Berating a Poor Player

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

Where does the profit for good poker players come from? Ever ask yourself this question? You should. The answer exposes one of the biggest blunders that good players make at the poker table.

In blackjack, a good player's profit comes from the casino. Master basic strategy and learn to count cards and you can actually eke out a small profit over the mighty casino. If you're skilled and clever, you can actually do quite well. If you do too well, the casino, wanting to keep all of its profits for itself, might well ban you.

Not so with poker players. No casino has ever barred a player for being too good at poker. That's because the poker player's profit comes from the other players, not from the House. Who cares if the skilled player wins money from the less skilled. The house makes its money from the rake or by charging time. They have no interest in the outcome of any individual player.

The skilled player's source of income is the unskilled player. It's as simple as that. Without bad players the good players would go broke - as the house rake would eat up their bankroll inexorably. You can test this out if you want just by running a computer simulation like Turbo Texas Hold Em (by Wilson software - a great product by the way). Pit ten solid players against each other and watch what happens. When you have the house take even a modest rake, all the players lose money over the long run - every single player. The only way the solid player makes money is if you throw in a couple or more bad players for him to exploit. Run 10,000 hands and see for yourself.

The key here is that a good player's profit doesn't come from his good play, but rather from the poor play of poor players. A good player must have them in the game to survive. So you'd think that he would do everything in his power to attract these poor players and encourage them to stay and play. But such is often not the case.

I've been in countless no limit hold em games when one of the better players seems to make a point of exposing the bad play of his opponents. This comes in many forms. But it's usually done when the good player loses a pot to one of the lesser skilled players because of a bad beat or a lucky draw by the bad player. The otherwise good player will then launch into some sarcastic or otherwise caustic tirade about the poor player's poor play.

These outbursts or lessons generally do one of two things - neither of them of which are helpful for the game. The bad player is either annoyed or otherwise made uncomfortable by the anger of the good player - causing him to either leave right away or vow never to return to the uncomfortable waters of casino poker. Or, he starts to realize that there is more to poker than luck and actually learns to play better.

Neither of these courses is good for the game. Bad players either get better because they smarten up or they leave. Who wants that. And yet, otherwise good players repeat this behavior time and time again.

Why scare off the fish? Welcome them in words and deeds. Compliment their play; bemoan their unluckiness; show an interest in them, and in all other respects act warmly and generously toward them. And you know what?. Even if they do end up leaving the game because they run out of money, you'll have them leave with a good taste in their mouth and with a better chance that they'll return.

© The Poker Forum.com, all rights reserved