I normally say I don't know or that I didn't watch the action close enough. However, when the opportunity does present itself I will not hesitate to give bad advice.

Sure he won't become a good poker player but he could become less of a fish. If you tell a guy that he plays too many pots or calls too many raises or doesn't use position enough you might as well set some of your own money on fire.

All I can tell you is that in Southern California people talk a lot of strategy at the tables, and there are players who I have been playing with for years and they haven't become "less of a fish".

Really, when I read these sorts of threads, I wonder how many of the people are actually winning players. Because personally, I didn't become a winning player simply by tightening up my pre-flop play somewhat or not chasing hopeless draws with bad odds. It required a lot of study and practice, careful record-keeping, session reviews, math, and thought. There are plenty of regulars in Southern California who aren't complete idiots pre-flop and who do know how to fold a decent hand who nonetheless are significant donators whom the good players exploit.

And there are plenty of other regulars who can't even follow advice when they are given it, i.e., the guys who actually know they are supposed to play tighter but don't do it.

If you never even think about the "tapping the glass" issue, you can still win a substantial amount playing poker if you are a good player.

I actually love the point of giving him advice that helps only in the absolute marginal or rare situations.

We give advice to fish on here all the time. If people look to improve we should not be active roadblocks. If someone asks me a specific question, I would answer, but if he just generally wants advice, id tell him he should do some reading and such if he wants to improve, and if he has a question about a specific hand he is welcome to ask.

and then if he asked about a specific hand, id point out the first error, and then say I dont know after that becuase I wouldnt have taken that action. Like, "You limped in preflop. I never really limp, so IDK what to do in limped pots." or "fold turn" or whatever.

My only issue with not giving more advanced information is just that poker talk at the table isnt good for the others who ARENT looking to improve their game.

I think you probably went too far when you said you were the last person to be giving advice. If you're a regular then that would sound like nonsense to him. If you were a player he had never seen before, then it would be more believable to him. It would have been better to say something that's easier to believe, like "I feel like I still need advice on how to play the game."

I think he did give you a chance to change the subject though. When he said you were always winning, maybe you could have given some bad beat stories. Or maybe you could have talked about a time when someone who had never played before showed up and had a big winning session, and how so much depends on luck when you're playing poker. Or just deny that you're the big winner he says you are (but don't say that you keep track of your results). You might even use sarcasm to poke fun at his claim that you're always winning (of course, just act like you're trying to be friendly and funny, and don't be condescending). It's not like your name is Doyle Brunson and you're trying to deny that you're a winning player. He hasn't seen you on tv before.

If someone like that really keeps asking for advice from me, I'm likely to say that I don't like telling other people what to do with their money. If I tell them to play their hands a certain way, and if they lose after taking my advice, then I'm going to be in a very awkward position. It's like telling someone to bet on black when they're playing roulette, watching them lose, and then getting the blame for telling them to bet on black. It's actually a little pet peeve of mine when people do stuff like that.

I know this thread is old but I couldn't resist responding in it anyway.

The best advice is to tell this guy to quit poker. I wouldn't say the same thing about the fish who discover this site and post on it.