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LAS VEGAS HERE I COME

 

Ok, now you’re ready…

You’ve tackled the online poker world…..

Set up your accounts….played some games.

Won a little..lost a little…

Made some deposits…hopefully made some withdrawals…..

Learned the Lingo….

And you can type with the best of them..as you raise, fold, call, and pocket that money…

You’ve learned from the Pros watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel….

Visions of Chris MoneyMaker are dancing in your head as you picture yourself as the next Million Dollar poker winner…

Now Las Vegas is calling your name…..

The World Famous HorseShoe….The Mirage….The Sahara….The StarDust….Mandalay Bay…The Bellagio…..more and more and more……

You have to get a taste of ‘brick and mortar’ live action poker games…

And you picture yourself…..with a HUGE stack of chips sitting in front of you..

You’re here, in Las Vegas, Home of the World Series of Poker…

But what now?

Hopefully we can answer some of those questions for you.   Online Poker players are coming in droves to Las Vegas.  Tournaments have tripled in size, and every new player has an online poker background, or got hooked watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. 

When you first decide to play a live game, you need to decide what limit suits you.  Las Vegas offers limits as low as $2-4 for Holdem and $1-5 for Stud, all the way up to those huge ‘Sky is the Limit’ games you hear about.   Every room today will cater to new players.   When you enter, look for the main desk or cage.   Many rooms will greet you as you arrive and direct you to the cage to sign up for and request a seat in a game.   No need to be intimidated upon entering. At the main desk, ask the floor person what games are being spread.  He will tell you and you can decide which game you want to sit in.   If there is a waiting list, give him your name, and ask the approximate wait time, then stay close.  If they call your name, and you are not there, they will pass you up for the next player.  

Once you are seated at the table, most rooms will ask you how many chips you want.  Each game has a minimum buy in, but you can purchase as many as you want.   A chip runner will then take your money and bring your chips to you.  Some rooms such as the Orleans have a special cage and you will go to the cage yourself, purchase your chips and return to your table.   Often a room will let you buy directly from the dealer at the table you are seated at.  Simply ask, if you are not sure.   However, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can buy chips from the player sitting next to you.   This is a big NO NO in live poker.   New chips must be purchased from the house.   If you are sitting at a table with a friend of yours.   You cannot borrow chips from him if you go broke, and you may not purchase from him.   A very strong rule in all poker rooms is, Chips that are brought to the table, stay at the table, until you are ready to leave and to cash out.  If you are low in chips, and are playing a hand, you can go “ all in, just as you would online “.  But if just get low in chips, and want to add more to your stack,  you must take money out of your pocket in between hands, in order for that money to be used on the next hand.  Some rooms will allow one short rebuy.  In other words, if the minimum buy in is $40 for a $3-6 game, most rooms will allow you to make one subsequent buy in, for ½ that amount or $20.   After that, you will be required to always make at least the minimum buy in when you request additional chips.

Speaking of leaving, you can do so at any point.   Big winner, Big loser.   When you are ready to leave, stand up, pick up your chips and go.  You do not need to ask, you do not have to play a set number of rounds, deals, minutes, hours…when its time for you to go.  GO.   Many players that have played kitchen poker with their friends all their lives, are used to a crazy concept that “ you can’t leave with everyone’s money”  “You must stay and give them a chance to win it back”    NOT TRUE!   Get up and leave a winner! 

After you have received your chips.  Take them out of the rack and stack them neatly in front of you.   Some card rooms allow you to play from your ‘rack’ but it is considered a sure sign of a ‘fish’, and many believe slows the game down.  Most games today are played with Blinds.    Look at your seat and find out where you are in relation to the blind.   House rules differ on whether you have to post to be dealt a hand immediately, or if any hands remaining before the blinds arrive at your seat are free.  Ask the dealer, he is there to answer your questions.   This is also a good time to ask about any specific Bad Beat , or High hand jackpots.   The dealer will tell you all the details. 

Now its game time, and you’re here to have fun, but to win money also!   When we play Online Poker, the computer does everything for us, we just have to know how to use our mouse, and make decisions.   Following are some quick warnings that many online players make as they move into live casino poker games

.

1)        You must play in turn.  You must bet, check, fold, raise in turn.   Pay attention to placement of the dealer button and DO NOT ACT before the person on your right has acted.   This is so important to the game, and a player that consistently acts out of turn can change the face of the game for others at the table.

2)        Learn to handle your chips in stacks.  If you are playing a $4-8 game and the bet to you is $4.  Pick up $4 and set them in front of you in a stack.   Do not ‘splash’ the pot, and please…do not take one chip at a time and stack one on top of the other.

3)        If you are going to raise. Take all of your chips at one time to the space in front of you and announce raise.  DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, take the call bet out, put it down and then reach back into your stack for more chips to raise.  This is against the rules in ALL casinos and your raise will not be allowed.  This is called a string bet, and the dealer will immediately call you on it and warn you not to do it again.

4)        PROTECT YOUR HAND.   When we play online poker, there is no need to protect the integrity of our hands; the computer does everything for us.  In a live game, your hand can be called ‘dead’ if they accidentally hit the muck…if another player throws his cards in, and they slide into yours, or if they are sitting there without a chip or trinket on top of them, the dealer may accidentally pick them up thinking you have folded.  Put a chip, or a favorite small piece on top of your cards to show they are in play.

5)        When you look at your hole cards, use both hands, cupped around both sides and peek.   Don’t tempt your neighbor by picking up your cards without shielding them from his view.  If a player sees your cards, it is not his fault, it is yours.

6)        When in a tournament, keep your large denomination chips clearly in the view of other players.   Each tournament poker player has the right at all times to know how many chips you have.   If you are asked how many chips you have left, tell them. 

7)        If you want to change seats, ask the dealer.   If one is available, he will let you move, or put you on a first request list.  If you want to change tables, call the floorman, he will also move you if seats are available.   Be aware however, that the smaller rooms, will not ‘off balance’ their games to let you move tables.

8)        In Las Vegas, the word is English..and English only at the table.  This rule is strictly enforced in all rooms.  Also, in a live game, your girlfriend can sit behind you and watch, but in a tournament, he or she will be asked to sit behind the tournament areas.

When we play online, the online poker casino draws a rake from each pot.  Typically each pot is raked a maximum of $3.00   When you play live poker, the rake is the same for the house, but there are some other considerations that players must realize.

You now have a live dealer at your table.  Tipping is part of the game….that you must accept when playing in a live casino.   Today, most people tip 50 cents to one Dollar when they win a pot.   You would never be expected to tip when you did not win the pot.   It is also customary to tip your waitress’ in Las Vegas.  Your drinks are free in all casinos while playing, but that cocktail waitress will expect a 50 cent to $1 tip.   In tournaments, many of the casinos will pull a percentage from the prize pool and pay their dealers from this percentage, then they will also set an envelope discreetly at the final table when players have reached the money in a subtle way to entice additional tips from the winners.   This is a controversial subject.   Many articles have been written about the pros and cons of tipping tournament dealers.   Those in favor, typically feel that a 1 ½ to 3% tip is appropriate in the large  $1000 plus tournaments, and that a 5-6% tip is appropriate in the smaller tournaments.   I always tip 5%.   Ask the tournament director at the time of buy in how much of your entry fee goes to the dealers, then you can make your decision from that point about how much to tip, should you win the tournament, or make the money.  If they have pulled 3% of my entry fee to pay the dealer, I will tip 2% if I make the money.    

Live poker, very commonly know today by a term that I dislike immensely as “Brick and Mortar’ poker, is challenging, fun, intriguing, entertaining, and can be quite profitable.   Online poker is exactly the same.  They both have positives and negatives.   I LOVE To play online poker tournament in my pajamas….and I also LOVE to socialize with the other players, and study reactions of other players, in a live casino poker game.   As poker continues to grow in popularity, both Online poker and live poker rooms will grow.   Don’t miss out, enjoy both, excel at both, learn both, and next time your in Las Vegas, email me, and I will meet you at a local tournament!

 

 



 

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