To the guy playing this past Friday afternoon at caesars: please stay off 2p2 LVL and glued onto phone while at the table. It’s -EV to do this, almost as -EV than watching a movie at a table.

Instead please become more engaging socially and talk to your customers. I promise that your hourly potential will increase by making this small change!

Mods, please lock if needed but I felt compelled to hopefully reach out to this vegas 1/2 reg who frequents this forum while playing.

I agree with the “regs should stop berating the fish” posts but I’m sorry for most of us the conversation at live tables is mind-numbingly annoying and we’d rather not listen to it much less take part in it. Thank God for headphones.

It's hard to talk to people when it's always the same **** - football, fishing, etc none of which I give two craps about.

Perhaps they understand this and are willing to give up the small increase in EV to avoid such conversations.

But it’s still a little funny that you chose to make your “engage socially” plea in an online forum instead of talking to him directly when you were both sitting at the same table.

Oh I spoke to him. He just didn’t get the subtle hint and kept at it, along with the OMC Asian watching his Chinese drama show.

If you guys think it’s a small edge you’re giving up, ask yourselves this question: if you had a choice between sitting at a table full of people with headphones watching movies or a socially engaged table with some moderate banter and drinking, which one would you choose?

Being the nut low in poker by being the non-contributing grinder makes the game arguably much worse for everyone. You don’t have to be the life of the party.

Having signed up for 2+2 makes nobody less of a fish. Maybe the player, rather than improving his poker, was looking for hotel reviews or dining tips.

Don't tap the glass. Not even when it comes to fellow trouts.

While you are 100% correct, do not expect it to change. Those headphone wearing , movie watching social nits are incapable of engaging in anything designed to make the game more attractive to recreational players. In that regard they are - EV for the game they playing.

Unfortunately, the best you can do is piss them off. Try waiting to act in turn for a long time, then tell the dealer you wanted player X to finish his movie so he did not miss the action .... do this only periodically, but especially if you are seated to his right.

I wish all 1/2 players would follow your advice!

The conversation at the table is what you make it.

If you don’t care about what other players in the game care about, it’s pretty difficult to get that kind of conversation going. I can’t remember the last time in a 1/2 game where anyone had something interesting to say.

If your hourly is something that’s really important to you, you probably shouldn’t play 1/2 in a nitfest like Caesars in the first place.

Hypothetically, if my winrate in that game was $20 while I had to listen to the stupid stuff people say and 50% lower = $10 if I could watch a game or show in peace, I would certainly pay that $10/hour premium for the latter.

This is always an interesting topic to me. People always want regs to be more "engaging" at the table but it's not always a cut and dry situation

Is the whole table talking and he's ignoring everyone? Definitely not a good idea

Is the whole table quite and not talking? I bring my headphones too because I'm bored

Is the table talking about poker strategy, money, religion, politics etc? Headphone time for me too

In general I'm against wearing headphones because you can pick up on players strategy by listening to them but some conversations are so bad or nonexistent that it's a good idea to listen to music or something

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If you're only talking to him to help create an environment you believe will increase your EV, couldn't it be in his best interest to not get the hint? Is it necessarily a given that type of environment-influenced game would also be positive for his EV as well as yours?

people with headphones, tablets etc should have to play at their own table
poker is a social game

and guess what the conversations at lower stakes games are mind numbing
they get more interesting as you move up

so maybe put down the headphones and tablets, make more money, move up faster and get into more interesting conversations

This 100%...I’ve been dealing for 8 years and having to listen to the same GD conversations EVERY single day is literally the worst part of the job for me. Makes a huge difference going from 1/2 to 2/5 to PLO. Such a treat listening to players who aren’t living and dying with every flop and sweating high hands constantly.

Hey whats up dude, I assume this thread is about me. I felt we did have a fair amount of conversation, at least by my standards. We talked about Vegas, NY, Macau. You asked me about my hobbies outside of poker and I asked about yours. You mentioned you are a father and when you asked me if I have kids I joked "none that I know of." When someone notices me perusing 2+2 I don't usually see it as bad thing as I like running into fellow 2+2ers. Excuse me for not intepreting that as a signal to get off.

I totally get your position and do agree engaging in friendly banter and small talk with other players has value. I am generally more passive in this regard, if someone wants to talk I'll talk. Occassionally, I'll be more proactive and do stuff like try to cold read where a player is from based on accent or telling jokes. I'll admit I naturally tend to be on the quiet introverted/ socially awkward side. I actually have done certain things to break out of my shell like attending public speaking group Toastmasters and going to RSD seminars.

As an introvert I play a lot more hours of poker than I care to spend talking. Funny enough, my pet peeve is the opposite: loud, rude or disrespectful players, but I put up with it if the table is worth playing at. I get enjoyment out of browsing the web, conversing online and texting IRL friends. Phones and tablets are allowed to be used at most of the poker rooms in Vegas, though I understand that this behavior may not be allowed and deemed bad etiquette by some players from other poker markets or older generations. Personally, these activities don't bother me whatsoever, providing they can keep the action moving in a timely manner.

We all have different preferences and our own notions of what is acceptable behavior in a poker room. I try to balance my own comfort while catering to the recreational players. The ideal poker environment is different for each individual there is no absolute right or wrong.

Since you started this thread I felt obligated to acknowledge your opinion and try to understand your point of view to the best of my abillity while trying to explain my point of view as a shy, socially awkward grinder. No offense intended and none taken. If I happen to run into you at the tables again I'll remember your preferences and I promise I'll accommodate. Also, round of drinks on me.

I really hope nobody does this, ever. A slower game is really the last thing poker needs.

I'm not sure I would call someone that stands on pedestrian bridges playing their guitar for everyone to pass judgement on, an introvert.

People telling others how to behave and how they should occupy their time at the poker table are the nut low imo. As long as someone is not holding up the game, being disrespectful or breaking rules, they can do what they want. If you are annoyed at the players or not enjoying yourself, find another game.

Before you make any assumptions, I have never watched a movie or read a forum at the table. I generally don't touch my phone while at the table. I am not a gregarious sort, but I can hold up my end of a conversation.

That sounds like a decent amount of friendly conversation to me. I joke around a bit at the tables but some friendly players expect soft-play from you if you've been talking to them for a good while and they're your neighbor. Some get quiet too after you beat them in a couple of medium pots or if you happen to bad beat them. So while I am somewhat social at the tables, for these reasons, I avoid being overly friendly.

I've not done it except when the head-phoner or movie watcher or texter, or tight-ass sandwich eater nit, etc. was already holding up the game themselves. It sometimes makes the point clearly.

Look, I appreciate pure.aggression's very responsive post above. FWIW, a no phones policy once was standard in my experience in playing live in Las Vegas.... I think the introduction of phones and tablets to the poker scene in Las Vegas was a mistake, but inevitable as technology expanded its reach and non-poker utility.

The Hard Rock used to have a slogan, drawn from Nirvana, over the front desk:

"Here we are now, entertain us"

FWIW, I am a recreational player, I want entertainment. You want me in your game, take my word on what bugs me and my ilk.

(Still think the cavalry hat wearing, movie-watching, cigar chewing guy at the V is another exception. His decidedly eccentric style/activity is entertaining, and probably doesn't bother recs as much as 3 hoodie-wearing, non-communicating, headphoners in a bunch at the same table.)

ROFL. What’s up pure aggression. Only if I knew who I was talking to at the tables we for sure would have had a more engaged conversation based off prior conversations with Tim. I felt we could have totally rattled the fish at that table with some good conversation. I was trying at least as I felt the conversation could have put the others at ease a bit. I’m typically an invert too, but I’ve been working on reasonable levels of banter as I’ve found this really crucial at higher stakes. (Ironically, it came in handy at the 2/5 game that started a hour after you left)

Next time...

Was going to post something and then I saw this. +1000.

Why does someone think that it is mandatory to entertain the table in order to be in a good game? Like the person OP refers to, I am an introvert and just don´t like to talk to people at the table very much. I know nothing about sports, I don´t care about politics, I don´t usually drink alcohol. I just want to sit quietly at a poker table for a couple of hours, play my game and do whatever the **** I want on my phone.

This also boils down to multitasking, coming from an online environment where I was used to play 12 tables of MTTs while watching a movie on the other screen I simply get bored between hands and would just quit if there was no phone involved.

OP is an *******. Pure continues to be a class act.

If you want your neighbors to entertain you, try the bar adjacent to any poker room. No one owes anyone else their attention.

Mind numbing rec-dad talk gets old.