Online vs live tournament pace

Question

How would the two generally compare in terms of hands per blind level etc.?

Context: I'm planning to buy into a live regional event later this year, which historically had ~125 players. I find myself comfortable in online non-turbo tournaments twice the size and expect a positive return (but, again, everyone does :)

Fundamentally, I'd wait for a good hand in early stages of the tournament, and when the blinds are high I'd try putting opponents to a difficult decision with a decent hand. I wonder how this would relate to live play in terms of CPR etc.

Are blind levels significantly longer in terms of more rounds played per level and I would be just anteing myself to death without adjusting the strategy? Or, with more time per level, live play pace never catches up and I will be back in low-CSI comfort zone pretty quickly?

Let me know if more information is needed, I'm keen to hear opinions and personal experiences both!

Answer 1

The fundamental difference between live and online are:

Live:

• Watch other peoples movements, gestures, chat etc..
• (Casino cash games) raises PF are alot higher than online 5-20 times BB
• You play less hands in a tournament than you would online since cards need to be shuffled etc..
• You often see more newbies in live poker than online
• Playing higher buy ins (>100$)tournaments is easyer at some point than low buy ins (people are afraid to risk some amount of chips because they are scared to loose the tournament because >100$ means alot to them)

Online:

• More players=more money to win
• More hands played /blind level (you can compare sth like 5min online = 10-15 min live)
• You can only see what time they need to play a hand and chat
• High online buy in tournaments do have more experienced players since most of the time if you play a 200$ tournament you either did a money transfer or you won it by playing(newbies don't do money transfert unless they are rich)

I won lately 2 live tournaments in a row +-130 players and +-220players with 500$ buy in each

My strategy was simple since the blind level was 30 min i could play a decent poker and choose wisely my hands (30 min live = +- 15 min online)Early when blinds are low people tend to play more but after some point they getting tighter and tighter until at some point you know they only play KQ+ off (for most players)

I build up my stack by stealing blinds and making some bluffs when i see a weak person. After i got a good stack(30B+) i try to play suited connectors like 56 suited. Try to avoid battles against some people unless you know you can win(don't bluff them).

Problem is that if you get someone angry it will be harder in the table to steal blinds since everyone is watching every movement of you(because other guy is flaming you or whatever).

Try to be a ghost or a spotlight it only depends on your play style.