10 Live Poker Tips

I can’t speak enough about the advantages online poker offers over live but even I sometimes have to play live poker. Sometimes it comes up during friends’ live poker parties and other times I just like to get out of the house and interact with other humans, even if they are poker players!

These tips are geared for experienced online poker players making the switch to live poker play. If you’re already a live pro, you can probably skip this article and be just fine without it. If you have a live game coming up or you’re thinking about making the switch to live play, this article is just for you.

1. Be confident

I haven’t played a ton of live poker in my life and I still get extremely nervous during live poker games. I have gone straight from playing $1,000NL online to playing in a $10 live tournament and gone from super laid back on the computer to literally trembling during live hands.

It helps if you remember the competition at live poker games is significantly weaker than what you’ll find online. Live $1/$2 NL games play as bad as $.10/$.25 online in most cases, which is a great thing for you. In all likelihood, you’ll be the best poker player in the room or at least in the top 5%.

2. Stack your chips slowly

When you’re still getting the hang of live play, make all your bets slowly and deliberately. I usually feel like I’m wearing two sets of mittens when stacking live chips so I have to be extra careful.

There are two reasons you need to be extra careful when stacking your chips. First, you don’t want to splash the pot or cause any of your chips to roll on its edge all around the table. Trust me, it’s embarrassing. Second, you don’t want to give away big hands or bluffs by knocking all your chips over out of nervousness.

3. Don’t worry about tells

Unless you have a super obvious tell or you notice a super obvious tell, don’t waste too much effort looking for tells when you’re still getting used to live play. Just keep a poker face, try not to tap or chew gum at the table and you’ll be fine.

Some tells do exist but at the lower stake games you will have the huge advantage of playing thousands of hands online already. Use the same hand reading skills you use online to read hands and make decisions.

One note – I don’t want you to skip out on tells so much so that you never pick up on them or that you start giving your hands away like an idiot. All I’m saying is don’t obsess over them a) during your first forays into live poker and b) at small stakes live games.

4. Hide your cards

You don’t want people to see your cards and you don’t want to look like a noob so get in the habit of looking at your cards once, memorizing them and then putting them back down for good. You don’t have to be perfect, but at least keep yourself from looking at your cards every ten seconds.

When you’re looking at your cards, use one hand to hide the tops of your cards from the rest of the table and use your other hand to lift up the corners of the cards. Don’t bend the corners – just lift them up a little, OK?

5. Protect your cards

After you check your cards, place a chip or a chip protector on top of your hand. This will let the dealer know that you don’t want to fold your hand. If you have a strong hand and the dealer unknowingly mucks it, you’re out of luck.

Note – Don’t be one of those players who only places a chip on his cards when he has a strong hand. Protect your cards every time or else people will know exactly when you have the goods.

6. Shut your hole

Don’t talk during hands, don’t discuss strategy, don’t gloat and don’t berate players. I know, I sound like I’m no fun but those are the only times/topics during which you really need to keep your mouth shut.

It’s rude to talk during hands and it can also cause you to inadvertently give out information that your opponents don’t want you to give out. Like when someone is pulling a bluff and you blurt out that you can’t believe you folded the one hand your opponent is trying to represent.

You want to avoid discussing straetegy, gloating and berating players not because it’s rude but because it hurts your bottom line. All these topics make your opponents try to play better. If you act like a fun, happy-go-lucky guy who doesn’t care, your opponents will play looser against you.

7. Avoid string bets

I have messed up this rule more times than I care to remember and it’s embarrassing every time. When you intend to make a bet or a raise, you have to state the total amount of that bet or raise all at once.

What you can’t do is say something like “I call your bet….and I raise you 300 more!” When you say call, you’re held to the call and the raise you throw in later is ignored. This is used to keep angle-shooters from trying to confuse players and get an unfair advantage.

8.  Pay attention

Live poker can be a little confusing at first if you’re used to the computer keeping the game going and telling you when to act. Stay alert and be ready to act when it’s your turn. You don’t want to be the guy who holds up the game every time it’s his turn.

9.  Tip the dealer

Live poker dealers work hard for their money so be generous. Tip them when you win a pot and throw an extra one out every once in a while even when you’re not winning. The dealers can’t help it if you win or lose but they do keep the game going smoothly and make the game way more enjoyable for everyone.

10.  Have fun

Live poker is a lot of fun so don’t let this list of rules bog you down. Just be cool, stay courteous and have a good time. Not only is live poker a lot of fun but its also quite profitable because the competition is so soft. So get out there, play strong and enjoy the money. If you have a bad day at the tables…well, have fun anyways!

For even more strategy advice, check out my Kill No Limit poker e-book.

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