Live > Online ?
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Not much happening, poker-wise, in HoP's world. Last night, I played in a little private tournament online and played like absolute crap. It was a pleasure to bust out when I did, since I was very much not into the game. Online continues to be a waste of time for me. More and more, I find myself completely disinterested in online poker. Full Tilt's new software doesn't help. I'm sure they had good things in mind, but all I got was a much slower FT startup and a generally slower game. It's almost enough for me to cross the aisle in the legalize-online-poker debate. Some fresh chum could make the game interesting again. But then again, it's still online poker.
Meanwhile, I would love to find more time to play, but after my trial, followed by a short vacation, followed by two weeks of catch-up work (i.e., right now), followed by wifey Kim and my European Vacation (Barcelona/Dublin), followed by another trial immediately upon my return, my time is terribly limited. Fortunately, the live game options are not. Besides Tuna Club, there is another club that I have yet to name here and now a home game ran by a guy who was in my college fraternity years after I graduated (his money is still good). Since I'm running hot live, having caught up to the pace necessary to reach my annual goal, I figure live poker is where I need to stay. It is where my heart is.
An odd things, though. Lately, I find myself talking to people who prefer online poker. I know! It makes me sick, too. Specifically, when I played at the Showboat two weekends ago at a bachelor party, a drunk kid stumbles up and sits down to play some 1/2 NLHE. We got to chatting and eventually got some prop bets going, and during the conversation he mentioned that he usually plays online. Specifically, he claimed to play 2/4 NLHE regularly against the likes of poker pro Jordan Morgan, not that that means much to me. The kid claims that he makes a living at it, but also later said that he had to work the morning shift at a restaurant the next day, so take that for what its worth. The point is, he was bitching about how he cannot play live. "It's so much slower". "I play higher stakes online." "I like to multitable." Wah! So go home, strip down to your BVDs and get to it. Or better yet, stay here and pay me off.
At the Syracuse wedding I went to this weekend (where I incidentally had some decent conversations with the Monopoly Anti-Semite), I met a poker player/writer from Vegas who was friends with the groom. He, too, spends most of his poker time online, mostly due to the ability to multitable. As he explained it (paraphrased), "If I get in twice as many hands online and I can play six tables at once, then I can do in one hour online what it'd take twelve hours to do live. Or I would have to play 12x higher live to keep pace."
Those are all valid points, which lead me to the inevitable conclusion that it is not a matter of whether live > online or online > live...we both know the answer to that. Rather, it is a question of personal preference and, more accurately, personal skill sets. If you can pay focus on the computer and play well, but can't pay attention live because "it's too slow", then online poker is for you. If you cannot pay attention online because there are too many distractions, but can pay attention live because of the physical aspects of the game, then live is for you.
I have to admit, though, that I maintain that online poker is not live poker, and between the two, live poker is the purer sport. Of course, this is coming from a guy whose live experience has been much better than his online experience, so there may be a touch of bias.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 12:01 PM,
5 Comments:
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At 1:34 PM,
dbcooper said...
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I agree with you about the live/online game. Give me live anyday. I find the online game incredibly boring.
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At 3:30 PM,
Lucypher said...
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Welcome back. I agree with you. I prefer (and also win more at) live poker vs. online. I still enjoy playing online but live is just more fun.
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At 4:24 PM,
BWoP said...
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Nice to have you back.
I'm still in the "live" category, although I've been dipping my toes into online MTTs a bit more lately. -
At 4:40 AM,
Wolynski said...
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I used to love to play online before UIGEA and I live in Vegas. The bonuses helped during a downswing.
But I wouldn't play online now, not with all the programs tracking your play, bots and scams.
It was great learning no-limit on the micro limits - it's too expensive to learn it live.
Very interesting blog.
Don't you go to AC to play poker? -
At 9:43 AM,
FkCoolers said...
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I prefer online poker these days. I can play Monday through Thursday and have a healthy social life on the weekends.
I prefer the faster play, ability to multi-table, and 33% rakeback I earn.
The last three times I went to Foxwoods I played either 1/2 or 2/5. Despite doing well, it wasn't fun. So many posers in hoodies and shades at these low stakes tables, plus a few internet geeks kept chirping about 2+2 and the recreational players looked uncomfortable.
...Idiots. All of them.
