Live Tourney - Need Some Advice

Hey guys, I'm playing in my first live tourney at the local casino and was looking for some advice. It's a $100 buy-in and is limited to 81 entrants. I'm using it as a sattelite to the Canadian Championships ($1000 buy-in) which are only about a 3 hours drive for me. I've never played in the casino before and am pretty excited, the tournies this Saturday. So, any thoughts on what I should do to prep. for the difference between on-line and live. I've decided that I'll start out super-tight and observe everything about my table for the first 30 hands or so. I've read Mike Caro's book on tells but am not kidding myself and know that I'm too under experienced to utilize the majority of this information. What do you guys think, thanks.

Any details on blind levels, starting chips, how long the blinds last? These will all factor into your strategy...

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I Paraphrase Voltaire: "I may not agree with your fish- like plays, but I would die for your right to pay off my nuts..." or something like that.

No idea's blang, I'm going to go by the casino and get all that info this week sometime. I really have no experience live playing with real no-limit players. I'm pretty comfortable at adapting my game to how I read the table and all the factors involved based on playing tons of different on-line sites with all kinds of blind levels and structures.. I guess what I'm looking for is the kind of advice that someone might have for the lessons they learned the hard way the first time they ventured into a live tourney when they were used to on-line play. I've heard that live is generally much tighter play but after playing a lot of THF games I'm not so sure about that.

The first time I played live was in Reno last summer. However, it was ring games and not tourney. I will say that I was quite happy when I saw the cards look the same in real life as they do online. ;-)

The first game I played was 7-card stud. To tell the truth, I jumped right in. It was$1/$2 limit and everyone there was quite accomodating to the NOOB at the table.

Take some extra cash with you and go early. See if there is a ring game going and get in it. That might help get the butterflys out and calm you down a bit before the tourney.

I'd say the biggest mistake online players make when transitioning to live games is how they handle their chips. If you have any chips at home, spend some time practicing with them, particularly betting motions. What you want to do is have the same motion putting your chips into the pot whether you have a monster or you are bluffing. With a $100 buy in you'll liable to have some experienced players in the tourney with you, and the easiest tell to pick up on noobs is how they handle their chips.

Ray's suggestion of getting their early is an excellent one. This gives you some time to get used to working with the chips and handling real cards and just getting you into poker mode.

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Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker. -- Amarillo Slim

You say how could I make that call? How could you make that bet? We're playing poker, not solitaire. -- Doyle Brunson

You know about the cards, the advantage you could have is to know the tells. Look for tells and look for the players who are trying to do the opposite (acting). Before making an important decision always wait and see if you can spot a late tell which can help you in decision making.

Here's a link to free Mike Caro Pokertells videos:
http://www.poker1.com/mcu/mculib_video.asp

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That's Poker

Thanks guys, good stuff.

Jeremy tells are harder to pick up on than many think,many players will do the same "tell" when having opposite hands(as mentioned by Kaart].For a newer player I highly recomend calling out your moves before moving chips.Annouce "I raise 400",then put the chips in the pot.Also playing tight early may be a disadvantage.When you do get a good hand you will not find any callers.Players also are getting a sense of each other and tend to fold more early in a tourny.Last week I was playing the first hand in a tourney and missed my flush,raised all in and 2 people folded a decent sized pot.I joked that I had never gone all in the first hand,but never had the nuts first hand either{would have been a set}.Some laughed,and I could see in the faces of the 2 who folded they felt relief.Body language is the easiest tell I can pick up.If a player is leaning into the table he usually has a good hand.If you see someones hands shaking usually means a good hand.Some guys chat up a storm at the table block all of it out.You are a good card player just have confidence and you will do great! Keith

Here are my tips, few of them are mine actually - just some advice i've learned from books, people in here and from my own expieriences few tips that i've found

Play plenty of online poker this week with a post it note on your screen covering your hand. This will force you to remember your hand and what suit it is. If you get something like AC 10S, it is easy to forget what the high suited card is. When you look at your hand just say Ace, 10, clubs, spades. With the highest suit coming first.

Don’t look at your hand until it is your turn to play. I was playing in a live tournament and 5 of the 10 players at my table did the classic tell of pushing there cards in front of them if they were going to fold. It was 100% accurate.

Don’t go on tilt. Chances are you will get a bad beat. When it happens in live poker you can’t swear and call the guy a wazza like you do at home. It’s time to say, “nice hand”, clear your mind, count your chips, have a few deep breaths and analyse where you stand. It’s so common for players to look into the middle of the table and 4 hands later they are out of the tournament.

Posture, it has already been commented on but it is so true. If someone is getting a real crap run of cards they tend to become un interested and slouch. Watch for the person who looks at his cards sits straight up, pays attention to everything around him and then puts in a small raise – fold your 10’s he’s got you covered.

Watch for people’s breathing. If the person has the perfect poker face, look at his chest, If he’s got a monster his heart will be demanding the oxygen and his chest will be visually moving. If he’s bluffing – he will tend to breath more shallow.

If you loose concentration at any point just limit yourself to watching the person to your right. The wee buzzer doesn’t sound to say it’s your turn, the flashing lights don’t happen, you’ll get the nudge from someone and your opponents start thinking about taking money off you too.

Watch the blinds and pay attention to the raises. The person who asks the question gives off the information that he doesn’t know what’s going on.

The person who answers the questions that will be asked at the table generally is a good player. He is confident and wants the tournament to continue quicly. Watch for this person as they will have a good read on you and when you limp in with your pocket fours – he might just go all in knowing he has the respect of the table and that you are week.

Apart from that just play every hand the best you can and let us know how you get on.