Comparing Online Poker Games vs. Casino Poker Games

Question
I'm going to be going to a casino in Atlantic City next weekend and I plan on playing some Texas hold em. Can you tell me what I should expect in terms of differing playing styles between casino Texas hold em and online Texas hold em?

Answer
Having played far, far more hours than I can count in both online and ‘brick and mortar' games (herefore abbreviated to ‘B & M' games) I can tell you that you'll probably notice that the B & M Texas hold em games are substantially softer than their online Texas hold em counterparts. When you play online, even at the smallest limits, you frequently have at least one or two players with you at the table who have some idea how to play. There are a ton of college kids playing online, and many have discovered that they can make pretty good money (in excess of $20 an hour) by multi-tabling the smaller games ($3-$6 and lower). Even though the pond is perpetually stocked online, you'll still run into some fairly competent players at the smaller limits.

This is NOT true in B&M games. I've played in $15-$30 games in casinos that literally played like a $1-$2 online game. You'll frequently find yourself at a mid limit table in a casino with maybe one other guy who has a grasp on the starting hand rankings and eight other guys who truly take an ‘any two will do' approach to pre-flop play. Yes, some B&M games can be mighty tough—particularly when you start playing with green and black chips. But anyone who's been beating the $1-$2 online (or higher) should be a prohibitive favorite to win the money at any $5-$10 game or lower in a casino. This is particularly true on evenings and weekends—time slots which many true yahoos seem to set aside for casino poker.

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