Switching From Online To Brick and Mortar Poker

Former online players (OLP) complain more about live poker’s slowness, but its higher costs are much more important. In fact, these costs are so high that many online pros and semi-pros can’t win without making huge strategic changes.

Most online pros and semi-pros were small-stakes grinders. They multi-tabled, played hundreds of hands per hour, made a tiny profit on each hand, and received substantial rakeback and other bonuses. Live poker is so expensive that anyone applying a low-margin strategy cannot possibly win.

Brick and mortar (B&M) games, especially the smallest, most popular ones, cost more than twice as much as online games. The rake is about twice as high (about 10 percent vs. 5 percent) without rakeback and deposit bonuses. You also have many other costs: tips, jackpot drops, gas, parking, tolls, and even hotel bills.

There are also non-financial costs, especially the time spent driving and waiting to play. If you’re a pro or semi-pro, time is money, and every wasted minute reduces your income.

When I made these points, some people insisted that costs were unimportant. For example, I told a middle-limit pro that Mike Caro once wrote: “On a final-round bet into a lone opponent (assuming no cap on the rake), you’d need a 5-to-4 edge just to break even – assuming you’d always be called and there were no possibility of a raise (in a non-rake game, even the tiniest advantage would do).”

I said the same principle applies to small versus larger rakes. A decision that is +EV when the rake is low could become negative EV when it’s high. He interrupted, “I never think about the rake. I just focus on playing my hands well.” That’s irrational because the rake can determine the optimal strategy.

Several adjustments can reduce, but not eliminate, the effects of higher costs. I’ll cover some now and some in my next column.

1. Play In Bigger Games.

The bigger the game, the smaller the impact of the rake, tips, and other costs. In smaller games it’s nearly impossible to win enough from the other players to recover those costs. They go up much more slowly than the stakes.

For example, The Bellagio’s max rake for a $4-$8 game is $4 per hand, and the average player pays about $10 an hour. It charges only $6 per half hour (20 percent more) to play $40-$80, ten times the stakes.

2. Select Cardrooms With The Lowest Rake.

Choosing wisely can save you a lot of money. For example, in Las Vegas small limit games have a max rake of $3 in the Palms, $4 in most rooms, and $5 in most Caesars properties. In addition, at slow times many rooms cut the rake or provide other incentives.

3. Request Rake Reductions.

When a game becomes shorthanded, most rooms reduce the rake. Some do it automatically, but in others, if you don’t ask, they keep taking the full rake. So always ask for it, even if it’s for just a few hands while players are walking.

4. Become A Smart “B&M Bonus Whore.”

Wikipedia defines “Bonus Whores” as online players who go to whichever website gives them the best deals on rakeback, deposit bonuses and other promotions. Without bonuses, many winning OLPs would have been losers. Because the costs are higher, nearly all players in small B&M games would lose without bonuses.

Online bonuses were paid by the website, but most B&M bonuses are paid from a jackpot drop. $1 is taken at $10 or $20, and some rooms take a second dollar when the pot becomes much larger. Every hour the average player pays $3 to $6 in these drops.

That jackpot drop costs you thousands of dollars per year. Why not get back as much as possible? Play when and where you get the best deals and avoid rooms that charge you more in jackpot drop than you get back from promotions. For example, freeroll tournaments “tax” tourists and pay “welfare” to regulars. Most tourists can’t get enough hours to qualify, or they can’t play when the tournament is offered. If you pick your rooms, times, and games well, you’ll make a profit from the jackpot drop.

5. Factor The Rake, Jackpot Drop, And Tokes Into Your Strategic Decisions.

Mike Caro argued that you should value bet on the river more often in a timed than in a raked game. In some states the rake doesn’t depend upon pot size. There you can ignore the 5-to-4 rule on the river, but in small pots you usually need an even larger edge. Mike’s principle of factoring the rake into your decisions applies to every bet in a raked pot that has not maxed out and should be applied to many strategic decisions.

For example, in a raked game you should generally avoid small pots. The rake and jackpot drop are so high that you can rarely get enough of an edge to overcome those costs. So chop the blinds and steal them more selectively from late position. Because the costs wipe out your edge in small games, many other plays that are usually +EV should be made less frequently or even dropped from your repertoire.

6. Play Fewer Hands, And Play Them More Aggressively.

This point expands the last one. Many hands that would be +EV with a low rake are -EV with a higher one, especially when there’s a jackpot drop. Just fold and wait for a better opportunity. If you do play, be more aggressive to make the pot larger. The bigger it is, the more likely you are to max out the rake, effectively reducing its percentage of the pot. Since the jackpot drop is usually taken when the pot reaches $10, its percentage drops even faster.

Aggression generally pays, and it pays better in highly raked pots. For example, open-limping is generally unwise, and you should almost never do it in a highly-raked game. If you win immediately, you may not pay any rake because some rooms have a “no flop, no drop” policy. If you get called and win, the pot will be larger, reducing the impact of the rake and jackpot drop.

Open-raising and all other forms of aggression will also knock out players who have already put up blinds or other chips, creating dead money. The more dead money a pot contains, the less often you must win to make a profit.

Final Remarks

Far too many poker players ignore or minimize the effects of higher costs. Some believe that “worrying” about such “trivia” is beneath them. Others are too lazy or think that they are so good that these costs don’t really matter. But higher costs will certainly reduce or even destroy your profits. My next column will contain some more recommendations. You may dislike my specific recommendations, but I hope you accept the central point. Because B&M games are much more expensive, if you don’t make huge adjustments, you MUST lose. ♠

Do you often wonder, “Why are my results so disappointing?” Ask Dr. Al, alan[email protected]. He’s David Sklansky’s co-author for DUCY? and the sole author of five poker psychology books._