Friday, June 22, 2007
Observations in Poker
I've noticed a number of things that can help avoid hostility. Here's a list of them:
1. Avoid commenting on hands when out of the hand yourself
People can see something as innocent as a 'nice hand' comment into something insulting and condescending. Try to avoid making comments *at least* when out of the hand.
2. Be polite
Nothing infuriates people worse than being an ignorant mouthbreather who says things like "nh fish" or "ship it, donkey." This goes double for when you win. The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner. Comments like "thanks" or "BOOM!" can easily make you look like some daft punk.
3. Try to stay positive
Another big observation is that people get down on themselves if they lose a big hand, or especially when they get outdrawn. Poker is a game of imperfect information, and it is part luck,
so when you get outdrawn, just repeat to yourself that it wasn't your fault, and that you made the right play, but lost anyway. Such is the cruel nature of poker. All you can do is minimize luck, rather than eliminate it entirely.
4. (Online Poker) Turn off observer/player chat
Here is a huge tip for avoiding idiocy and big mouths online - turn off chat. That way, you don't hear the blathering idiocy of those in the tournament. Poker seems to draw out the most egotistical and arrogant players of any sport, outside of the "big four" (basketball, baseball, football, and hockey), and these bastards can get to anyone. Just shut them the hell up by making sure you can't see what these mouthbreathers are saying.
Just a sample of the morons you can encounter:
-people who table coach
-people who are constantly talking or flooding chat with comments like ddddddddddddd or p
p
p
p
p
p
-people who parrot everything the dealer says, or anything players say.
I've found it really helped me by shutting off chat for good. That way, I can focus on the poker at hand, and not the degenerate retards who are screaming at me for slowplaying a hand. Unfortunately, this doesn't work in live poker, and you can be subjected to any number of scumbags. In this case, I would just ask the dealer to contact the floor manager.
I'll probably add more of these as I continue onwards. Thanks for reading.
1. Avoid commenting on hands when out of the hand yourself
People can see something as innocent as a 'nice hand' comment into something insulting and condescending. Try to avoid making comments *at least* when out of the hand.
2. Be polite
Nothing infuriates people worse than being an ignorant mouthbreather who says things like "nh fish" or "ship it, donkey." This goes double for when you win. The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner. Comments like "thanks" or "BOOM!" can easily make you look like some daft punk.
3. Try to stay positive
Another big observation is that people get down on themselves if they lose a big hand, or especially when they get outdrawn. Poker is a game of imperfect information, and it is part luck,
so when you get outdrawn, just repeat to yourself that it wasn't your fault, and that you made the right play, but lost anyway. Such is the cruel nature of poker. All you can do is minimize luck, rather than eliminate it entirely.
4. (Online Poker) Turn off observer/player chat
Here is a huge tip for avoiding idiocy and big mouths online - turn off chat. That way, you don't hear the blathering idiocy of those in the tournament. Poker seems to draw out the most egotistical and arrogant players of any sport, outside of the "big four" (basketball, baseball, football, and hockey), and these bastards can get to anyone. Just shut them the hell up by making sure you can't see what these mouthbreathers are saying.
Just a sample of the morons you can encounter:
-people who table coach
-people who are constantly talking or flooding chat with comments like ddddddddddddd or p
p
p
p
p
p
-people who parrot everything the dealer says, or anything players say.
I've found it really helped me by shutting off chat for good. That way, I can focus on the poker at hand, and not the degenerate retards who are screaming at me for slowplaying a hand. Unfortunately, this doesn't work in live poker, and you can be subjected to any number of scumbags. In this case, I would just ask the dealer to contact the floor manager.
I'll probably add more of these as I continue onwards. Thanks for reading.
