There are No Academy Awards at the Poker Table, so Move Along!

How many of you have watched the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel? OK, hands down. I knew it would be most of you. How many of you have played more poker since the show began or have started to play tournaments and/or no-limit games? Aha, I thought so. The games around the country would indicate that there are many new players and many good games, which is very good for poker in general. What may not be good, however, is that many of the new breed of player is coming from the TV-viewing audience with no other information about live casino-style poker. What has happened is that they all wear sunglasses, study ad nauseum every detail of every action, and otherwise take forever to act upon their hands! I can attribute this only to the WPT. So, here is the deal: The action you folks see on television is the final table, after days of grueling play, where the players are playing for huge sums of money. They are not playing in small ring games, weekly tournaments, or other "normal" games; these regular games require less theatrics and more speed. Other players will appreciate it and, actually, your own game could improve if you just play the game and don't worry about showboating! I read several of the poker newsgroups on the Internet, and recently there was a thread about this topic. Here are some of the comments. Many are humorous, but they all make a point that the local $100 buy-in tourney or $1-$2 blind no-limit hold'em ring game doesn't need any more actors.

One poster began by asking, "Am I the only player who hates the WPT?" He went on to explain that in his regular game, $20-$40 hold'em, players cut their chips, stack them back, and cut them again. Then, they take off their sunglasses, put them on, take them off again, and so on. You get the idea. He stated that the games are great and he is winning more than he ever has, but he would like to see these new players speed it up a bit. Of course, he doesn't really hate the WPT, but he realizes that this new group of players has learned to play from watching poker on TV.

Another poster commented that a guy he played with in a $15-$30 stud game counted his chips one by one, every time it was his turn to act. If one spilled off his stack (as he was not very adept at the whole chip-stacking thing), he started counting them all over again. At one point, the poster was very frustrated and wanted to break the ice, so when the guy went into his one, two, three mode, the poster whispered (loud enough to be heard), "And he is moving all in!" Well, that broke up the table, the player involved laughed, and the poster's point was taken that this was not TV and it was time to move along! Maybe the best way to handle these new players is to politely explain to them the difference between final-table play and ring games.

Another poster really cracked me up with this one. He was relating a story from one of the first few hands of a tourney he had played that week. A new player at the table went through the Hollywood motions every time it was his turn to act. He cut the chips, brought them back, cut them, brought them back, and so forth. Finally, the poster said, "Kid, it's the second hand of the tournament. You have the same number of chips you started with, and you aren't on TV." The player actually blushed, but did begin to play faster and realized how unnecessary all of his goofy nonsense was.

Another poster mentioned the line a dealer in his cardroom has used. When a player was going through all of this wasted action, the dealer said, "It's your turn to act, or are you going to keep on acting?"

I love the WPT, and what is not to love? Without it, many of the new poker opportunities wouldn't exist, and there wouldn't be all of the new players in the game. But when players in a $4-$8 hold'em game ask, "How much has he got?" when they are facing an $8 raise, it might be time to re-evaluate where and how the action might have gotten a little bit out of hand. All this said, the WPT is great for the game, and the games are fabulous. The next time you find yourself playing with someone who is trying to win an Academy Award in a $40 buy-in game, you might just politely, and with a smile on your face, ask if he watches the WPT. When he says yes – because, of course, he does – you can chat a bit and then good-naturedly help him to learn the proper pace at which to play. Done with a smile, how can he turn you down? Class dismissed.

Please contact me with your poker questions or comments. Also, I hope to see you at the Oasis Open in Mesquite, Nevada, Oct. 24-28.