In general, what is the skill level like at casino hold'em tournaments?

Question

i use to play poker online a lot and won a couple hundred bucks playing no limit .25/.50 on party poker, ive never played a live game at a casino before but was thinking about giving it a try for a $25+5 tourney, max 100 players top 5 get paid if less than 50 top 10 if more than 50 enter. think i have a shot at winning some money? or are there are a lot of very good players at the casino? how is the skill in casino games vs online, better about the same or worse? i know live games play differently.

Answer 1

I have played online and won some big low buy-in tournaments($5 buy-in 900 players). I have also played quite a few home tourney with positive results.

Finally took a trip to Tunica, MS last year. I played in 2 tournaments and finished in the money in both. Ended up breaking even with what my wife lost in slots...lol.

The trick to playing in a live tourney for the first time is to not look like you are playing in your first live tourney.

First thing is make sure you have the casino's frequent players card before you even walk into the poker room. In most poker rooms there is a floor person behind a counter. Walk up to that person and say "I want to register for the X o'clock tournament", and place your card on the counter. The floor person will punch you into the computer, take your money, and give you your receipt/seat assignment. Bring a magazine or look for one in the poker room, most have free copies of Bluff or something similar. Look for the empty tables, they will be where the tourney will be played. If it is close to tourney time they will probably have a dealer sitting at each table and the starting chips in front of each seat. Each table will have a # on it near the dealer, find your table and look for your seat. Seat #1 is to the dealers left and contimue clockwise around the table with seat #10 on the dealers right. When you sit down show your receipt to the dealer.

Here is something I picked up somewhere on the net:

If you’re posting a blind, folding, calling a bet, betting, or raising, you’ll have to be familiar with the rules to avoid confusion. Casino texas hold’em tables sometimes have an oval-shaped line painted onto the felt, about ten inches or so from the edge of the table, all the way around. Any chips or folded cards have to go past that line. So, if you decide to fold your hand—preflop or otherwise—simply push your hole cards face-down across the line in front of you. The dealer will then know that this is a fold, and he or she will be able to reach your cards, regardless of where you’re sitting at the table. Similiarly, if you decide to bet, call a bet, or raise, your chips have to cross the line.

It goes without saying that you should always wait your turn before acting, as your decision may affect the decisions of others. If, for example, you fold preflop before you’re supposed to, then everyone who hasn’t acted yet to your right will know that there is one less player to worry about to their left, and they may change their strategy based on that. While this doesn’t effect you, because you folded, it may unfairly affect the players to your left, while unfairly helping the players to your right.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you decide to raise (or re-raise), you either have to put the correct amount of chips across the line in one single motion, or you have to say ‘raise’. If you don’t say ‘raise’, and you want to raise a $100 bet to $200, and you put $175 out by accident, it will be considered a call, and you’ll be forced to take your $75 back. You can’t reach back, and add another chip—this would be ruled to be a string bet, and string bets aren’t allowed in casinos. However, if you say the word ‘raise’, this rule does not apply. This is why it’s safest to always announce your intention to raise. Furthermore, if you intend to raise a $100 bet to $200, and you push a single $500 chip across the line without saying raise, it will be consider a call, and you’ll be given $300 in chips back as change. One big chip is considered a call, unless you say otherwise. Like the situation with the dealer sweeping active cards into the muck, accidents result in sometimes unfortunate but always consistent rulings. These accidents can be easily prevented, though, by using a
chip as a marker for your hole cards and by announcing your intention to raise (and I like to state the amount of the raise).

Also, never talk about a hand while it’s in play. If you’re out of the hand, stay quiet. For example, if the board is 9JQ8, don’t say ‘wow I bet someone’s glad they have a ten’. Also, if you’re in a hand, don’t say things like ‘I’d fold if I were you, I have pocket aces’. It’s bad form, and in some cases, it’s against the rules. It’s best to never show your cards to anyone, at all, unless you’ve made it to the end of a hand and it’s time to flip them over, for all to see.

Let’s say you win a pot. The betting is finished, you flip over your hole cards, and you have the best hand. It’s a great feeling, but you’ll have to resist the urge to reach out into the middle of the table and gather up your new chips. The dealer will push them to you.

On the river, if you just call someone else's bet, make them show first.

As far as the skill level's of the other players.... You will have a mix no matter where you are.

Good Luck

Answer 2

It depends on the casino. If you're in Vegas or a California (or even Atlantic City) casino you'll have some pretty sharp players and some pretty mediocre tourists. If you play a lot of online tournament poker you should be able to hold your own and make enough smart decisions to have a shot... provided you don't get hit by a terrible bad beat. If you're in a casino anywhere else, you'll have several good players, a few very good players, and a lot of local yokels... no reason to be afraid of that. The natural tendency when someone plays in their first live event is to tighten up their play, so just focus on playing the game you know how to play and be smart with your adjustments (if the table is tight then loosen up, if the table is loose then tighten up). Odds are you won't win, but you'll definitely have a positive experience. Good luck!

Answer 3

Only played in Vegas once and not in a tournament, but I've played about thirty thousand hands on the internet. When I played at a 1-2 no limit table, I played like crap and won $4. At a 9 man table, expect a good Vegas resident, three guys from out of town that play well, two mice, and three guys who are the same idiots you take down online. The level is a little better, but not much.

Watch your body tells. The main difference between online poker and live poker is telegraphing your hand. And remember what you learned online about winning tournaments!

Answer 4

It definitely is a different game at the casino. There are some things you need to look for while you are playing that you wouldn't think of playing online poker.

Visit - http://www.texasholdem-sites.com/livepokertells.html

Even though Party Poker is no longer allowing US players to play poker, you can still play at the sites listed below. I copied a couple of sites that are talking about the US poker sites.

Answer 5

In major tournaments there are professional dealers at every table, so players don't deal cards them-self this means no bottom o second deal no zarrow shuffle, this can happen if you play in a pub or in a home game, so there listen carefully sounds makes cards when are dealt or shuffled by someone who use a mechanic grip, if you hear louder or more acute sounds than normal be suspicious, and ask for a cutting card on the bottom of the deck. P.S. in poker every hand cards are shuffled so counting cards means just calculating odds and is something that everybody is able to do in a poker tournament, it's black jack where counting cards in 6 or 8 decks gives you edge on the house.

Answer 6

In such a small buy in casino tournament the level of play will be VERY bad, even worse than you see online. In general casino hold em players are much worse than online players of the same stakes.

Answer 7

I have never found any difference.They play the same,and as far as hold em goes not much skill there shear luck.I was playing at turning stone casino in N.Y. had pocket aces, the flop A 7 3 rainbow , I push all in with trips, I get called , turn over he has deuces.river card 2 he got me.did He show skill? with the over cards on board I would muck 22.

Answer 8

I live near five casinos but yet I don't go play because I will lose. I play on the net all the time for play money and I win and I win and I win....but, it is play money. I'm 50 and I've played poker for 45 years, and you can't win at the boats......trust me!

Answer 9

There is a lot of good players, I worked at casino as a poker dealer for 10 years.but if you play good,have lots & lots of luck,you can win.

Answer 10

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