I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but any help would be appreciated. I recently played poker with a group of friends from work. There was one individual who would continue to try and call out your hand. Regardless if he was right or not, is this good etiquette? I do not think it is, and if so, how should I go about telling him to stop?

Start calling out his... on every street. The first time it costs him a pot, maybe he'll get the hint.

There's nothing you can do.

And really, there's nothing you want to do. The people who do this kind of thing aren't very sophisticated at poker. What he's doing is giving you a front row seat to his thought process. Use this information to improve your game.

Table talk is incredibly common at home games. I don't allow it at mine, but I'm accepting of it at others. I can adapt, and I enjoy the information regarding how others see me.

That's awesome. I never even thought about using it to learn about his style. I would do it to him, but my sense of honor won't let me. Thanks for the tips, I cannot wait to play again.

Well, you have to consider the source with suggestions like this.

Did MasterAsylum pay you, to take over for him?

Also, what you'll probably pick up is that this guy is going to put you on hands, not ranges, and therefore he'll probably put you on Ace King most of the time anyway, it's a huge leak in peoples games. As mentioned above, use this to exploit the player.

Also, does he show his bluffs? Even if he wins then hand try to get hit to show you his cards, mouthy guys like doing that, again gives you a huge edge.

No, but when that slow one comes floating over the plate, I just can't resist taking a big swing. And missing, usually.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

You're not clear (or I'm not clear) about something -- is he commenting on the holdings of other's while they engage in action, or is he just playing the home-game version of I'm Daniel Negreanu?

If, when the board is T55, and someone goes to bet - and he's openly commenting on what he feels people has: "Dude totally has a 5!"-- he needs to shut up. "One player to a hand, sir. Hold your comments for the end. These players need to make their decisions on their own, without the benefit of your input."

...if he's just chatty, and wants to take stabs at people's hands after the fold, or while he's head's up in action -- enjoy him (as others have posted) inviting you into his thought process.

Maybe I'm just watching too much Criminal Minds, but he wants to feel important and wants people to see that he knows poker. As long as he's facing fun and not interfering in live hands, let him. [Unsub is a white male, late 20's to early 30's....] If he is interfering with live hands, beat him about the head and shoulders with a blunt object - lather, rinse, and repeat as necessary.

(reading this as during hands, not heads-up)

no, it's horrible etiquette. it's not even legal. explain that the rule is "one player to a hand". Shouting out guesses about player's live hands is interfering with the game, and you could ask him to leave if he doesn't stfu. If the host doesn't back you up, you could easily justify telling host you're leaving yourself, as it's a badly-run game.

Or, you could let it slide if conditions warrant. But short answer, commenting on a live hand is not allowed under the rules:


RROP, SECTION 1 - PROPER BEHAVIOR

+1

My understanding is that in a heads-up pot, this kind of banter is fine, but saying something that might influence other players in the hand is a form of coaching and is strictly forbidden.

Example: Player A bets, player B says "I know you have AK because of x, y, and z." Player C thinks "Gee, he's right," and folds. Player A just lost action because B is a douche who watches too much televised poker.

I apologize for being unclear. He will try to call out your hand when he is in the pot, and he does it when there are others in the hand. I will see how it is next time we play before I do anything crazy (although bludgeoning does sound good).

Okay, before we get TOO crazy quoting "the rules"...... there may BE no rules, depending on the game and the group.

Robert's Rules are a suggestion, for games that want to run similar to the b&m cardroom games. Your house rules can be whatever you want....


.... but, be prepared to deal with the craziness, if you don't have clear, specific rules.

I agree with Larry here - the rules are concrete for the B&M rooms but as for home poker its up to the players in the rooms. Is it good etiquette? Depends. If he is in the hand - let him fire away because as many have said it is giving you a front row seat on his thought process of how he looks at hands people and boards. But if it is when he is not in the hand then no - poor etiquette imo.

If its with a bunch of buddies that you play with, but it is bothering you - then next time just causally let him know that if he ever walks into a real card room that he is going to need to keep his mouth shut because its poor etiquette and agaist the rules. He may stop right there - who knows.

OR - the blugen route is good too

yeah, I tried to be clear that you might very well choose to ignore it. just chiming in that it's always bad etiquette and against standardized rules, since there seemed to be a landslide of the "you can't stop it" sentiment. house rules always trump something like RROP.

Yea - but if you get in a house game with people that are fequent B&M players then you will see the differnce.

Depends on the house game - you find house games that are all BS because they are to scared to walked into a real card room and they have no clue how to really play.

Even if there's no official house rule, it's going to annoy people, and he'll run into trouble in a serious bizness card room. Quietly take him aside and politely ask him to knock it off imo.

Here's a thought that I've tossed around a few times, maybe others have insights...

Before I relaxed about it, I used to be hardcore about the table talk. Even the slightest infraction raised my shackles. But I was fighting a losing battle. It's fairly common in casinos, and darn near rampant in most home games. And that's how the vast majority of players want it.

But in my own home game, still no talking. I also trained people fairly well on dealing, and on a whole host of etiquette and procedural issues. And while it's an incredibly fun inebriated game, the level of play is somewhat higher than I've found in most other places.

I don't think there's a direct cause/effect, but I feel there must be some correlation. In my game there were other factors, such as the leagues tracking points. And all games have players come and go. But maybe I've created an atmosphere that works well for those who have some sophistication about the game, and so those are the people who become the regulars in the game?

In other words, the people who really want to do such things don't feel comfortable in the game, and so don't play in it. The folks that want to talk about the hand are the folks that aren't very smart about poker. They just want to throw around some terms, and hope to get lucky on a read every now and again. It's bravado more than anything. It's where they derive their fun, and it's why they're spending their entertainment dollars.

Anyway, just a thought. And I'm thinking of maybe lightening up a bit on the innocuous stuff when we get going again. Or at least put it out there for discussion.

to me, this is similar to the showdown trouble everyone seems to have. You can allow a lot of table talk, you just can't allow certain things to be said; just as you don't have to show in a certain order, you just have to quickly figure out the winner. The pros on PAD have this down cold, and yammer constantly and win pots with one card after they call and the bettor mucks without difficulty.

Since many home players are mostly interested in looking like the guys on PAD, they want to do those things too.

That's fine with me, as long as they do them right. The trick is to make them understand and respect the boundaries. This may be almost impossible in some circumstances. If I was running a big tournament with a high turnover of newbs, like a bar game, perhaps, I'd be tempted to err on the side of draconian rules. "No talking about hands". It's an unambiguous line in the sand. Just like "to the left of the button shows first, no exceptions".

In a weekly home game of a stable base of players, people are going to insist on "fair" rules. Then it's on the host to truly understand what's fair, and communicate this to the group. I think a lot of people fall down by not understanding the why's very well. People need to be convinced of things, not simply told them, in this environment.

I play in a bi-weekly poker league that plays primarily NLHE. We have one player who, during his turn to deal, liked to narrate the board possibilities as the cards were revealed.

"flop is Ah Kh 5d, possible flush draw on board" etc.

We finally told him to cut it out and put in a penalty where it now costs him a BB into the pot if he does it and someone calls him on it.

He has pretty much stopped doing it.

I play in a weekly SNG with rebuys and an insane blind structure and people ohhh and ahhhhh when ever the board becomes draw heavy or pairs. I think it is just an unavoidable part of playing in a home game. We are there mainly for the beers and social aspects anyway so I try not to get bent out of shape.

There are a couple of players who still pre deal which tilts me but I just let it go and try to notice any marks on the cards. My dream is to call a card in the pre dealt flop based on the slight mark and watch the lightbulb go on above their heads when they flip it over and I explain why I knew and why you shouldn't pre-deal. Who knows maybe I will man up and speak up tonight.

on the scale of crimes and misdemeanors, this sits somewhere near jaywalking.

this may cause more damage than you want, as people suddenly get paranoid about marked cards, see you as a dangerous shark, and wonder why you waited for a predealt flop to make your "point".

If you can identify a card from the back, you need to speak up immediately and get the deck changed. If you're going to pretend not to see marks because the game is that informal, make sure you really don't keep track of them, and never, ever, mention it.