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

Online players tend to be stronger stake for stake

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

Live low-stakes players generally don’t have a clue

Can’t tell you how often times I’ve been talking to live players speak about how online players don’t determine what they are doing. They’ll say aspects such as “you can not read his face” or “good online casino casino players do not know how to bluff and keep a straight face” – stupidness, really. Many live players don’t understand the concept of frequencies and betting patterns, which in fact are much more informative than “his lip twitched when he reached for his chips” or whatever

Raising 3x the bb preflop doesn’t 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 is just 1 red chip” instead of thinking of 3 big blinds. When you are going to come in for a raise in a live game, you definitely will probably want to raise between 6-8bb, at least within 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 is certainly not for balance. In many instances, if you’re 3bet in a live game, the player will probably 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 cannot tell you how often times I’ve been called by 22-77. Numerous dead money in the spot.