I have been playing online poker for a few years with little or no success. I have won a little bit here and there, but overall I was breaking even and sticking to very low stakes. Despite this, I still had a love for poker and saw it is a way to chill out and relax, forgetting about the bad day in work. In 2008 I decided it was a new year to start my game and improve my game. I made a list of how I thought it would help improve and actually make a bit of pocket money on the side. My list included playing a live game.

While see myself as still learning and had the need to improve my game, I thought I would dive in and play a live game. Now living near London I thought this would be simple enough, due to the number of casino’s and pub league games that are held all over the capital. Despite this I was so nervous about playing live; even though I had played online and with friends, I thought playing live would be such a big difference, especially as most of the games I was looking at playing in were self dealt.

In April 2008 I made the move to playing live and as crazy as it sounds, I actually played in quite a large game for my first game. I played in the London Pub Poker Open, with 165 runners. I totally flopped out quite early when my kings were beaten by pocket Aces. Still it was such a buzz and I was hooked. People were helpful and friendly and even though I looked like a total fish, I learnt a lot in my first live game.

Since April I have played a few live games and I have even won a game, netting me a nice profit to add to my bank roll. Playing live is my number 1 tip to help you improve your game.

So you live outside of London and you are not sure how to get involved. Well no matter if you live in a big city or a smaller village, there will be a pub poker game going on near you. The buy-in is low and a great way to learn the live game.