Our local casino only has 1/2 game, so I usually drive to a casino that like 90 mins away that usually have a few 2/5 and one table of 5/10 with a friend. So last night, I stayed in 2/5 to purposely avoid my friend in 5/10. But my game was slow and about to die. So I moved to 5/10. I know everyone on the table by name. About 90 mins into the game, my friend beat a player for about 3k to 3500 in two hands. The player then walked behind him and looked at his phone screen. The player saw he was texting me and said we are texting and cheating.

I have to say we do text a lot, but we don't text when we are in hand. And we don't talk about hand usually. The text usually like "Pro crushed you", "Thanks for donation", "You played bad but luck saved you" All troll texts usually.

Should I try to text less when I'm on the table with friend?

it's definitely not a good look texting someone at the table, you may be innocent but it's never going to appear that way to others - really bad to do that imo, if you won't say it out loud just say it for after the game from here on out it looks really bad imo and it also gives you a bad image just texting away instead of talking to people at the table

if i know two guys are texting each other i'm asking them to stop and if they don't put their phones away calling the floor, the higher you play the less this stuff is tolerated so maybe at 5/10 it's still ok for some people?

wtf does your commute have to do with any of this?

1, With all the plexiglass and mask, you really can't talk to anyone on the table.
2, Just trying to give a little background. I guess it doesn't matter.
3, We always show up and leave together, If we are cheating, we probably wouldn't do that.
4, I'm not sure if floor can do anything in this scenario, especially we don't text during the hand.
5, My friend told her we are not cheating, we just texting and I don't like your comment. The player shut up.
6, Yup I will definitely try to text less.

Agree with rickroll. At best it is a bad look. At worst, you're revealing to your friend your hand strength even inadvertently. "Thanks for the donation" could be construed as an admission of soft playing.

It is really no different that a couple of players speaking a language you don't understand at the table. How comfortable are you when they are talking between hands?

FWIW, the floor can always boot you from the room for any reason. They don't need you to violate a rule. Most rooms have Rule 1 which lets them do whatever they want, even if it is against the rules.

You sound like a pro!!! I will try to leave my phone in the car next time.

I was on vacation not too long ago and played some higher limits than I normally play (I am a winner at my regular 1/2) and 2 guys were texting between hands. It was fairly apparent they were texting each other. I got up and asked the floor if there were any rules against players at the same table texting each other constantly between hands and he said no (I didn't tell him who I was talking about and he likely didn't know what table I was at). I respected the floor's decision and was at another table at another casino within a hour.

It made me think maybe there was a 1% chance they were cheating and that was too big of an advantage for me to give up when I was already playing higher limits than this rec player usually plays.

Texting even semi-frequently with your buddy who is at your same table should be high up on the list of things not to do in public. Even above clipping your toe nails on a plane, chewing and talking while eating and talking about politics with acquaintance at dinner. Nothing you are doing is illegal - it is just making nearly everyone around you uncomfortable.

He isn't saying you were cheating. Don't get so defensive.

Agreed that it is not a good look, but there is really nothing wrong with texting between hands. Now, of course, no one will remember if you were texting during hands.

An accusation of cheating is a big deal. I would immediately have put down my phone (so I could not be accused of deleting messages), then called for the room manager to look at the messages on my phone and see if there were any messages that he found inappropriate. I would also let the accuser know that I think he is just salty from losing, and that he should not make accusations like that lightly

If you were not cheating and follow these steps I think you have every right to talk crap about beating your accuser and tell him you are going to use the money you won off of him to pay for a night with his mother or something similar. However, in the future I would just stop texting a tablemate.

I would probably not talk about the guys mom(the room I play at, the regs are typically retirees, so their mom's are probably pushing 80 years old), but I would probably demand an apology.

In poker, questioning a player's integrity is a serious thing.

Between hands, people talk in different languages all the time. Depending on where you play, half the table are native Spanish speakers who even during hands use English only if forced by the dealer.

If you play in non-english speaking countries, it's not even uncommon to have multiple different languages allowed during hands. At King's Casino in Rozvadov (Europe's largest poker room) you're allowed to talk in Czech, German and English and a lot of players speak only one of those languages.

While I agree that it might be a bad look and we don't want to alienate other players, texting each other between hands is 100% within the rules. Even if you share what cards you had last hand. You're allowed to whisper in your neighbors ear, at least if plexiglass is gone again, you're allowed to text other players.
If somebody doesn't like that, they can complain to the floor. In that case, I guess the better casino customer wins.

OP, this forum is full of old school people that think that there is something magical about communicating over text that makes it automatically be adjacent to cheating. Imo if you're not doing it during a hand it doesn't matter whatsoever. However, that's not going to change the fact that people will perceive it as bad (because people are completely illogical).

I don't think you will find, in this thread or past threads on this topic, and regular poster who thinks that texting between hands is inappropriate.

There are some who believe that private communication like that (or like talking in another language, or whispering in a buddies ear) makes a lot of people feel unfomfortable or anxious, and that that is bad for the game.

And texting is not as new fangled as you think, if you think that old fogies think it is something new and suspicious.

This is an absurd degree of projection that makes you come off as incapable of having an honest conversation on the topic.

You expected there to be a rule against something that makes you personally uncomfortable. You were informed that there is not. The absence of the rule is not despite some shared discomfort or want for it, and in fact it indicates that far fewer people are bothered than you think.

Texting is not new, but those who complain about it are majorly not young, is what he means. (He's right!)

Yester year morse code and signal lamps were all the rage- these days it's texting

People complaining prolly salty they can't text fast enough to get a sentence out between hands

Yeah and if you are uncomfortable with people texting at the table while not in the hand, you’re probably pretty irrational. However like I said, being irrational is a very common trait and one we have to work around as poker players.

I didn’t say “old” by the way, I said “old school.” It’s a subtle, but important distinction. And although you’re right that texting has been around for a while, it wasn’t so long ago that they had rules prohibiting you from even having your phone out at the table.

So in some sense I do agree that you will find plenty of players that are uncomfortable by it and it’s up to the individual whether they want to say **** off to those players if it’s not against the rules at the casino.

In this type of situation, just politely tell the accuser to f off. No explanation or apology neccesary, though if you have a good rep in the room its fine to add something like:

Been playing for years in the room, no problems, you can ask around.

Or he's my friend and we were goofing around - we don't collude or cheat in any way.

Good advice.

I think you miss the point.

The issue isn't with texting, it is with people having private conversations at the table. Texting is usually not a big deal. Two players obviously texting back and forth with each other makes some people at the table uncomfortable. The same as any private communication (whispering, talking in another language, very obviously getting up to go get a cup of coffee together). This is not irrational, this is basic human social behavior

You will find very few regular posters on this forum that say that texting between players between hands is cheating or even suspect. But you will find a lot who understand that it will make some players uncomfortable, and that tense, suspicious players are bad for the game.

It isn't cheating, and very few will say it is cheating. That doesn't make it a good idea.

This, I'm pretty sure we had a similar thread recently...As a rec, I always was annoyed that regs would text each other back and forth when I would get to the table...you get used to it, but it's a little silly to say its the same as talking at the table...if it was at the table you would have a chance of hearing it, or having someone else hearing it and repeating out loud to put the sharers on tilt...also if it was a foreign language someone else may be fluent in said language...also if they get up from the table to tell each other that imposes a minimal cost as they will miss hands....

Oh ok, I trust you 100% since you said that.

Just like the guys who don't bet into friends and check it down when it's just friends...
You may not be cheating but it sure looks bad.

Not betting into your friend and checking it down is an immediate table change for me now. I used to not care but now I’m gone. If you’re willing to do that what else are you willing to do when another player is involved.

It still amazes me how people winning in games seemingly try as hard as possible to make the donators in the game feel unwelcome or uncomfortable.

Nah, don't text less because a paranoid player saw you texting someone at the table. People go to play poker together all the time and they sometimes find themselves at the same table. There's nothing wrong with texting someone at the table as long as it's not while either one is in a hand. People go to play poker to have fun and socialize (even some pros, although very few) so don't worry about the random insecure idiots who think that just because two players are texting each other in between hands they're automatically cheating.

If it was me I would call him out for ease dropping and reading a private conversation I was having. That's the real issue here .

So far posters seem split fairly evenly between group 1 & 2.

Group 1- There is no need to make fish feel uncomfortable. If you want to chat with a friend do it away from the table.

Group 2- Don't let fish dictate if you text with your friend.

As group 1 guy I am shocked we aren't seeing 95% of posters in group 1 and 5% in group 2. I thought nearly everyone would see texting between tablemates as something that would scare away some of the casual players. The texting could put in the casual player's mind that some guys at the table are friends and could be cheating him/her - whether that is true, possible, or likely doesn't matter as it will be just enough to make some leave and come back less often.