If you don't feel like playing, you should not play. The worst sessions I've ever had were when I forced myself to play when I didn't really feel like it.

In regards to the banter, you need to flip your thought process 180. People thinking you are tight is the best possible thing, because then you can bluff them with rags more frequently. A number of others gave you some helpful verbal suggestions, but engaging is definitely key and you have to keep from taking it personally.

You may also find it more favorable to simply wait until you are bankrolled properly. It's a lot easier to play good when the money doesn't actually matter to your lifestyle.

I wish you luck if you play, but you need to seriously consider what set of circumstances is right for you to play under before you get back to it. If you don't have the fire, it's just not going to work out.

Please understand that people who vocalise their angusih towards you in low stakes games are generally not winning players over long term. It happens to me quite often althogugh not as boisterous as much since these guys know I'm a tighter reg , but the point is... In these guys minds if you're not limping and/or calling raises enough than your just strictly a nit. Forget the fact that you know you are looking far more often for spots to open raise yourself or call with medium strength hands in position when it's not going to be 6 ways to the flop, they don't think about rhqt. They think 2/3 hours of not playing a hand is an eternity when we all know it's not for live play in lower limit games where you really shouldn't have to worry about being balanced etc. Just let them think what they want while they continue to passively spew money around clicking buttons. I always say, the hardest thing about LLSNL is not laughing out loud when hands go to showdown.

Dude, poker is a game. If you don't want to play anymore, you don't have to.

Poker is psychologically challenging. To me, that is part of its beauty and appeal. It involves a unique mixture of math, psychology, and luck.

If you do continue to play, I recommend you read The Psychology of Poker and Elements of Poker.

People play for different reasons. For many, the primary motivations are social. Needling, teasing, and bantering are all forms of socializing. Someone in this thread said that taking the piss and bantering are common in Australia. I live in California, and they're common in my games too. Yes, if you're perceived as nitty, your opponents may try to get you to gamble more by needling you about this. But really, they're just needling you because needling is fun. Or it is to people who are properly bankrolled for the game they're playing.

Right, you need an adequate bankroll to play poker properly. Otherwise, you're risking money you can't afford to lose, and that's stressful. Add normal variance (a four- or five-session downswing, a few hours of being card dead, a cooler to end the night) and some needling from the regs, and you couldn't handle it.

No one is making you play, but if you want to play, focus on your job or career, build a bankroll, and get a little tougher mentally—you'll need a psychological bankroll to succeed (in poker and in life) as well as a monetary one.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the responses. A lot of really good points have been made and I have reflected on it all in a positive way since the original post.

I think my priority for now is to definitely set up the bankroll and do my best to learn about the game more - especially the psychology factor - away from the table.

Poker is a great game. In so many ways, it is just like life.

Whenever regs do this I just adjust accordingly. "You're a nit" loosen up and play some suited connecters. If they comment on one of your moves just do the opposite next time. Eventually you will be on the winning end and get to see them tilt. Live poker can be a lot of adjusting to other people at the table. Over time you will remember what kind of ranges these regs have.

Since you're in australia one thing you could do is focus on who's drinking at the table. If there is an inebriated player see how they are playing.

live poker is a social game and maybe you arent taking part in it at the table. so they feel outed just like you do and their way is to rib you on your tight play. no big deal. try being more friendly. see if you fit in. many players coming from the net or new players are socially cold and the others dont feel right around them.

I am a notoriously tight player in my game. When someone needles me for being tight, I either needle them back about something else (never about how they play poker) or I happily agree that I am a tight player while smiling and folding yet again. I try to have a solid sense of humor, so while I know that I am probably the last guy my opponents want to see at their table from a money-making perspective, I am much more welcome than some of the more obnoxious players who usually dump money.

One player that I have studied is Phil Laak, a player who has a reputation as a nitty player. I'd say that I copy what I have seen him do. I don't copy the specific behavior he does on TV since I find some of the over-the-top antics to be obnoxious, but I have paid attention to how he seems to encourage conversation, making the game feel more social and less serious.

I know what you're saying and in this case I'm not like that. I'm quite friendly and conversational at the table. I often get a long with players and usually end up shaking hands with multiple players over the course of a session (in various contexts, usually an informal introduction or saying goodbye). I guess that's why I was slightly rattled by this guy.

E.g. an Ace was dealt to me and the dealer accidentally flipped it over, so it was burned. The guy said "he wouldn't know what to do with it anyway". Little digs like that. I explained to him that I was folding rags all night and he should be grateful to be running so well, and then steered the conversation in another way, asking him about how often he plays, and to be fair he wasn't a total dickhead. I just felt a bit annoyed because I wasn't getting playable cards, whenever I did see a flop/turn/river I'd have to fold a losing hand. To be getting 'kicked while I was down' by a big-stack who was running like God, it felt quite frustrating.

In any case, I see it as part of the game now. And as someone else said earlier, watching for people drinking in Australia is definitely a factor - especially on weekends. Friday and Saturday nights can be quite good because guys have money to throw around and they're enjoying themselves. To be honest, I've even been 'one of these guys' from time to time, but ironically I usually have my best sessions when I'm having a few drinks. Maybe there's something to be said about that. And the table banter is definitely a lot better when there are a few people drinking. But that's another topic

Just needle them back. "At least I'm not old, fat, and bald" should suffice.

If someone is openly hostile, you can choose to change tables, ignore him, or snipe back. If more than one person is openly hostile, you need to look at yourself to see what is causing you to be a target. You still don't have to put up with it, but it is useful for self growth to understand how your personality affects others.

If another player ever said anything like that to me, I would either ignore it, or make some dig back at him. Some sarcastic comment like 'Sorry, sir, I haven't figured out how to play nearly as well as you'. Nothing concrete to start a pointless argument on poker strategy. Or you could just say 'At least I know how to not be a jerk at the table'.

You have to have a thick skin and good emotional control at the poker table, butt that doesn't mean you have to be a doormat. Just do learn how to not let their needling put you on tilt.

Phil Laak seems to always dupe people into thinking he's a gambler. At least the people who aren't huge pros.

OP, sounds like you need to study up on the psychology needed for live poker. I agree with those who have suggested reading a psychology poker book or two. Some players see poker as a competitive game, and trash talk is their way of being competitive, just like it can be in any game. When it's thrown my way, I just throw "agreement" humor back at them, like smiling back at them and saying yeah this is my first time playing, what beats what again? Or yeah, it's been a long time and I'm not remembering how to play. Or whatever to try to seem like a rookie. And hopefully I eventually start catching cards in the session. If someone is really being obnoxious, I just switch tables to avoid getting tilted by them. A Kassouf type would be a reason for me to switch. Lol. If I'm card dead at a table, I'll switch tables as well. I'm still getting random cards at the new table, but it helps freshen my mind and clears some of the card dead frustration. Good luck when you eventually get back to the tables.

Totally fine to needle back, but you have to be at least remotely humorous about it. Your retort isn't really funny. Saying something like "Can't hear you, too fat in here" or "I don't understand you, I'm not fluent in fat ass" is much better. If you can't come at them in a funny way, you should just be self-deprecating or ignore it.

I would avoid personal attacks like that. You never know when you hit a sore spot, next thing you know, you are getting choked out and you have to decide whether or not to press charges,

Yeah, look I'd never give somebody ***** about being fat, or bald, or old, lol... These things are just not cool to tease people about. I only mentioned these to describe the man in question because I felt like he was using his own insecurities to 'one-up' me in some kind of schoolyard bully type of way.

The great Doyle Brunson wrote this in Super System 2:

Good-natured joking and ribbing—or giving the needle, as we say in poker—is part of the game. It provides a sense of camaraderie not found in most other forms of gambling. So don’t be afraid of poking a little fun here and there. In fact, a little needling will keep many players coming back who normally wouldn’t do so. Just keep it good-natured.

Remember, the point of playing games is to have fun, and poker is the greatest game ever created!

Which will be worse than your physical injuries.

What could be more good natured and fun than a friendly **** you to keep them coming back? You just have to hope they're not coming back after going out to their car to get something.

With all due respect OP, you come across as a bit of a millenial snowflake These players are regs and older than you - they're giving you gruff for both those reasons. Grin and bear it, ignore it, give it back to them, or find a new hobby. Sorry for being blunt.

What 90% of live players don't understand is the best possible thing for poker is getting new players involved with the game. Its insane to me that regs will make fun of or push beginners away from the game. Don't let these "old regs" fool you, i can almost guarantee they are marginal winners at best. The regs at my casino pretend to boast about there results or superior skills all day long but I know for a fact most of them are actually losers in the game.

It sounds like you have a good grasp on the game. Don't let other people talk you out of deviating from your style.

My usual response when being needled for being a nit is, "I know right? I'm getting 83 offsuit so often I should be playing blackjack!"

Funny thing is, I also hear "holy **** he's in a hand! He must have aces!.... Eh, I call"

Like you OP, I won't play garbage. Especially in a game where multiway pots opened for 7x BB is standard.

I do pay attention to position and use the button to steal blinds or open light even during the worst cold spells.

I'm from California. Recently I was working in the Niagara area for a couple of weeks. Things were slow (I was covering for a guy), I got to be a reg at a local room.

I like to banter and cover my nittiness. As I became known, they started calling me 'Cali'. Which led to statements like, "shut up Cali, you haven't played a hand in two hours!"

It's just part of the game. As has been said thousands of times, players enjoy a social atmosphere better. Even if you are so tight you squeak, just own it and make things fun at the table. Helps you get paid when you do wake up.

This is completely true but one old reg's needle is another old reg's banter so as described it's hard to say whether these guys were actually being douchebags or not. Really you have to be able to handle a certain amount of needling and general douchebaggery in live poker anyway.

IMO it's way more egregious when the old regs become openly hostile to a fish who is running hot.

I would say something like "I know, right? Haven't gotten one of those in forever!"

Play 72, beat them with it, enjoy their salt for the next 30 minutes.

I prefer the vague insult 'I could always just play like you', and then refuse to elaborate.

troll them the hell out of them
always slowroll nits that are annoying/bad for the game