I haven’t had the opportunity to play much poker over the years. When I was younger, I played in a regular weekly home game and did terribly, and later, another home game where I did pretty well, which ended a few years ago.
But recently, I have played a couple of live home games and once at a casino for the first time since starting to play on Replay, and I can definitely see the difference. I cashed out with about double my buy-in all three times after playing for about 3 hours, despite the other players being (or acting like) good players. People on Replay complain all the time that players don’t play realistically or that the cards themselves aren’t realistic, but in my experience, many people play just as wild and loose (or even more so) in live poker games for hundreds of real dollars. Playing on Replay enabled me to play thousands of hands and learn the logic and math of the game without risking any real money (I like skill games, not gambling). While Replay may not resemble the play of high level professionals (who are able to play a wider range of hands against each other by having a greater understanding of the game), it has certainly helped me understand how to play for value against loose opponents and when to take a stand against maniacs who get wild and crazy. These two skills seem to be the most effective against most low-stakes live opponents.
So, I just wanted to give a positive shout-out to Replay. Sorry if I sound like a shill, but I am not affiliated with the site in any way, have never bought chips, and am down about 25m chips recently.