[Wooderson]

Ok, so I play online 2 - 3 hours a day, 4 - 6 days a week. I play tourneys mostly. I'm in the money 64% of the tourneys I play. Whe I say in the money I mean top 3.

I play in one home game a week. I have finished in the money once out of about 20 times, and I won that game. Every other time I finish 4th or 5th, and we ay the top 3.

One thing I have noticed is that I play much more aggressive online, and I'm a freakin' rock live. I've noticed I visualize the game different too. Anyone else have a similar issue? What's up with me?

[FreakyD]

It's possible that you're subconsciously worried about tells during the live game. Playing on-line, you don't have to worry about talking/gesturing/etc. that would give the other players a clue about your hand. Do you talk to yourself a lot when playing on-line? (I know I do.)

Try playing your on-line games as if you were actually at the table with your opponents -- but only from a behavior standpoint. Continue the same playing style that has brought you success, but practice your table demeanor. You may find it helps you during the live games. If you're accustomed to holding your outward behavior in check at all times during games, you can start to use it to your advantage in the live games.

For instance, maybe let that little smile cross your face, just briefly, when the flush flop comes. If it gets one or two players to fold when you're holding AJo -- not the flush suit, either -- then you're ahead of the game.

[Bhudio]

I agree, i don't play on-line anymore just because I rely so heavily on some elses tells. The shaking of there hands when they bet, How they just stare back and forth between their hole cards and the flop, or just the way they say" Bet 5" or "Re-raise". Just be concious of the tells you may give someone else thats paying attention. Frankly, I think on-line and live games are two totally different beings. On- line is like the little brother Live games keep telling to go play with your toys somewhere else. Just my opinion.

[smoore]

Originally Posted by Wooderson

One thing I have noticed is that I play much more aggressive online, and I'm a freakin' rock live.

This is probably your entire problem. I don't know what you mean by visualizing the game.

[bub]

Totally opposite here.
I play RL tournys and am in the money 75% of the time...
whereas online 25% in sit and go's multitables i do for sh@@t
BUB

[Wooderson]

Originally Posted by smoore

This is probably your entire problem. I don't know what you mean by visualizing the game.

I agree with you. I just can't figure out why.

As for visualizing the game, what I mean is this: online, you get a "bird's eye view" of the table. I think more about my position, how many people are in the pot, who is playing their position well in a given hand (although that is one aspect I am transferring to live games much better), etc.

Live, since it's 1st person view, I don't seem to do any of that as well or as quickly. Half the time I don't even think about it, or think to think about it.

Also, whoever mentioned tells: I don't think I worry about this live, but I like your idea of watching my reactions online compared to live. I do know that live I tend to shake in the hands for the first hour, and that's whether I play a given hand or not; whether I have a hand or am bluffing. So I'm not sure it's a tell as much as it is just first hour jitters. But I really like the idea of "playing your on-line games as if you were actually at the table with your opponents -- but only from a behavior standpoint."

[smoore]

OIC Wooderson, I get what you're visualizing now.

Look at the button. Know where it is at all times. Know who's supposed to post the blind before they do. Know how much the bet is at all times, before the caller does. Know how much is in the pot (approx.) at all times. Basically, just pay attention. I used to do the same thing and since I started actually paying attention I'm doing much better. Now I've gotten to the point where I can carry on a conversation and do all this crap without batting an eye. It's like someone learning how to multitable online... very confusing and stressful at first but it becomes second nature with practice. MUCH more important to keep track of the pot in NL than in limit, you can just count back mentally in limit if you have to. Anytime you ask for a pot count observant players will put you on a draw.

Another skill I've actively developed is pot/stack estimation. I take my chips and throw a bunch in a pile then give myself 30 seconds to estimate it... I count afterwards to see how close I was. I'm hitting them dead on about 30% of the time now compared to <10% when I started this excersize. I will do the same thing with chipstacks of non standard heights, I'll just throw out stacks of whatever to four or five positions and give each one a 10sec glance. I write it down and go onto the next, then I check at the end to see if I was close. I'm better at estimating stacks than pots so I only do 10sec each to push myself.

[Wooderson]

Smoore -

Everything you talked about in your first paragraph is me dead on. I do all that. It's just very odd, b/c there does seem to be something in my mental process that reacts differently based on the different PoV of Bird's Eye vs. 1st Person.

That, and quite frankly I think I get too tied to the money live where as online I don't. Another odd bit of psycology, b/c it's all money either way.

Talking through this has been damned helpful though.