners in live casinos are playing for way bigger stakes than online. Online Players playing $200NL are generally very strong.

Live low-stakes players generally do not have a clue

Can’t tell you how often times I’ve been talking to live players talk about how online players don’t know what they’re doing. They’ll say things like “you can not read his face” or “quality online gambling site players don’t understand how to bluff and keep a straight face” – stupidness, really. Many live players do not understand the concept of frequencies and betting patterns, which in fact are far more informative than “his lip twitched when he reached for his chips” or what ever

Raising 3x the bb preflop does not do anything

Many live players don’t consider big blinds, they only consider chips. What I mean by that’s if for example, at a $1/$2 game, somebody raises $6, many players will think “oh that’s just 1 red chip” instead of thinking of 3 big blinds. If you’re going to come in for a raise in a live game, you will probably want to raise between 6-8bb, at least in the $200NL live game.

Very little 3betting in live games

Most players in a live setting are way more content to just call a raise as oppose to 3bet, even with big hands like AQ and AK – and it’s certainly not for balance. Sometimes, for anybody who is 3bet in a live game, the player is going to have QQ+ (weak players)

Live players think pocket pairs will be the nuts.

In a live game, players have a really hard time folding pocket pairs preflop for some reason. I have 3bet with hands like AQ+ and can not tell you how often times I have been called by 22-77. Numerous dead money in this spot.