Poker Champion Greg Raymer: Play Smart! It Pays To Be Nice At The Table

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I am excited you are reading my first article for Card Player, and I hope you like it. Please let me encourage you to reach out to me with article ideas and questions for future columns. You can tweet to me at @FossilMan, or send me a message at info@fossilmanpoker.com.

I expect most of my future columns to focus on strategy discussion, and how to improve your game. For my first article, however, I wanted to discuss something important for all of us who play poker: the value of being nice at the table.

We all see plenty of grumpy and even nasty players at the tables. Think about them, and ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a player behaving like this who was winning? Or even a strong player? And how often has nasty behavior ever made anybody more money in the game?

Sure, it is possible nasty behavior could put another player on tilt, and cause them to make some poor decisions in the game, but for the most part, this sort of behavior just ruins the mood at the table, causing everyone to have less fun. The most profitable games are those where everybody is having a great time.

Think about the best games you have ever played in, the ones where most of the table was playing loose and putting their chips at risk every hand. Weren’t those also games where everybody was laughing and joking and having a lot of fun? I would be surprised if instead those were quiet games where nobody spoke except to berate another player.

When you berate a player, you are probably going to ruin the fun and playful mood, and cause everybody to play tighter, and better, than they were previously. Some will stop gambling, because they don’t want to be the next target of the killjoy complainer. Others will stop enjoying themselves so much, and no longer find it fun to play every hand. The negative mood caused by the complainer steals their joy.

I teach a lot of group seminars, and I have often told my students, if you criticize how somebody else plays their cards, you are an idiot, an asshole, or both. Moreover, when I hear such criticism, the person lashing out is often completely wrong, and the opponent actually played their hand just fine. By talking trash and being wrong, they are simply displaying to everyone their own lack of understanding of smart play. And even if they are correct that the victim of their attack played poorly, they are only making themselves look like a whiny baby when they complain about it.

I am sure you would never be guilty of such a transgression, but if you ever catch yourself about to berate somebody, remember, you are labeling yourself as an idiot and/or an asshole.

It is easy to say that all these jerks should stop behaving this way. It is tougher, but not that difficult, for any of us who are guilty to stop ourselves in the future. The really hard part is what do we do when it happens at our table? Should we step in and attempt to blunt the negative impact, or will this just make it worse?

Unfortunately, I don’t have any easy advice for this step. If you know the person, and think they will listen, try to get them away from the table, and talk to them in private. Explain this, and ask them if they can stop themselves in the future, for the sake of the game. Hopefully, if you are tactful, they will listen, understand, and improve their behavior. This will benefit all of us, them most of all.

Another thing to do is pay attention to the victim of any such rant. Watch how they take it. If they are veterans of the game, and seem to easily shrug it off, leave it alone. If instead they seem to be hurt, then show them your support and give them your sympathy. If they’re sitting next to you, lean over and whisper something like, “Don’t listen to Bob, he’s just a whiny idiot who complains every time he loses a pot. Plus, you played that hand just fine.” The last thing we want is for a new player to quit the game.

One of the best things you can do, aside from not being that guy, is to actively foster a fun atmosphere at your table. Engage with others, chat about anything interesting (but not poker strategy). Help everyone have fun! And if you’re not somebody who does that, because you’re introverted or whatever, that’s fine. Just make sure you don’t do anything to inhibit the fun.

Recently, I have visited several poker rooms for the first time. In each of these rooms, the players were extremely kind and pleasant. Not just to me, but also to one another. And in all these rooms, the games were great. The players had fun, many of them gambled it up like crazy, and if you were a strong player, you had a large win rate relative to the size of the game. No matter how bad a player got their money into the pot, if they won, the guy who had suffered the bad beat either said nothing at all, or said something simple like “nice hand,” or “you get me every time,” and did so with no trace of sarcasm.

This is the way we should all behave, and if we do, the games will be more profitable, and better yet, more fun for everyone. If you’re not having fun, why are you even playing? That should be reason number one for each of us. So, let’s get out there, be nice, win more money, and have more fun!

Greg Raymer is the 2004 World Series of Poker main event champion, winner of numerous major titles, and has more than $7 million in earnings. He recently authored FossilMan’s Winning Tournament Strategies, available from D&B Publishing, Amazon, and other retailers. He is sponsored by Blue Shark Optics, YouStake, and ShareMyPair. To contact Greg please tweet @FossilMan or visit his website.

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