Play Live Poker as Often as you can

Many of my poker friends are primarily online poker players. Although they do well in this environment each of them is better served the more often we go and play live tournaments and cash games. Don't get me wrong though. They are all very successful online players and do quite well but nothing beats playing live poker.

Today I played in the Heartland Poker Tour Main Event and went deep into day one before busting out. Early on in the tournament I was able to double and then triple up because players tried to play the same game as they do online by shoving with big pairs after the flop and not being able or wanting to play small pot poker. The thing about live tournament play is that when the stacks are as deep as they were today at 15k to start and forty minute levels you must be able to play post-flop. This is where many online poker players fall short because of the difference in structure and not being able to trust their read on their opponent and the hand.



Don't get me wrong - I enjoy playing online poker. However, live poker tournaments require much more in-depth thinking and analysis than shoving pre-flop with a big hand. So give yourself a break every now and then and go sit down at your local casino or jump into one of the larger buy-in tournaments. You can be sure it will help improve your poker game honest.