Witnessed this hand the other day.

Board reads KQJK6, 3 to a flush, regular player (P1) has barrelled 3-streets and anyone who has played with him before knows at minimum here he has a full house.

P2 is tanking on the river and eventually makes the call with a flush, which is no good as P1 does indeed have a full house.

Another player at the table who was not in the hand pipes up after P2 has called but before the cards have been turned up saying something along the lines of 'You have a full house right P1?' to which P1 acknowledges and flips his cards over.

The same player then goes on to say 'Yeah could see from a mile away you had full house there' all the while P2 silently witnesses this conversation as he loses his chips.

Has the observer who spoke up essentially belittled P2 in front of the whole table or is this just general table talk after a hand? If you're not in the hand at all should you say anything about what anyone had or how a hand was played unless you are asked? Would P2 have a right to be upset with what the observer said?

If the observer had gone on to say how he would have folded and how P2 butchered the hand etc... I'd definitely say that is rude, but the observer was just talking with someone he obviously knew well at this casino and I don't think he intended any malice towards P2, just made me think after how it could come across rude.

Or maybe I am just rambling at this point and this interaction after a hand was just general poker talk and essentially meant nothing, just wondering what some more experienced live players thoughts were.

And if it affects anything this was in a tournament NOT a cash game where you obviously want there to be a jovial mood for monetary purposes.

Thanks x

The commentary from the idiot who wasn't in the hand is bad for a number of reasons. But I think you identified the most important one: idiot likely is making the caller feel bad about his own play or, possibly worse yet, about being an outsider in a game where everyone knows everyone else.

Agree with Rapini on this. However, it is all too typical in a tournament.

Definitely a needle to P2. Intentional or not maybe debatable.

No, I don't think people should generally talk 'strategy' at the table, although there should be an allowance for answering a question.

I'm not a tourney player, so I can't say how common it is, or how big a breach it was.

You hear stuff like this all the time. If I'm quick I like to respond with something like "Yeah it's always obvious to me when I'm not in the hand and impossible to see if I'm in the hand". Which is pretty true.

I do the same thing. It's a good save on those occasions I find myself trying to sound like a poker genius.

IMHO, it is less about needling the player who lost, and more about trying to show off how good you are about the reads you make. There are very few comments you can make, though, to show the guy up.

If I said anything, all I would say is 'That's not cool' and just leave it at that.

Besides the banter and needling that does go on in every poker room every day, this is more about a OPTAH violation

All players need to be quiet and not say these things or other things such as on a 4 diamond board, people not in the hand can't say "Do you have a diamond" before anyone tables the hand.

We should all strive to be like Gus Hansen in these situations. Notice how Le went from being visibly upset to cracking a smile.

Howard heavily reiterates the tell that after making a big bet or raise then joining happily in a random conversation while your opponent is tanking, he is strong as ****.

Comments like these are generally regs trying to impress each other and definitely make the losing player feel even smaller as the chips travel away from their seat. I've done this myself, but it was at a table 100% full of regs where the comments are 'typical'.

Typically I will interject that "I though he was bluffing" to hopefully keep the losing player at the table if they got felted. Went through a tough hand like this over the weekend.

Board 345T8 4 players to the River and it goes check, check, check, bet 1/4 pot ... fold , fold to me. I'm holding 67 and couldn't get anyone to fold on the Turn.

As soon as I called the River bet after some tanking .. "Of course he has a flush!!" comes out of a player. Well, I really didn't want to get into the needing to be right only 20% of the time conversation with him. GL

I went into full tilt mode one day from some in-hand talking. After a decent pre-flop raise and a checked flop, I led out pretty big on the turn with QQ. A and K were on the board by then, can't remember if they both flopped or one turned. 3 players left, 5,6,7 seats. I was in 1. As 5 folded, he leaned to 6 and said loudly, "I think he has AK." Thankfully they both folded but I was tilted as bad as I've ever been. Should have racked up or at least walked after yelling at the guy but I didn't.

I read your post a couple times and I'm struggling to find the relevance. What am I missing? Were you upset that another player helped you with your bluff?

Just pissed at the talking in general. Yeah sure it ended up helping my bluff in the end but the reaction I made when I was so shocked at his comment should have induced the other 2 to call. Maybe the reaction is my own fault but the talk is uncalled for on so many levels.

His actions were out of line and against the rules, but are a relatively minor infraction in the grand scheme of things. If this type of action, which ultimately didn't even hurt you, tilts you, you need to examine your mental game.

This would have been a simple case of 'Please do not discuss the hand while there is still action', and then ignore the guy when he denies doing it (a lot of times, players do not even realize what they are doing).

Of course. Hindsight is always 20/20.

As a one-off, this is tolerable, but always seems to be part of a pattern of behavior which is annoying

Ok so everyone is in agreement it is bad, so should I say something in future?

I feel like there isn't really anything I can say other than an off key comment to make the losing player feel better, but do I just mentally note the talker as an idiot and move on?

not if you weren't in the hand. It wasn't that major of an issue but if it was and you were in the hand, ask the dealer to enforce OPTAH until everyone tables or mucks their hand.

I think it would be fine to make a sarcastic comment expressing disapproval.

"Well of course, you always know exactly what everyone has, you and Daniel N. That's why you're a professional on TV."

You dont have to say anything. Its fine to sit quietly and play your game.

BUT

If you are truly interested in maintaining a good game vibe (which does in fact add to wr) then yes you can jump in and say something like what Gus says here.

If you want to be more friendly/jovial my normal go-to is something like:

"You want this guy to fold a flush? Do you know how hard it is to make a flush? Let me tell you something, i didnt just drive 1 hour to the casino where I'm dealt 30 hands an hour to fold flushes."

Hard to read out in text but if said in a light-hearted way it usually gets some laughs, but more importantly most nod in agreement.

LOL, I've done this too. I'm watching a hand play out, trying to put people on a hand, and then inexplicably I call out their hands at showdown. I'm not trying to look like a genius and don't even make a conscious decision to verbalize my read, I just blurt it out. I always feel like an ass two seconds later, and that's usually my save too. "It seems like I always know where someone is as long as I'm NOT in the hand. If only I could do it when my money's in the pot".

Live poker can be annoying. So be annoyed! This kind of stuff will happen constantly at low stakes casino tables. If something costs you a pot or limits your win size then your annoyance can move on up to moderate confrontation or floor rulings. Otherwise shake your head, roll your eyes and Next Hand.