A Tournament Rule That Must be Changed

A popular tournament rule is "no talking about your hand." It comes in four flavors: no talking about your hand at all, no lying, no telling the truth, and no talking about the specific details of your hand. (Tournament directors seldom announce which flavor is in effect, so you may have trouble knowing in advance which statements are forbidden.) There is a reasonable justification for forbidding talking about specific details of your hand in multiway pots. This is the fact that a player who knows the talker and may be familiar with the implications of his statements will gain an unfair advantage over one who is unfamiliar with the talker. But, there is no need for a gag rule when there are only two players in a hand.

I recently asked one tournament director what purpose this rule served. His response was that talking about your hand is an attempt to influence your opponent. Wake up! Poker is all about trying to influence your opponents and get them to make mistakes. Betting, creating false tells, shifting gears, slow-playing, and so on are all ways to influence your opponents. Is there any reason to allow talking? Players at the table enjoy it. Spectators love it. It's great for television. Remember that most people play poker for enjoyment, and things that increase their enjoyment are desirable.

Anyone who has ever played with Amarillo Slim or Danny Robison will know how enjoyable table talk can be. Slim's Texas witticisms are great. I remember Slim once telling someone that if he called all of his bets and "it cost a quarter to go around the world, he wouldn't be able to go around the block." I have repeatedly seen Danny convince someone to throw away several extra bets on a hopeless hand, only because he wanted to see how Danny's holecards related to what he had said about them. When Danny first "found God" and threatened to retire from poker, I begged him to record his greatest poker raps for posterity. When a game is grim and silent, players leave. When it is pleasant, lively, and talky, they stay. Why? Because they're having fun, and no one wants to leave when the game is fun.

One more reason for repealing this rule is that it can be used for cheap shots against novices. The cheap-shot artist innocently asks his novice opponent what he has, and then tries to convince the tournament director that an improper statement was made and his opponent has a dead hand. Newcomers to tournament poker have enough to worry about without suddenly finding themselves penalized for saying they were bluffing when they were bluffing, hoping their opponent wouldn't believe them. When draconian rules such as no talking or no throwing cards off the table are too severely enforced, it ruins the game. Tournament directors have been known to announce, "If a card accidentally goes off the table, you accidentally get a 10-minute penalty." The first offense should receive a mild warning. The second one should receive a more severe warning. Then, finally, on the third offense, a penalty should be considered.