Returning to the tables for the first time in years this Friday! (1 Viewer)

[wmcstudios]

Hey all,

I'm returning to my first live game of poker in years! Next Friday I'm heading out to the Turning Stone Casino with my cousin. It's been years since I've played live with anyone other than a group of friends at a home game. I'm planning to hit the $1-2 NL table. Here's what I've been doing to prepare - any advice or suggestions before I return are welcome!

- Min/Max Buy-In is $50/200. I'm planning to sit with $200 and another $100 behind in case I get felted.
- I've been practicing my range, pot odds, position, stack and player observation as much as possible through Daniel Negreneau's masterclass and watching some WSOP breakdowns. Anything else I should brush up on?
- Not sure how my tells are. I'm thinking I'll do fine if I watch my self-awareness. Any recommendations or typical tells I should watch for to start with? I'm a pretty social and open person... I know that's probably not best when I have been out of the live game loop for a while. I'm thinking I'll just remain chill and calm, keep to my range and watch how much I'm talking.

I'm excited. It's been a while and I'm happy to get back into a great hobby I've been missing for a while. That doesn't mean I don't want to make some money along the way but I'm mainly looking forward to having some fun and being around people after this long-haul of covid restrictions.

 

[RichMahogany]

- I've been practicing my range, pot odds, position, stack and player observation as much as possible through Daniel Negreneau's masterclass

 

[sheikh617]

Welcome back to poker! I am nothing close to a professional but pre covid I played a lot of casino poker and was at least a winning player from tracking wins and losses so that counts for something small I guess lol.

Buy-in wise, sitting for the max is a good idea IMO. However only having $100 behind really isn't enough to account for variance as a couple of swingy pots can burn through that $300 total fairly fast. Personally I'd play with 3 total buy-ins which means $400 behind, but if you're just looking to sit and have some fun that's totally fine.

I think most of the forum wouldn't read much into the master class series but as long as you are comfortable with ranges and perceptive of what people at the table are playing and showing down with, you can build a decent idea of the table after 2-3 orbits. What people are 3 betting with, which people are good and you may want to avoid, which people are kind of spewy, etc. Being able to calculate your pot odds and understanding position should be a sufficient amount of tools but at the end of the day you can't beat someone catching a 4 outer so be prepared for the fact that you can play very well and still lose all your money.

In terms of tells, I really only use tells with the group of guys I play with regularly in home games as we play with each other enough where you can start to learn patterns of behavior. Sitting at a table with strangers is pretty different. I would focus on observing what people are showing down so you can get an idea of what people are raising with, 3 betting with, and calling with. Getting an idea of your opponents ranges will help you know where you stand post flop.

Ultimately, just try and have fun. I had to learn that I play poker for fun and not as income so therefore I need to take it less seriously when I am losing or running bad. I'm getting better at being able to just sit down and enjoy playing some cards.

 

[wmcstudios]

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Hey, for someone like me who is just starting down the path of actually learning optimal poker it's a great start! That's a hilarious post though. Luckily I didn't pay for Masterclass just for his class though - lots of great content there.

 

[Highli99]

Good luck! With respect to tells be more concerned with not giving any as opposed to picking them up. You’ll need years of experience before you can expect to gain edge there. Don’t talk in hands you’ll get owned. Try to act consistently in betting motions and do so when weak or strong.

cash is different than tournaments so be careful bluffing. Experienced players may pick you off. Bet big hands early and don’t slow play monsters.

have fun!

 

[Nanook]

........I'm planning to hit the $1-2 NL table. Here's what I've been doing to prepare - any advice or suggestions before I return are welcome!......

Honestly, at 1/2nl live it doesn't take too much to break even or even win a little. At small live games there is a tremendous amount of bad play and if all you do is play tight in early position and pay a little attention to who is playing tight & who is in a lot of pots you should do just fine.

Go have fun & if for whatever reason you stop having fun, get up from the table. Don't stay too long. The card room will open again the next day or week or whatever