Is the action really that different live vs online?

[wushibala]

I’ve never played live poker, only online.
And I’ve always been curious — is there really a noticeable difference in how the hands play out?

For example, in online games, it sometimes feels like you see more big hands like flushes, straights, and full houses than you should.
Do you get those as often in live games, or is that just the nature of online play?

Or maybe it just feels that way because online hands are much faster and we play more volume?

Would love to hear your thoughts if you’ve played both!

 

[Fosterbio]

I didn't play live in a casino, but I played with friends at home... what you're talking about happens much less often and here's why. When playing live, you only play 1 table because more is physically impossible. Online, you can load 4-6 tables, and some load 20-25, so it turns out that online you play more hands per hour, so this will happen much more often online than in a live game
as Daniel Negreanu said: you look at a guy who is hardly old enough to enter a casino, and then it turns out that over the last two years he has played so many games online that many offline players play in their entire lives.

 

[primrose]

I mean, no, the probabilities are exactly the same. People play worse live, but the run-outs aren't different.

In my casino, people constantly make comments like "if it were online, [xyz unlikely thing] would have happened here". I guess it's a good way to identify people who don't understand selective memory.

In the tournament yesterday there was a hand where someone all-ined with KK overpair on a monocolored board vs. QQ top set from a bigger stack. The flush came in on the Turn and someone said that a full house was still possible, then instead the River was the fourth Q for quads -- and the KK guy already had been on a streak of bad luck for a few weeks. In the hand where I was eliminated, I all-ined with a weak top pair from a short stack, got called, the Turn gave me a second pair, the River counter-fitted the second pair, then it turned out that the counterfitting didn't matter because opponent didn't have top pair anyway, but they were on a naked Flush Draw instead and the River had also completed the Flush.

In other words, two unlikely runouts in just a few hands I remember. Yet somehow no one complained about it when it was live Guess people have too many social scruples when the dealer is a person, whereas there's no social punishment for complaining about online hands where no present person is indicated and no one can verify anything.

 

[ninocabral]

I think the difference is the speed at which hands are played, online they are much faster than live so the frequency at which hands hit is higher than live

 

[userX]

I think online poker and live poker are very different. At least when it comes to tournaments. The blinds are radically different, and this definitely has a big impact on the game itself.

 

[pentazepam]

There are more crazy hands live because people play almost everything and are worse in general.

However, as others have stated, the game is quite slow, and you can only play at a single table. Therefore, over time (or per time unit), you see more unusual things online.

You don't see a "one-outer hand" played this bad often at higher stakes online:

 

[dzsire]

In live poker, there is definitely facial expressions and player reading, which is difficult or not visible online.
This means that the course of a party can be completely different.

 

[massautv]

Very different, without a doubt, live is a thousand times better in strategies and plays. A fairer game

 

[antonis32123]

Day and night . See how they play some hands with 2 to 5 blinds in their stack , by limping or betting , how they get rewarded , and you'll get my point . Unfortunately online poker is not pure poker , it's a scan version and poker rooms don't try to change it cause that's the way they like it

 

[machinm19]

I find it completely different live in lots of ways. Eg nobody will ever call your all in with K10 off suit live preflop . The thing is people do not like to look silly or be labelled a donk so you get way less donk calls live. Of course this is just one aspect that makes it different. I enjoy both live and online it’s not like you have to just pick one.

 

[perrywh]

Yes!

 

[flabilim]

I interpret the two, but live and very different, since it involves various aspects such as nervousness, facial remarks, manias, etc., that lead you to read the villain, but in terms of malice they are the same.

 

[Magallaneroy]

For mi it is, you can talk, you need to be more aware with the games situation, be more active of how the players act, etc.

 

[rufininha14]

Without a doubt, live you are seeing your opponent's reaction and it can often be easier to read the player, online it is more difficult, you have to analyze his actions and see how he is playing and what type of game he is playing.

 

[TheFO0L]

Its because there is way more HPH online online is like 100HPH on 1 single table while live is around 30HPH and on top of it if you wultitable then you can multiply it by the number of tables

 

[skkz1997]

The biggest technical difference between live and online gaming is the human factor.
In live poker, we can collect table information that is not available online (continuous conversations, player reactions, body posture). Those aren't the main factors, but they help us make a profit live.

 

[LiviuRo123]

Yes. Online is faster, more hands per hour, and more aggressive; live is slower, more physical reads, and psychological.

 

[eberetta1]

Live casino is fun. Problem is you may be betting way more than you do online. At a live casino there is nothing smaller than $1/$2 tables. So sitting at the table with $100 to $200 is different than sitting in your jammies at home playing 1c/2c, 2c/5c, and 10c/ 25c online poker.

Time also seems a lot different. At home, if a table is too slow, you can add a table or two. Not so live.

 

[Poker Orifice]

I’ve never played live poker, only online.
And I’ve always been curious — is there really a noticeable difference in how the hands play out?

For example, in online games, it sometimes feels like you see more big hands like flushes, straights, and full houses than you should.

You state that you've never played 'live poker', only online. But then you say "it sometimes feels like you see more big hands.... than you should."
How would you know if you a) haven't played live poker b) if you're not keeping track and checking stats

The deal is the same... poker is poker.

How individual players play in different situations, or at different buy-in levels is a different story. But I don't think this is what you are asking here.


tldr 'No! It's not rigged!'