The value of a dollar: online vs. live...

Before really playing online seriously, I learned poker at my local casino. There, I would play $20 + $5 NL Hold'em Tourneys and in my opinion, it was a rather small event. Usually we would have around two to five tables of players and first place would be between $200 and $600 (top three places get paid). It seemed reasonable enough and I still enjoy these daily tourneys every now and then.

Then there is online play. I put down usually between $25 and $50 (the price of one or two of my live tourneys) and end up playing $5 sit and go's and $.25/.50 cent ring tables. If I enter a $15 + $1 sit and go, I think it is a big tourney (big to me anyways). I've built my online bankroll from $30 to around $300 in the past few weeks. My live bankroll seems to suffer terribly playing the tourneys that I seldomly cash in and the live game we play is $2-10 spread limit (bet anywhere between $2 and $10 on every betting round). I do okay, but I have a hard time quitting when I'm ahead.

I guess what I'm getting at is, why is the value of a dollar so different from live play to online play? We get idiots playing $2-4 at the casino, but online it seems like a pretty decent game. Why do I feel I can raise a bet from $10 to $20 in a casino but don't online?

Any thoughts or anything? Just trying to contribute some thought to the forum. It seems like an idea I haven't seen touched on before and seems very thought-provoking to me. Thanks!

i can relate to this. Myself and stu have played at the casino etc and ive played £20+ games with friends

But the $10+$1 games are still my regular limit online

__________________
Texas Holdem Resources : Hand Rankings Terminology Pre Flop Odds Odds Chart
Poker Odds Calculator - Find out if you were right to make that call!

I have no problem putting down 25$ in a home game yet i hate taking 20$ with me to a online table and playing more than a 10$ sit and go... In the sit and gos i think u win less online compared to winning a home game and this deters you from putting more up

All depends on your mentality... I personally have a much easier time spending money online as opposed to live games. Just depends on the person I suppose. But for most people, gambling in general causes you to undervalue your money. Example: Go into McDonalds and whip out a $20 bill. Does that $20 look quite the same when you walk into a casino?

I'm the same way CK. I am pretty stingy online, but in live games, I throw down about $50 on a game sometimes. Online, I don't like spending more than $11 in a tournament, but I do play higher ring tables. My regular used to be $1/$2 limit, but now $.50/$1 limit.

__________________
cky12 - PokerStars
cky12 - FullTilt

My Poker Journal

CK that is a good point that you bring up. I also have no problem risking more money live than online. I went to Vegas recently and played mostly $4 and $8 limit holdem and played in a tournament that cost $60 + $10 to enter. Both of these stakes are higher than my regular online games. One of the reasons I see (at least in my case) is the overall speed of play between live and online games. I can play at least 3 hands online for every 1 live and if I play more than 1 table online that number can double or triple. So what I am saying is, I can take the same bankroll to a live game with higher stakes that I would take to 3 online games with lower stakes.

Also your comment about idiots playing $2/$4 live games is sooo true. In fact I had at least one person sitting at one of my live tables playing poker for the very first time!!! Needless to say I enjoyed myself that night....

Another reason that adds to this is generally, for most of us at least, going to a live casino is an event. Most of us don't live near casinos, so going to a casino requires planning and anticipation. It's not something we can do every day, so spending a little extra doesn't seem to hurt as much.

Its weird that you all say this but I seem to risk more online then I do in a casino... when I go to the casino I just dont feel like spending as much. Granted I only have a Hardrock Indian casino and we have 1-2 and 2-2 limit holdem were every one is in every hand till the river. Then they just introduced 100+20 200+25 500+35 1000+45 SnG but the cheapest being 100 is rough. So I tend to just stay away.