Dave, A question of Etiquette...
Okay
So there's been some hubub about people leaving in the middle of tournaments as of late, and what to do when that happens. Personally I think blinding them out is proper, but that's not what I want to ask.
Dave, in your experience, or in the experience of anyone who plays poker professionally, are there any rules of etiquette about tournament play? Example: You have to go, so you just keep going all in every hand with anything, thereby essentially ruining the game for all others at the table, not to mention that they've got their money on the line and you're just trying to get out (which invariably leads to many suck-outs and a sudden massive chip lead). And then people who wanted to play and are having fun end up frustrated at the sidelines?
Now I know that all in every hand is a perfectly legal way to play (though, statistically, not a very sound one), but isn't it akin to playing something like badminton or bowling and screaming at the person when they're about to hit / roll? Wouldn't this be analagous to yelling "MISS" at the top of their lungs during a billiards tournament?
Again, poker players do some crazy stuff (Phil Laak comes to mind) that can throw people off / tilt them. But I can only imagine that out of respect for the game, there are some unwritten rules surrounding this? Just curious if you higher rollers have to deal with this?
Mark
So there's been some hubub about people leaving in the middle of tournaments as of late, and what to do when that happens. Personally I think blinding them out is proper, but that's not what I want to ask.
Dave, in your experience, or in the experience of anyone who plays poker professionally, are there any rules of etiquette about tournament play? Example: You have to go, so you just keep going all in every hand with anything, thereby essentially ruining the game for all others at the table, not to mention that they've got their money on the line and you're just trying to get out (which invariably leads to many suck-outs and a sudden massive chip lead). And then people who wanted to play and are having fun end up frustrated at the sidelines?
Now I know that all in every hand is a perfectly legal way to play (though, statistically, not a very sound one), but isn't it akin to playing something like badminton or bowling and screaming at the person when they're about to hit / roll? Wouldn't this be analagous to yelling "MISS" at the top of their lungs during a billiards tournament?
Again, poker players do some crazy stuff (Phil Laak comes to mind) that can throw people off / tilt them. But I can only imagine that out of respect for the game, there are some unwritten rules surrounding this? Just curious if you higher rollers have to deal with this?
Mark
Comments
I don't really see this as poor etiquette. Poor play maybe but the guy is trying to cope with the rules you have laid out. The first guy with the balls (or nuts!!!) to call will likely get the big stack. The brief interval of craziness doesn't usually last long.
I'm not in favour of blinding him out. Then you get guys making dumb plays to try to steal his blind. Witness my play last night against All_Aces... A better solution has to be out there.
I raised the suggestion before that someone who already busted out should be able to take over his position. A number of people rejected that idea but I did not see the reasoning behind that. Any thoughts Dave?
Your question appears to be about home games. I think you will have a hard time crafting a rule that will outlaw behaviour you do not like without catching some perfectly valid behaviour.
Best solution for a home game? If you don't like playing with someone, don't invite him back.
Just a little frustrated from a home game a little while back, the person would literally go in every hand, without looking at his hand, and he was getting called with quality hands (88, A-J, A-Q)... he was a quality player from what I'd seen previously, but was just acting this way b/c his ride was leaving.
I'm not arguing the legality of the behaviour, but if you're in a home game, for fairly low stakes, and people are just playing for fun, why ruin it for them? I mean, this person even said "Well, I don't care about the XXX dollars, so who cares". Personally, I know a few people in the game were pretty pissed because of it. I didn't much care, seemed to be the way my day was going. I just got to thinking that if I was in a billiards league I'd hate to play someone who would try to "jinx" me every shot I took, it's just an odd situation, and was looking for other pov's.
Mark
P.S. I didn't name MYSELF "dirty whore"...I got a buddy of mine to thank for THAT.