Poker Paradise: A Poker Guide to No Limit Texas Hold’em

Introduction

Entering a casino to play poker can be intimidating, even to a seasoned online poker player. There’s just something different about looking at hundreds of dollars worth of poker chips in person instead of through a graphical user interface. In my experience though, playing poker in a live game in a casino can be just as or more profitable because there are many mediocre to poor poker players. An experienced poker player can make money often in this setting, but of course cannot expect to win every time they sit down at a poker table.

Higher Luck Factor in Live Games

One large difference when playing poker at a casino is that the buy-in to blind ratio leaves much more room for variance, that is, losing based on luck. In the casino I play, Harrah’s in Kansas City, the buy-ins are usually $100-$200 and the blinds are $2-$5. Many pots are multi-way and large, meaning that a player can easily be all in on one hand. This causes a large amount of pressure, especially if there is a large stack in the pot.

The Early Game - Building a Chip Stack

There is a spectrum of poker strategies for the early game in a casino, when you’re trying to build a bankroll to become a forced to be reckoned with. First a player can be extremely aggressive in multi-way pots and run the risk of going broke if someone calls. I have seen this work a number of times solely because there are so many marginal hands playing. The downside of course is that every once in a while someone will have hit a set and you will lose all your money. In the long run playing aggressive poker wins money, but if you are tight on money or do not have vast experience playing live poker, I do not suggest this method.

Play Aggresively

Secondly, you can play extremely tight and wait for your opponents to make mistakes. If you solely play your cards you can still win money at a casino, but you will win much less than if you play more aggressively. One of the reasons is that if you do not raise a variety of hands, the poker players who are paying attention will remember that you usually have a very strong poker hand when you raise. You will rarely receive callers in this situation against experienced poker players. Fortunately, the casino will bring many players who do not care about money and, frankly, suck, allowing you to make money off them. Using a mix of these two strategies and being able to read the weakness of your opponents is the optimal choice, but unless you have confidence in your play and a full understanding of the game, it will be a tough feat to perform.

Live Poker Games versus Online Poker Games

One of the main differences from online poker versus brick and mortar poker in the casino is that in live games you can observe physical tells. The most important thing I have come to find is not to say anything, ever. I see some advanced players use trash talk to attempt to get reads off of people and it works pretty frequently. I personally just stare at the flop and think about the most recent football game.

Maintain Composure

Ignore every question asked of you, and don’t ask questions to other players, because unless you’re extremely seasoned, this will also give tells to your opponents. One pitfall I run into a lot while I’m in the casino is to befriend other poker players around me. When you sit at a table for hours, you naturally want to talk to those around you about hands. The problem with this is that when you are in a pot with that player, not only might you have a bias to not take their money, but worse than that you have given them information about your playing style which will cost you dearly. It is best to look at poker as a sport, be serious when you are at the table and friends off the table. Most of all, don’t give away your playbook.

Profiling Poker Personalities at the Table

There are a few dominant Poker Personalities that I see at casinos often. In the next sections I will explain these different types of personalities, show you their weaknesses, and give my personal strategy for playing against these players.

The Old Man Style

The first and my favorite type of poker style I like to play against is called the “Old Man” playing style. This Poker player (usually an old man) will almost never raise any hand. He will slowplay large pocket pairs and ace king. This player is mostly harmless because they will let you draw out on them for cheap and then will be very unwilling to let go of their “good hands.” This player can be dangerous however. If you are the aggressive player type, like I normally am, you need to be cautious when this player calls you. The best way to defeat this player is to slow your gameplay down when it is just you and them, and once you obtain a very strong hand, start pushing them around. The biggest weakness of this player is their predictability. They will not change their gameplay through a sitting, and overall they probably just play the game because they like it, not to win at Poker.

Tron Style

The next Poker Personality is the “Tron” playing style. This comes from the name of a person who defines this personality type. This player will rarely raise, but when they do they will have a strong hand. Instead, this player loves to call and limp in with suited connectors and sometimes just suited cards or connectors. They attempt to break people off over and over. Additionally, after the flop, if they hit a pair, especially top pair, they will bet it strongly and be very unwilling to let it go, even if it is just a low pair such as 7s. It is important to be careful when playing this person because a single hand will become pot commitment very quickly. The best strategy against this player is to show no weakness at all. Make sure that this player believes you to be a very tight player. It will be difficult to get them off a pair, but if you have an overpair versus this player, you should be able to take their entire stack. Also, this player will chase draws even under bad odds, so make them pay to see additional cards. The best bet versus this player is about 75% of the pot.

Mr. Whitey Tighty

Another Poker Personality is the “Whitey Tighty” player. This player is extremely predictable. You can recognize them by their pale skin, uncomfortable posture, and a high level of nervousness. This player is tight. They will only raise the very best hands, and will only reraise when they know they have the best hand. They do not vary their playing style so it is easy to put this player on a big hand. The mistake this personality makes is that they do not raise more than 4x the big blind. In online poker, this bet may work, but at a live poker table a bet like this will often get four to five callers. If you are in late position against this player it is a good idea to play a drawing hand because if you hit a straight or a set this personality will have a difficult time getting away from their hand and you will likely take their entire stack.

The Shark

The last Poker Personality is “the Shark.” This is the frequent visitor of the casino’s poker room, they may even play professionally. You can pick these people out because they are familiar with all of the staff and the dealers will usually greet them. The ones that just come often but don’t do it for a living are not as dangerous because they will generally play the game predictably, but the ones that play for a living should be avoided unless you are a seasoned veteran. These players will play a combination of the player and the cards. They will often have your hand pegged pretty accurately and if they sense any weakness they will strike hard. They will vary their playing style, limping with strong hands sometimes, raising with weak hands on occasion. It will be difficult to put them on a hand so if they raise, unless you hold one of the best hands in the game, it is wise to fold to them. There will generally be a few of these players at the casino together and you can see them talk to each other and evaluate the strengths of each table. This is the type of player that a serious poker player should aspire to become.v

The Newbie

There is another type of poker player that can be difficult to deal with due to the high level of variance in their play. This is the inexperienced poker player. They generally don’t have any type of strategy and don’t even understand what they’re doing, so using any logic to try and figure out what they hold can be difficult. Sometimes you will run across a person who will make small bets into large pots. If a good player makes a move like this one can be more inclined to fold because of the possibility that they are building the pot. However, this player will make awkward bets with middle pairs and flush draws, as well as the nuts, making it difficult to read this player. A strategy I would use against a regular player would be to reraise, but since this player will often call any bet on a draw, this does not provide any additional information about the opponent’s hand. The best strategy against this player is to be cautious unless you have the nuts, in which case you want to nickel and dime this player to death, because they cannot escape a good deal.