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(3 votes) 
October 29, 2012
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I posted this in my goals/challenge thread, but thought I'd bring it over here, and see what any of you had to say about it, as maybe it fits better in this forum:
Had an interesting situation happen to me today. Drove to the nearest casino (90 miles away), to play some cash for the day. Started off well, flopping the nuts with KQ on the button vs an aggressive open, although he didn't call my river shove, which was odd considering he only had about 10BB behind.
Anyway, that guy took a seat change, and was sitting in the 3 seat, while I was in the 8. I raised from EP with AKs, got two callers to a flop of KJJ. I value bet 3 streets, which was fine, and got paid off. But afterward, the guy from the first hand said, “You didn't like that flop much did you.” I told him that it wasn't my favorite, but it's fine. He then proceeded to mock me, saying I was readable, and everything was written on my face.
Now, as someone who doesn't play live much, I'm guessing he was probably correct. Which is something I'm obviously going to work on. But he went on for about 30-45 seconds of mocking me. It made me feel very ashamed, frankly, and embarrassed.
Interestingly, we played one more hand, and he paid me off with top 2 vs my straight, and again gave me a stare down and a lecture. It was extremely awkward and again, embarrassing.
Now, a better player wouldn't have said anything to me, and just used the information to beat me. This guy, obviously, was not as smart, and made his own mistakes, dropping about 5/600 while I was there at a 1/2 game.
I, on the other hand, left after about 2 hours. Mind you, I spent more time in the car on my round trip than I did in the casino. That being said, I left having won just under a full buyin during that time, but now I have very little inclination to go play there again.
I'm happy to listen to any thoughts you might have.
Thanks. Mike
TPE Management
April 6, 2010
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Poker, as in life, has more than it's fair share of douche bags. There is really no answer to this other than let it roll off your back. I think it is good that you considered what he said (despite him saying it in a super dickish way) and are going to work on it to improve in that are.
Its possible that it was NOT written on your face. But hey, if you use him telling you that to work on your tells, then its a positive outcome!
March 3, 2013
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Im from Uk and play a lot in various casinos live cash and tourneys….
What I have found live is that the people doing the berrating are almost always have a go hero's and BAD. This is true in tournaments but mostly in cash games as they can keep reloading and donating their hard earned cash.
When I get called out by some **** I love it. He's picking on me why? Because he thinks he needs to rattle my cage to get an edge. No chance….
So long as you can stay calm and continue to play your game and not get emotionally involved…I would encourage him. Almost always these players can't read shit from you and he will wind himself up and only donk off some more chips. I've seen it so many times at 1/2 and other low stake games.
If you do think you are giving away anything body language wise my advice is practive the statue. If your in the hand and villain is to act pick a spot on table, stare at it and dont move, dont speak until it's you turn to act. If villain speaks/asks you a question remain like a statue. If he asks for a chip count just make sure you have your chips staked correclty with big chips at the front and stay like a statue, let the dealer count them out. Doing this means you wont give away anything and if you do this with all hands (i.e. bluffs and nuts) there's little chance of him detecting the difference.
Don't feel embarrased and the only uncomfortable feeling you should have is the roll you have in your back pocket when you cash up. In the meantime he's the one going home to explain to the wife where the weeks wage went. 
FHP
October 29, 2012
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Thanks for the tips/encouragement. What's funny is that he lost a huge pot to me after the whole thing happened. Then I happily took his money home.
March 3, 2013
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Exactly….and thinking about it more him berrating you for being bad has the opposite effect. By your own admission you felt affected by what he said so you likely tighened up and left earlier than planned.
If I have a poor player at the table I want to keep him there! Be nice to him, make him feel comfortable and at ease…..Then take his money whilst smiliing at him like a friend
December 7, 2012
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It sounds like you’re not afraid to self-critique your own game, which is an extremely important attribute for a successful player.
If you’re confident that you’re playing well, other people’s opinions mean nothing. Keep in mind that $1/$2 heros only feel the need to “coach” you after you beat them. Most of them don’t analyse their own game (why should they – they are awesome!) and therefore, in their minds the only was they can be beat is by someone playing bad & getting lucky.
Most people would tell you to ignore them, but I couldn’t disagree more.
These are the type of players who will spell out for you exactly how they play in every situation – so if you’re confident enough to do it, engage them in conversation. Or if not, at least listen carefully and make mental notes about what they say.
These guys will berate you for making a certain call in a certain spot. Then they will proceed to tell you how they would have played it “better”. I always nod intently while getting lectured by these guys. They think they’ve got an audience, so they keep talking.
This is a game of information, and in my experience there are few better targets for information than players who combine poor skills and a big mouth.
Dealing with different personalities is a skill you need to work on, just like the technical aspects of your game. So my advice would be get back on the horse. Sit down at the table again and play your game. If you’ve picked a good game with lots of “live ones” you can expect a few more lectures.
Of course, if you ever feel threatened or intimidated, get up and walk out. Not only is it the best option for your safety, but you would be unlikely to keep playing your best.
Good luck!
June 8, 2012
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There’s a lot of wannabes out there… They all think they are pros and they all think that they actually know something about the game when they really don’t… Either let it roll off your back and shrug or what I do sometimes I will say something silly like, ” i’m just learning the game thanks for the tips.” Or ,”What is ur hourly coaching rate?”…. Basically just use their offensive berates against them without getting into a pissing contest because these type of people don’t want to lose poker arguments.
October 6, 2010
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likely he was bad, thought he was awesome, and because you owned him in a pot he was threatened and had to try and make himself feel better.
and i think KB is wrong – there are a LOT more douchebags in the general poker population than in general, because in some senses the game is all about ego
September 25, 2013
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likely he was bad, thought he was awesome, and because you owned him in a pot he was threatened and had to try and make himself feel better.
and i think KB is wrong – there are a LOT more douchebags in the general poker population than in general, because in some senses the game is all about ego
Benny hit the nail on the head, In this situaton I usually let my game do the talking but if the person keeps continuing to be a **** I give them the death stare and tell them to shut the @#%! up 🙂 Most jerks crumble when stood up to.
October 21, 2012
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I swear this happened to me tonight. I think it was the first time or maybe I just forgot the old ones already.
I am in a tournament far from the money. I have 15K and pick up A9s in the HJ at 75/400/800. The blinds are going to 100/600/1200 in about 3 minutes. It folds to me and I shove because the table has been pretty flatty and sticky post flop. Button has like 8K and call me with AA. A guy on the other side of the table leans over to his friend and whispers loudly “why the **** would you shove 15K with a trash hand like that?” He goes on and on with his hand over his mouth leaning over talking to this friend and looking over at me and talking about me loud enough for me to hear it. Granted this dude doesn't know the first thing about poker, but it got under my skin because I have been losing a lot. I stared at him with my shades on for the rest of my time there (3-4 hands) but didnt say a word.
I knew the shove was not standard, but giving the situation I thought it was my best option. His rant made me think about it and now I am wondering if others would shove there given the looming blind jump and flatty calling stations?
In order to keep my cool, I had to mentally give myself a TPE trained superiority complex and think “this guy couldnt even begin to explain anything to me about poker that I havent already heard.” If I didnt allow myself to feel like a holier than thou asshole, I would have probably entertained his BS.
Sometimes you have to say shit to them in your head like “Sir, I'm not allowed to talk to drop outs like you.” to keep from saying something out loud like “Bitch, come get you some!”
October 6, 2010
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that shove seems completely fine FWIW
May 30, 2012
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I've been the worst player and best player at various tables. I believe I have an edge at times in certain games and try not to TEACH or say anything about how hands were or are being played at a tbl. I could careless if someone talks trash. At times, I might say a few things, but that's to try and put him/her on tilt. If someone is talking ot me, I just want to take some/all of their chips.
I did a podcast on here two yrs ago where I talked about this type of situation. If you allow your ego to get the better of you, you are going to become spewy. When you lose your ego, you lose control.
REMEMBER, let them have the last word, YOU have the last ACT. Your act will be taking their chips. Crush them fools.
June 11, 2012
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i actually like to teach people how to play if they think i am better.
TBH i only tell them how to loose their money against me.
but i am a big guy with a big ego at the stakes i play, so i am not a reference.
generally i d say if you re not felling well with the table talk just sit back and let the idiots do the talking. most of the guys that are berating need an excuse for why they are so bad.
@loxxi:
shoves seems fine.
just my two cents
cheers
September 16, 2013
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Shutup Dorn said:
It sounds like you're not afraid to self-critique your own game, which is an extremely important attribute for a successful player.
If you're confident that you're playing well, other people's opinions mean nothing. Keep in mind that $1/$2 heros only feel the need to “coach” you after you beat them. Most of them don't analyse their own game (why should they – they are awesome!) and therefore, in their minds the only was they can be beat is by someone playing bad & getting lucky.Most people would tell you to ignore them, but I couldn't disagree more.
These are the type of players who will spell out for you exactly how they play in every situation – so if you're confident enough to do it, engage them in conversation. Or if not, at least listen carefully and make mental notes about what they say.
These guys will berate you for making a certain call in a certain spot. Then they will proceed to tell you how they would have played it “better”. I always nod intently while getting lectured by these guys. They think they've got an audience, so they keep talking.
This is a game of information, and in my experience there are few better targets for information than players who combine poor skills and a big mouth.
Dealing with different personalities is a skill you need to work on, just like the technical aspects of your game. So my advice would be get back on the horse. Sit down at the table again and play your game. If you've picked a good game with lots of “live ones” you can expect a few more lectures.
Of course, if you ever feel threatened or intimidated, get up and walk out. Not only is it the best option for your safety, but you would be unlikely to keep playing your best.
Good luck!
This is SPOT on. You abviously need to be concerned about you and your game first and formost. I used to let this bother me a TON even though I was crushing the games. Some of that may be dictaded by your demeanor at the table. I go out of my way now to interact with the “rec” players so they feel like they are enjoying their experience at the table as we all know thats why they are there. You might even go as far as to ask him how he may play the hand differently, just to find out how deep his thought process is if he has one at all. Bottom line is these are just a few of the things we can continue to absorb in your overall game to continue your inch worm moving forward!
TPE Pro
TPE Management
July 20, 2010
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I would of bricked off all the chips you had won from him and ask him to tell you about the faces you were making when you were caging him for his chips and actually ask him to do his best impression then flip him a dollar for the show…that would prolly get your table going…Deuchebags are part of the live element they will always rear there ugly heads
TPE Pro
August 25, 2012
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I got berated at a live table for the first time the other week, too. I laughed it off/ignored it for the most part, but I did do two specific things:
1. Immediately identify the other player as a fish and adapt my play accordingly. As far as I'm concerned, 99.9% of players who feel the urge to berate anyone at the table have a huge, glaring mental game weakness that indicates they're almost certainly not professional players. I went out of my way to play pots with this player after getting berated, which only made him more tilted when I kept winning them through simply playing ABC poker. I wasn't trying to 'outplay' him, just applying correct logic and profiting from it, and widening my ranges in certain spots.
2. Make sure I was nice to him and defused the situation a little. I chit-chatted with him while we weren't playing hands. I didn't want him being overly tilted against me, because it might have induced him to start 3betting me a ton or play back at me in response to my always being in hands against him. I didn't want a weaker player putting me in unnecessary high-variance spots. Note the difference between going out of my way to flat more hands in position and play more pots with the guy, and my reluctance to incite him to be more aggressive against me. I tried to exploit him in the most low-variance way possible.
TPE Management
April 6, 2010
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GREAT advice!
November 7, 2013
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One of the reasons I love poker so much is that it’s an extension of how you handle yourself in life if you approach it from the right mindset.
We constantly have to manage our own ego, as well as navigate toward our goals with other egos in the way.
If you can tighten up your mindset, you have huge advantages that tactical skills alone cannot give you.
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