First Things for the First of the Year

2005 has finally arrived and if you are like most poker players, you have made a New Year's resolution to play well this year. You said to yourself, "I won't go on tilt. I will play tight, aggressive poker. I will pay attention to the other players, and I will yada, yada, yada." This is great that you have a game plan. Most of us do. How long will the new and improved you last? All year? Six months? A week? Less? I am going to reserve judgment on how well you do with your new plan and give you some ideas of things that are very easy to do in the new year that will make you a better player. It's not so much that you will play better, but you will be a better person to play with, as you will have the best interests of those around you in mind as much as you do your own.

There are many things going on around you when you play, and competing fairly and in a friendly manner is, in my opinion, the only way to play. There are many things that you can do when you are at the table that will help to ensure that the game runs smoothly and that good decisions are made by a floorperson when needed. As a player in any given game, it is your responsibility to assist in any way that you can to see that the game runs in a fair manner. One way that you can help to make this happen is to pay attention, and when asked, "What happened?" in a situation in which an error occurred, to speak up with objective truth. How many times have you seen a decision made that wasn't right but was the best that the floorperson could do based on the information that he had? And all the while, there were players in the game who could have provided accurate and helpful information to help the floorman make a good decision. Poker is an imperfect science, and in order to make things fair, and for a ruling to be as good as possible, all of the information needs to be provided. Oftentimes, the dealer can't say for sure if someone did something. If you saw what happened, speak up! There might come a time in the future when your pot will be decided by a decision and no one will back your story even if they saw what happened. You are not a whistle-blower; you are lending assistance to the proper resolution being made. Be a part of the solution, not the problem. You might find that it will pay off for you personally in the future. Even if it doesn't, you can rest easy with the knowledge that you did the right thing.

Another thing you can do when playing poker to ensure a level and fair playing field is to speak up when you see an error about to be made by a dealer. If a dealer taps the table to burn and turn and the action has not been completed yet, try to stop him. Preventing an error helps everyone. It deters the likelihood of hard feelings among those involved in the pot, it speeds up the game, and it lessens the need for decisions. If you see a pot being pushed the wrong way, say something. If you see a hand being misread, say something. You are responsible for all of the things that you witness merely by being a participant in the game.

Something else you can do to make the game enjoyable for everyone is to play nicely or don't play at all. For every hand that you win, there will be at least one loser. Be a good winner as well as a good loser. Don't needle people, and don't gloat when you win. Dummy up and play the next hand without fanfare. Also, don't patronize players. When you suck out on someone, you don't need to point out to them how lucky you got. Trust me, they know it, and they likely hate you for it. Don't pour fuel on the fire by making a comment when they already are steaming. Don't ask to see other players' hands. Although this is allowed within the rules of the game, it simply isn't nice. Get a line on the other person's play by watching and studying him. Asking to see someone else's hand only inspires him to play better. I played the other night, and a guy kept asking to see my hand. Now, of course, this would be enforced only on a hand in which I was in to the river and lost. How is this supposed to make me feel? I have just lost a pot and want to slink away into Neverland, when some buffoon wants to see what I had to get a line on my play! This is a needle, and it is insulting and irritating. It so happened that I already was playing my "A" game at the time, but had I not been, I would have cranked it up a notch so that he would have seen only bad beats of mine or missed huge draws. Simply put, it isn't nice to ask to see a hand. Just because the rules allow it, find another way to learn how your opponent plays. Perhaps start by paying better attention.

That is about it for my first column of the new year. Poker has caught on tremendously, and will continue to grow for quite a while. New players are starting to play the game all the time now, and this is what we have wanted. Don't kill the golden goose. Be fun to play with. Players who have a good time will come back. Those who are not having fun or are made to feel stupid won't be back. A player who is the victim of a bad decision because someone who knew something wouldn't step up might not come back to that cardroom. Be a good player, be a fun player, and be a helpful player. It might come back in spades for you. Class dismissed.

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