Land Based Poker
June 3 2008
When you head to a land-based casino, things are a little different from what you may be used to online. First of all, you don’t have the pick of the litter as far as action goes. When online, you can choose any game you want and play at whichever level you desire. At a land-based casino, the limits are likely to start at $5/$10 Limit Holdem and it may already be full.
Poker is so popular that poker rooms are often filled and the choice of games when you arrive will usually be slim pickings. This is why experienced land-based poker players know so many variations of the game. Sometimes the only action available is a good game of Omaha Hi/Lo Split. If you don’t know how to play, you will have to wait.
All you can do is sign up for a spot in the game you want, and your name will be announced when you’re up. So it’s usually a good idea to plan for an hour or so of waiting for a game. You’ll also notice that the game is a lot slower in a land-based casino than it is online. Live dealers can’t shuffle and deal as fast as poker software so your sessions won’t produce the win/loss swings you may be used to online because you’ll be playing correspondingly fewer hands.
Once you do get a seat, hold onto it until it’s time to go home. You can’t jump in and out like you can online. If you leave for a bit make sure you just sit out and the dealer will take your blinds every time they get around to you, and you can remain in the game. So get comfortable and play your session. And be careful what you say to people. Some players like to ridicule others online. If you call some guy a name after he makes a stupid move against you in a land-based casino, he may very well react and you won’t have your screen to hide behind.
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