The "I don't like playing online" thread.

[aaron1867]

I know there are lots of us that like a bit of both and some of us that are either genuine live players, or just play online.

But I can honestly say I have given up on online poker completely.

I'm not going to go into the whole discussion about whether or not it's rigged or not. But like said I have totally given up, but it's so annoying that you see tournaments like the $6m one on Stars on Sunday, etc. But I just refuse to play them, because I just can't win and my live game is totally the same as my online game, but a profit of £9k live, is shown up by a loss of £4k on just one site and so on.

It's most definitely hard to avoid putting your details on and have £100 on so and so, but I have definitely given up on it for the time being. It's not to mention heard loads of stories about players and their Visa bills, although I can confirm I only use my debit card.

So what's everyone elses view and so on to online and whether you play it or not?

[titaniumbean]

I know there are lots of us that like a bit of both and some of us that are either genuine live players, or just play online.

But I can honestly say I have given up on online poker completely.

I'm not going to go into the whole discussion about whether or not it's rigged or not. But like said I have totally given up, but it's so annoying that you see tournaments like the $6m one on Stars on Sunday, etc. But I just refuse to play them, because I just can't win and my live game is totally the same as my online game, but a profit of £9k live, is shown up by a loss of £4k on just one site and so on.

It's most definitely hard to avoid putting your details on and have £100 on so and so, but I have definitely given up on it for the time being. It's not to mention heard loads of stories about players and their Visa bills, although I can confirm I only use my debit card.

So what's everyone elses view and so on to online and whether you play it or not?

that might be where you are going wrong?

[Woodsey]

I've done full flip, I used to love playing live but can't be bothered as much these days. I'd much rather fire up half a dozen online tourneys.

[Rod]

First and foremost it depends on why you are playing poker. If you were a pro then I would have thought that you are putting yourself at a big disadvantage by not playing online due to game availability etc. If you are a recreational player then it should be down to what you enjoy.

You said it is tempting to stick £100 on a site and have a spin. Yes, this is true and there is nothing wrong with doing it but this is not going to be winning poker over the long term usually as bankroll management is even more important online due to the number of games you can play. Again if you are a recreational player this is less important but should be a consideration if you are trying to win money long term. Avoiding big Visa bills is not really that difficult just don't play with money you can't afford or don't actually have.

The standard online is high compared to live, compare a 50/1 cash game live at say a G casino to a 50c/$1 on Pokerstars. The standard is not even similar even though the online game is lower stakes the level of play will be higher than the live game by a fair bit, you have to adjust to this. Live games are fairly easy to beat by playing ABC poker at this level, online is a lot more difficult and requires a little bit more than just pure ABC poker (I am not saying a huge amount more but a little bit). Don't forget the presence of tracking software makes a difference to the way the game plays as well as your opponents are likely to have info on you most average live opponents would not.

The fact most games online play six-max compared to live games being FR should be remembered as well as these two games have differences. Tournaments are different of course but the standard of similar buyin tournaments remains the different, compare a £100 live tournament to say a $150 online - the online one is harder be +EV in. So what I am saying is if you enjoy playing online, play online if you don't then don't. If you decide you do want to play online be prepared to play lower stakes than you play live if you want to be a winner and don't have unrealistic expectations.

I would rather play online than live as I find it much easier to concentrate on the game and play the game. When I am playing live I am usually worried about what is going on at the bar or what somebody else is doing. The fact live poker is generally boring but being at a venue sat at in the bar is generally a lot of fun does not do a lot for my live game either. My live results are far better than my online results but I would still rather be playing online.

[GreekStein]

I know there are lots of us that like a bit of both and some of us that are either genuine live players, or just play online.

But I can honestly say I have given up on online poker completely.

I'm not going to go into the whole discussion about whether or not it's rigged or not. But like said I have totally given up, but it's so annoying that you see tournaments like the $6m one on Stars on Sunday, etc. But I just refuse to play them, because I just can't win and my live game is totally the same as my online game, but a profit of £9k live, is shown up by a loss of £4k on just one site and so on.

It's most definitely hard to avoid putting your details on and have £100 on so and so, but I have definitely given up on it for the time being. It's not to mention heard loads of stories about players and their Visa bills, although I can confirm I only use my debit card.

So what's everyone elses view and so on to online and whether you play it or not?

You could be a loser live, you probably haven't played enough hands to determine that yet I'm guessing.

What work do you do to improve your play?

Also, live is much softer in general, you just have to balance that off against no rakeback, travelling there and back (any other costs), sharing tables with people you'd rather not etc and playing 17 hands a night.

[the rage]

I would echo Geeksteins comments.
I'm a recreational tourney player and for me the great thing about online is that it's such a good learning tool. Ie-you get plenty of hands in, you have software available to record your hands and replay them, so i just treat the online games as a little practice session that i can dip in and out of at my convenience.
 As far as losing too much money etc, i really think that if you are playing online primarily to earn money, you need to get some serious advice about bankroll management.
Also, i would suggest you look at the mental side of your poker game. If you are going into an online comp with the attitude that you 'just can't win', then you may be beaten before you start.
 Jared Tendlers book 'The Mental Game Of Poker' has a lot of info that you may find helpful. Maybe you could check out his website for a bit more info.
  Poker is meant to be an enjoyable  game, so, whether it's live or online, if you are not getting any enjoyment from it, taking a break until your appetite returns is probably no bad thing.

[George2Loose]

Online is around a million times tougher

[action man]

aaron ill take 10%

[Junior Senior]

Online is shit if your account is fitted with a doom switch. Too many emails falling out with support and they fuck you up for life!

[action man]

anyone who doesnt know if online is 'rigged' or not can't possibly be a winning poker player.

[smashedagain]

aaron ill take 10%

He has gotta get 300 posts but according to sources he is trying hard to get there before the ukipt at dtd

[cambridgealex]

anyone who doesnt know if online is 'rigged' or not can't possibly be a winning poker player.

this.

i know it's not rigged, but also don't like playing online. Necessary though to iron out the variance of the live pokers.

[SuuPRlim]

i'm pretty sure live poker is rigged

[smashedagain]

i'm pretty sure live poker is rigged

but when you lose it's hard to prove and when you win you have all the evidence you need

[Rod]

i'm pretty sure live poker is rigged

Yeah, live is not sure about online. Originally I didn't think online was rigged but I have been on a good run recently so I suppose it must be how am I in profit for the year otherwise :-)