Ashley Adams at Poker Player Newspaper wrote an informative article called Home Poker vs. Casino Poker. He discusses the obvious and subtle differences between the two places where you might play cards. Ashley also explains why different styles of play are necessary for playing in both home games and casino games.
Earlier this week, I played in a home game at the Blue Parrot which is run by my friend Ferrari. I played there with my brother Dr. Pauly and several other bloggers.
We've all played against each other plenty of times before so we were familiar with each other's playing style. Like Ashley Adams said, you have to learn how to play individual hands differently to mix it up against people who know how you play.
When I play at the Blue Parrot, I always mix up my play. Sometimes I'll slow play a good hand or raise with junk. When I go to Atlantic City and Las Vegas to play, I'm usually playing against people I've never seen before. My style of play has to change in order to adapt to casino poker especially at the lower limits.
Usually the players are inexperienced calling stations and not paying attention to my tight table image. I play my hands straight forward, avoid fancy play, fold when I think I am beat, and never bluff. Like the Devilfish once said, "Never bluff a calling station."
