What does this usually mean to you based on nothing else?

After seeing them interact, the guy never shows his cards to the girlfriend. Never talks to her about hands. Never looks to her after a big pot. The girlfriend leaves him alone.

But the guy checks in on her and chats (again non poker) between hands.

What do you think of this player now?

Does anything change if they're both Asian?

If the GF is sitting over the players shoulder watching him, the player will be aware of it and will be posturing. In that situation, they will be more apt to fold than lose at show down, so might be more bluffable. In these situations, the guy is usually narcissistic enough that he think there is nothing cooler than watching him play poker, or the woman is insecure enough that she wants to placate him by watching him, or not want to let him out of her sight. Either way, there is an exploitable dynamic there.

If the girlfriend is setting behind him, but a few feet away where she can't see the action, and is doing something like reading or watching a movie on her phone, it means nothing. He likely won't be playing any differently than normal.

If they are Asian, it means nothing.

I tend to find that, in general, players are tighter when 'anyone' is railing/sitting with them ... unless it's another poker player.

I will pay attention to any 'attitude' displayed by the girl/wife to see if she will be giving the player 'hell' if he loses. This really makes me think that the player is tighter.

I don't think the race has much to do with it .. it's more the behavior of the 'watcher' towards the chips.

I know my wife would want me to cash out and head to the car the moment I buy in for a 2/5 game!! There is no way I could have her sweat me in a 2/5 cash game and it would be hard for her to watch 1/2 once I got up $100. Tournament would be fine since the money is gone already anyway. GL

one of them cheated so now they have to spend every waking minute together

If there's no poker interaction going on between them and is clearly OPTAH, what's the problem? The railers I see are usually disinterested in the play, just waiting for their partner to call it a day or go to dinner with them.

I think this is completely normal behavior. If the railer is interested in the play, sometimes I see the player tighten up their range. If they're reading or uninterested I see relatively little change in play.

In general, if the wife/gf is watching I think they don't want to be embarrassed by loosing so they won't be bluffing and will be afraid of looking stupidg. Occassionally this might reverse and the guy might try some wild bluff to "impress" her but its prob pretty rare - and really all the girl knows in most cases if is he is winning or loosing.

I can tell you from experience that unless this person is a regular and you always see their gf sitting behind them looking absolutely miserable, having anyone sitting with them, especially if it's not the norm, especially if its a girlfriend, absolutely effects their mindset, and will probably effect their play.

In my case I could feel my girlfriend was getting bored so I ended up playing more hands than usual. The only time having someone sitting with me improved my play was with my mom who use to grind out 2-4/4-8 LHE who knew of the long hours, didn't mind the wait, and I could discuss hands with, but mostly was a good presence to have as I didn't get discouraged and kept my patience.

I don't think them both being Asian has anything to do with anything. As far as how we can deduce tells out of this, I find that guys don't like to lose in front of their SO's so will keep rebuying after getting felted to save face. So I'm putting them on a wider range than usual.

If the girl is hot, it's a nice distraction for the rest of the table between hands. Otherwise, I don't think about it at all.

From my experience, having your girlfriend sitting behind you 100% affects your play.

In my opinion, it could be totally embarrassing to lose a big hand or make a fool of yourself in the presence of your girlfriend. Having someone sit behind you while you play tends to make players play more conservative, make more logical decisions, "gamble" less, and not tilt.

A player is less likely to start spewing chips, raising light, calling light, or going all-in with a bluff when someone is sitting behind them that they care about. Players tend to care about their reputation, and losing a buy-in in their presence may give off a "loser" persona.

I think you can play aggressive and bluff these types of players more when they have marginal holdings, as they as scared to lose chips with a semi-decent hand.

That's just my 2 cents and my honest opinion.

My mistress is my only lucky charm

I have yet in all my 1000's of hours playing live (since 06) seen a competent player who has a girlfriend behind him.

I mean if you really think about it you have to be stupid/egotistical/delusional on some level to have a girl sit behind you unless its a coaching session. The vast majority of the time I imagine the guy has told the gal that he makes tonnes of money playing poker and that she should watch him in action and he is hoping the girl will be impressed, the problem is even when the guy runs hot the girl has to be equally as dumb in order to be impressed but even then she has to sit there awkwardly being bored for hours.

If you see a table with people doing this you 99.99% (especially if there's more than 1) know its gonna be a great game!

I mean, this really might be the absolute worst post I've ever read on this forum, hopefully it's a troll.


Do people with spectators tend to be more recreational? Of course, but that only makes sense. If you're going to have fun, you bring someone. If you are going to work (and they don't play) you don't bring them.

I use it as a clue to pay extra attention to that player to see if he actually is a rec, it doesn't mean that person is, though..... When my GF and I go on vacation and I want to play for a hour or two, she comes w/, then we go do something. Once in a blue moon we would eat at the local casino and she'd usually watch for 1-2 hours before or after and then we'd leave. Out of 20 trips to the casino a month she maybe would come once or twice.

As far as it effecting your play, I can honestly say it has 0 effect on me, and I've played with people around me countless times. I'd guess for most professionals or serious recs, it doesn't effect them either. The guy having fun on a Friday night on the other hand........ 90% chance it effects him.

YOU need to get around 2+2 more if you think Benat's post is the "worst ever". LOL

BTW, I agree more with Benat's opinion on this matter than yours.

Saying "I've never seen one competent player with a girl behind them" is absurdly dumb and literally has nothing to do with how competent or incompetent someone is. If you're marking someone a rec because of that... well you're probably the actual fish.

I think I'll grab my GF and go to the Bellagio and play right now in honor of the thread. Hopefully someone thinks I'm a fish!!

I think some guys will try to show off to their gf especially if it's a newer gf. I once stacked a guy in 2/5 bluff catching a triple barrel and I don't know if I would've called if he didn't seem like he was trying to show off to his gf. He looked extremely embarassed after losing the hand also.

He looked embarrassed because you emasculated him bro in front of his GF !!!

It's just my observation after 1000's of hours of play, it shouldn't make you mad. I just can't recall ever seeing a competent player with a girl sat behind him, and I think I understand some of the reasons why.

BTW I don't hate these people, If you can get a bit of back and forth and joking around with the girlfriend going it can create funny situations and make for a good table atmosphere.

I don't like the people who have the girlfriend behind him..

There is this one couple who are in their late 70s I would guess, the man plays almost everyday and each time the wife is sitting next to him.. I always think to myself..you could have mere minutes left why do this?

you should take a look at some actuarial tables. the average 80 year old has more than a few minutes left. but i get you. better than playing slots right?

If you bring your girlfriend to the game and stare me down while tanking I'm going to wink at her.

Usually mean that they are too cheap to throw her a hundo for the slots

A pretty sexist conversation, if you ask me. And even if you don't.

I have found my experience in casinos to be completely the opposite of what most of you stated. When I have a player with a girlfriend behind him at a table, he usually wants to impress her and plays a lot looser, not tighter.

If it's someone there with a wife, who seems like she's been dragged to the casino, he either plays his normal game (assuming I've played this person before), or pushes more often, to get out of there faster, to make her happy.

i agree with you that overall they're looser but on the same token do you think they become 'looser with their hero folds' as well which means playing tighter in that regard, does that make sense?

if i were looking to show off i'd be more likely to call with an ace high or bottom pair and make raises/open pots like you were referring to, but also more likely to fold something like 2 pair to show i have the smarts to know when i'm beat, plus i get plausible-deniability on being right/wrong when they don't show

the reason i thinky someone looking to show off would take both extremes and also take strange/creative lines is to make themselves appear unique or special whenever possible, as if they were always thinking on a level above everyone else - which probably a lot of times would lead to spew - but other times lead to making big folds. i feel like that'd be equally as impressive, like oh wow my baby is smarter than me i would have for sure called there! do you see that also or nah?

Haha, so you're basically saying that the guy would play like a total idiot? I don't know how big folds would be impressive to the rail who usually knows nothing about poker, or else she would be playing ...

i played with a girlfriend next to me twice. didn't go well
Obviously people that do this can not focus as if they where alone.
Obviously people that do this do not care about the game.

''I have yet in all my 1000's of hours playing live (since 06) seen a competent player who has a girlfriend behind him.

I mean if you really think about it you have to be stupid/egotistical/delusional on some level to have a girl sit behind'' > same here +1

FreshThyme u r definitely the exception to the rule here

glgl