As an online player that lives and plays live here in Las Vegas....I offer some observations:
Regardless of which explaination you subscribe to, its obvious that hands you make online can't be counted on with any frequency when playing live. I believe the odds of landing a flush on any given hand is 118-1. It will come 3 or 4 times more frequent than that online. I recently played a satellite at South Point here in town and for almost the first hour, the majority of hands were won with simple pairs(sometimes 7-7 or worse) or high cards (yes, Q high won a couple of times). This must explain the high amount of fish found in this town on ring games. The internet players expecting to flop flushes, straights, and sets with frequency.
I play close attention to our quizzes, because I find them useful for live play. The fact is, most folks (even railbirds) toss stats, odds and common sense out the door and make ridiculous donk calls. This wouldn't be a problem except for one fact: online sites reward poor play. It really doesn't matter why, its a simple fact. I still believe, however, if you play the percentages, make the proper play, and IF your lucky enough to not get donked, you can still win online.
I only ask two things of my donk friends. Please don't exacerbate a bad situation by trying to justify what would be considered by any competent player to be a donk move. I also ask you don't thump your chest, or try and convince yourself, you can really play. If you judge your skills only on your online playing, for most players they are only kidding theselves and when they do sit down at a live table (where we can watch you sweat, tap your foot, roll your eyes and you wont make that stupid inside straight draw after your opponent raised twice) they will make fools of themselves.
Just an observation or two 
wiz
© Copyright 2009
9 comments
Have to call bs
I play Live many hours a week and the hands fall the same. Just have to know how to play. There are donks @ every limit +ev
Luck runs out , skill and odds are constant!!!
I am certainly not putting you down, but I disagree. I played a live tourney over the weekend. Over the course of the 4 hour tourney it seemed like a pair never won the hand. I probably saw at least half a dozen flushes win, 3 of which were Ace high. Also saw pocket aces loose to trip kings when the case king was mucked, and 2 straight flushes in the last 30 minutes.
Crazy cards came out.
There were a ton of calling stations that were trying to draw out on every hand. The same players that you play online can play in person too. Donks are donks and you just have to adjust.
onya wiz - nicely put
but is there a time when donking can be justified (or not so frowned upon)? by that I mean I have all too often seen players online with AA just to be beaten 23-off or the like. Just last night I was crashing in a sng and, being short stacked, went all in with 10c3c calling a dude who made the bet with AA. Of course a 10 came out in the flop with a 3 on the turn and no aces in sight. I was called every obscenity under the sun but I didn't make a bet like that before or after that hand. I was just lucky. Unfortunately my poker is like my golf (I'm a hack!!)
I do make a concious effort not to say anything when the same happens to me as I think the luck of a donk is very limited and not worth the angst
- not easy to say when you've just been knocked out of a tourney 
and you are quite right, wiz, online is nothing like face to face where it is far wiser to fold a bad hand
"This is about bad beats from preposterous situations from people that have no business being in the hand, but because its worked for them "online" they try it live. "
This could be true. Just the shear nubmer of people that play online may cause some "bleeding" back to the live games.
I think some of it has to do with the number of people learning online. Chances are in a live cash game or live cash tourney, you won't have that many people who are just learning the real game. And by "learning" I mean the things that you or I might take for granted. Like starting hand strength, position, pot odds, implied odds and so on. But online you have a ton of players who don't have a clue to these things.
yes you will get more bad beats on-line vs live.
Here are just few reasons why!!!
players on-line just take more risks and play much looser game.
Due to Bigger fields players will make wrong pot odd calls just to try to chip up.
easier for someone to make bad calls on-line because they hide behind their computers instead of dealing with players laughing at them in their face.
Easier to play more then one tourny at a time on-line where live you can really only play one at time.
Busting out quick is not a problem on-line where playing live it is.
players on-line in low limits really don't respect the value of money where live they do.
Wow don't get me started list goes on and on!!!!!!!!!!!
Only advice I can give you is try to play at higher limits on-line it will give you better odds of winning. Just stay away from low limits because poker at this level is a joke
peace
Phantom