Probably few of you have ever played poker in a casino, but knowing how live games differ from online games is very important to your overall understanding of the game. So today we’re going to talk about the countenances found in live games, as well as how to utilize them.
It’s no secret that playing poker on live tables is much more enjoyable than playing poker online. Most players who are successful online can start playing offline and quickly turn their transition into a profit. However, this is not the case for successful offline players who choose to play online.
Nevertheless, the players who have the highest hourly winrates in live games are often live poker pros. This is because of many reasons, but one in particular stands out: many live players use very poor strategies that give careful players many opportunities to exploit.
In other words, the player needs to identify and attack the countenances that live players typically encounter in order to crush live games. A deep understanding of game theory is an advantage, as it is in online gaming, but balance sometimes gives way to exploitation.
Below, we’ll talk about methods to help you win by exploiting the common countenances of your opponents when you play live poker.
1- Play tighter against 4-bets. Live players often exhibit poorly balanced 3-bet and 4-bet ranges preflop when their ranges are heavily skewed towards the flush side. This linear approach to creating a raise range, where a player opens with only good hands, 3-bets with good hands and plays 4-bets with only good hands, is common in live games and is very easy to use.
In live games, hands that will serve as mandatory calls against a 4-bet online will often be fouls. For example, JJ and TT can exploitably fold to a tie player, as well as strong broadway connects such as AQ. These hands are terrible against a narrow range of AA, KK and AK, which are the typical 4-bet spectrum for a very taiy live player.
2. Expand your 3-bet range. Increasing the frequency of 3-betting is another way to utilize the taiy 4-bet range of live players.
You can 3-bet with a low risk of being knocked out of the pot preflop if your opponent will only 4-bet with KK+ and AK. This dynamic makes your 3-bet range more profitable, allowing it to generate more equity. In addition, many live players do not do well with a wide range 3-bet. This is because preflop casino play is usually passive, so many players can’t handle a wide three-bet range and will overfold as a result.
3- Using a smaller size cont-bet on the flop is another way to capitalize on the tendencies of live players, especially in multi-sided pots.
This strategy benefits from the use of several common counts:
1. Check-raise is a rare mouve in live games;
2. On late streets, you can barrage better against players who overfold.