Why I Hate Online Poker.

[11 to 1 0]

Turn your chat off. Then, try this. We all get sucked out like that, right? But that guy doing it, isn't always doing it, sometimes you do it, too. I played this tournament the other day and the short stack went all-in and like, four people called him. I had a big stack, it wasn't that much to call, the pot odds were great - I called the all-in from the BB with Q3. The guy went in with like AQ - the board came J3363. Even I didn't believe it. If I hadn't called on a whim with my crummy hand the guy would have quintupled up, I guess. I kept doing that all tournament - it was so sick - not a brag, I never do that stuff - not real lucky, ya know? There's no one to be mad at - try not to get emotionally invested - interferes with thinking anyway. And turn off the chat. Useless distraction.

[11 to 1 0]

People who are good have lots of money to console them when they lose.People who suck post on internet message boards looking for sympathy.

Or post almost 5000 times on those boards trying to get some respect by belittling serious players looking to figure out how to get better.Careful kid, your low self-esteem is hanging oput - zip that thing up, willya?

[Kwest4chipz 0]

yah a couple people have suggested turning off chat, but i just read something on online tells from another thread and it can be a useful reading tool with limited resources to go off online. Other than that the only reads that i pick up are betting habits and such. I think I just gotta laugh off the people that are trying to get to me. I appreciate the feedback, and yah I've had my share of suckouts....only difference is, I don't rub em in the losers face.

[GrinderMJ 0]

Or post almost 5000 times on those boards trying to get some respect by belittling serious players looking to figure out how to get better.Careful kid, your low self-esteem is hanging oput - zip that thing up, willya?

Abba, is a very solid player who posts a ton in strategy on various sites. Plus he is a big winner, your read is way off.

[fighter 4]

I think one of the problems with online poker is the anonymity it provides. Someone is more likely to say the wrong thing and just flat out push buttons because1. they dont have to worry about violence 2. They can change their screen name and in essence their looks. If someone becomes a prick then you can remember their face and just avoid them in OTB play. You can't do the same with online poker because it is TOO easy to change your name and just become someone else. The thing i do whenever I get sucked out on is remind myself that this is how i earn my money. More times then not i will win in that situation (hence suckout ) and that if there wasnt a chance of the donk winning while being completly wrong then alot less players would play and it wouldnt be as easy to make money. If they were playing tennis and saw federer they wouldnt put as much money down. Yeah i compared myself to federer

[Kwest4chipz 0]

Abba, is a very solid player who posts a ton in strategy on various sites. Plus he is a big winner, your read is way off.

It might be that his read was way off as well.

[Vintage00 0]

I started playing "seriously" when I was 18. I was 100,000,000% the guy that you're talking about. If some guy put a beat on me, I went on forever about everything I could think about. If it was in a MTT, i'd even go as far as to keep his table open to rant on him when he lost a big pot, despite the fact that our once-shared table had broken 2 hours ago. Needless to say, 3 years, 84,000 chat bans, and 143,000,490,000 online hands later, my perspective is much different. I began to think "well.. as long as I keep getting my money in good, who cares? That guy pulling 2 outs on me is just my donation back to the good players of the poker community." Honestly, I find that guy amusing. I love the guys that think they're going to tilt me by saying what a donkey I am, or what my mom did to them last night, or whatever... I think its funny. One kinda fun way to deal with it is to think to yourself "man, thats cute" in a sarcastic way... it'll help you find humor in them. If you really wanna stir up a laugh, pull out some really old school comeback, something along the lines of "i know you are but what am i?" or just flat say "your mom" with nothing else... (wait til a break or til there's not a big hand... this is for fun, the tournament/cash game is the main focus). Throw that bad boy in the chat box, and just watch the guy steam. Either that, or he'll just shut up all together. Either way, problem solved, and you're much less stressed out. Yeah yeah, it might be a little immature, but you'd be surprised how much the tiltER turns into the tiltEE......and if I see you @ the tables.. don't talk about my mom. y'hear?

[seemorenuts 0]

Vintage is on the right track. What puzzles me is how anyone can get bothered in the first place about someone's rude chat...I don't think you are an 8 out of 10 if you can't beat the small MTTs.I'll give you an example.I just turned $25 last week into about $2200 just by playing MTTs whether they were rebuys or not.The entry fees were from $20 (plus rebuys) down to $1 tourneys.This $2200 doesn't include the $1600 WSOP ticket I got from winning two satellites for about $20;among other $100 or $50 tickets to monthly and weekly guaranteed tourneys.I guess that's a total of $25 into about $4000+ or about a 16000% ROI in 1-2 weeks, or 420000% annualized ROI, ha ha...So I don't know where I put myself on a scale from one to ten but I know for me I'm about 60% of the wayto where I want to be in ten years skill wise.I wasn't fluky or lucky this week either. I had my share of bad beats but YOU CAN PLAY A BIT TIGHTER TO AVOID SOME OF THE PAIN.I'm just gathering info from different sources, always learning and adjusting, and none of that involvesworrying about other peoples' chat.I can show you screenshots I've saved, but the gist of the matter is to keep learning and talk to thosewho are doing well.As for bigger MTTS, well, I hope that's a matter of bankroll...good luckP.S. not really meant as a brag post but rather to inspire you. If it were a cash game issue, I'd have nothing to offer you, I rate myself as a 5 out of 10 there... lol.

[AcesOnFire 0]

What you need to do is realize that you know very little about poker, and instead of focusing on others poor play, focus on your own.

Best reply i nthread, 5 star, would read again.I do agree thought that when someone draws out on you when you make the correct play, you say 'sick' and then they reply with something immature like 'suck me' that I do want to rip their face off.

[iowahawk09 0]

The worst part about losing to those jokers in a tournament is you cant do anything about it. Unless of course your playing a rebuy, but makes me more upset then someone who donks out on ya, and then talks crap to you about it like they made a good play. In cash games I love these guys because I can simply reload and I know they are gonna make another stupid play that this time should be profitable, however in the tourneys, you just have to take notes, hope to find him later on, and move on without tilting.Thats the reason I hate online tournies.

[David_Nicoson 1]

Resist the urge to argue your case when you lose. There's absolutely no point. The good players already know if someone made a mistake. The bad players don't give a crap. Don't focus on that one hand that screwed you. There's a whole tournament of hands that you should reconsider.I don't have the sense that you're playing over your head, but maybe losing the investment of time frustrates you. Have you considered focusing on SNGs?

[iowahawk09 0]

When I do it, I'm not really arguing my case. I know I am right. I am just curious as to their thinking and why they made the play. Most of the time I'm not even really that mad. The only time I get mad is when they start telling me I suck, or saying they made a good play.

[Pokergolf 0]

It's interesting to me that nobody picked up on the OPs comment "I offered to play him heads up." I see this crap all the time in the chat box during online tourney between players. I was playing an MTT the other night, had a guy to my right who I had zero respect for due to some of his plays I had watched during the tourney, flop comes A-7-7. He bets, I shove with A-9, giving him no credit for an ace or a 7. Well, he happens to have AK, and I happen to catch a 9 on the river. This cat goes on for 20 minutes at least (I turned observer chat off pretty quickly, but others at the table kept me up to date as he was being reediculous). Anyway, his theme in his meltdown was "lets go play heads up." What exactly does a ten minute or two hour heads up match prove? Such a ridiculously small sample of hands......I could get a run of cards, the clown could get the same run of cards. I just think that a short term heads up game proves zilch as to who might be a better player.

[TheBoobster 0]

I haven't played online poker for several months now, and I have to say I'm loving it. For a while it was all I was doing and it was starting to take a toll on my life. Now I'm working out again, getting back into video games, talking to my friends and family more etc. My GF has stopped constantly nagging at me about my poker playing. I think that the worst thing about online poker is that it consumes your life. If you are NOT making good money playing poker but are playing for hours everyday just to break even or make small cashes, you should slow down.

[jburn812 0]

Quite simply, If you still tilt out due to someone saying something. You are not an 8 out of 10 as a poker player. You need to play a ton more hands and get more experience. I was there once too. I have the chat bans to prove it. When I look back on that time period of my game evolution I realize how much of a donkey I was for letting comments get to me. Now go play hands and practice not freaking out and maybe one day you will be an 8 out of 10.

[David_Nicoson 1]

When I do it, I'm not really arguing my case. I know I am right. I am just curious as to their thinking and why they made the play.

Are you sure? Why do you care what their thinking was? If you're sure he made a donkey play, then he made it because he was a donkey. He hoped he would have the best hand in the end. It's not fun to fold.Are you sure you're not looking for fight?

[Kwest4chipz 0]

So many responses since i've been away, i'm not going to try and quote everyone that responded and respond back...just put a synopsis on the posts that I felt had a point. 1. I think I offered to play them HU not because it would prove anything, but i'm pretty sure I could at least get my tourney buy in back. You are right 1 HU game proves nothing when it comes to skill.2. Overall I rate myself a 8 outta 10, thats not solely a MTT rating...I have one huge leak and the purpose of this post was for ideas on how to plug it. My state of mind is directly related to whether I cash or not. I thought I had another major leak which was not raising pre-flop and such, or soft play....but I realized why I'm doing that, and its because at the stakes I chose to play people just aren't scared by preflop raises. I feel as though I can hold my own in tourneys and cash games...cash games the banter doesn't effect me and as previously posted I actually take advantage of s hit talkers in a cash game. Tourneys is where it irritates me I think its because of the finality of it, if you make a great play...and you just happen to be sat at a table with that one guy that doesn't care that he doesn't have the odds to call and puts you out after 3 hours of work, sometimes it just grates on me. 3. My original post, (even though I tried to think ahead of how I was gonna get bashed) was not intended to be whiny or reflect that I suck at poker. At first, it seemed like I just set myself up for alot of criticism, after that there were many good posts that shared my opinion and voiced suggestions on how to combat it. My intentions were to create a dialogue about online anonymity and the seemingly overabundance of classless individuals. 4. What I've forgotten is that for every doosh i run into online, i've met 2 solid classy players..sometimes I focus on the negative and i'm working to correct that.

[ukwildcat09 0]

What I finally realized is that the smaller your bankroll, the more pissed you get after a bad beat.

[Vintage00 0]

Like I said, I used to be one of those guys that bashed anybody that put a beat on me, but I would say that generally I am very classy now.There is hope...

[Vintage00 0]

What I finally realized is that the smaller your bankroll, the more pissed you get after a bad beat.

That's only if you're playing too high for your limits. I really don't mind at all when I get 2 outed for a stack, or even when I lose as a 60% favorite. I get more upset that I allowed myself to get all my money in with ONLY a 60% edge...

[Kwest4chipz 0]

yah ukwildcat I think I know what your saying, losing in a must win situation and getting drawn out on stings a whole lot more when you don't have any cushion in yer roll. I combat that by not putting money on tourneys unless I can afford not to make the money, if my BR is in that bad of shape tho...I probably won't be in MTTs, I'll be grinding it out at micro cash games, or maybe a sng. That was the mistake I was making when I first started playing online and it cost me dearly. I know what your saying tho.

[11 to 1 0]

Abba, is a very solid player who posts a ton in strategy on various sites. Plus he is a big winner, your read is way off.

No, it isn't. You think people with low self-esteem are NOT smart, successful or adept? They are - a lot of them are famous rich guys. But anyone who takes the time to post an unprovoked insult to someone on a message board is just trying to make themselves feel better about themselves. There's 5000 posts just on this site alone. That's one full-length book at least. And you apparently don't think too much of the guy since you rushed to his defense apparently because you assume he is too weak to stand up for himself. I assume you two aren't dating so the post must have struck a nerve with you, too. Respect, from others or self, has nothing to do with performance, it has everything to do with how you choose to treat your own and other's existence. He took a cheap shot, that's what defines him right now.Which brings us to the topic of the thread: attitude and how it effects us at a poker game. Or in anything. If you tie who you are to whether you win, you are screwed. If you care what anyone thinks of you, or your play, you have already lost in the long run. You have to make the choice for the play entirely in the moment - not as a reaction to the last hand, not as a reaction to some stupidity in the chat box or from some jerk-off at the table. Winning or losing is immaterial - making the best choice is everything. The outcomes are out of our control, the choices totally within. Play because you love the game, play to enjoy the process, play to make best decisions - but never play only to win.And turn of the chat - those tells aren't worth the distraction and some of them just use the box to mislead you or tilt you on purpose. Just focus on the play, your concentration will be better and you'll figure them out anyway.

[Kwest4chipz 0]

I can't really add anything to that well written post.

[Vintage00 0]

i disagree with the chat turn-off... just have some freakin discipline and leave it on. you never know what you might pick up. if anything, just dont type back.

[GrinderMJ 0]

Lol, that's one of the most ridiculous posts I've ever seen. Oh no, abba made fun of somebody, he has a low self esteem and is a bad person.