This isn’t about splashing the pot or acting in turn… what I’m talking about here is mature civility at the poker table.

In live play, people are usually more polite for a couple of reasons.

1. Being rude to someone’s face takes a lot more “balls” than flipping someone off while driving or something else with some spacial separation.

2. Most players at the casinos realize that being rude or talking crap about someone is counter-productive to their goals, i.e. winning everyone’s money.

However, this is not true online. Online I see rudeness every time I play. Some guy complaining about a bad beat they received and calling the other guy names because of it. Or someone who gloats about winning. Whatever the case, rude behavior abounds behind the anonymity of the computer screen.

Personally, I think this is a shame that people act this way and further more, I think it’s the sign of a poor player who’s probably losing more money than he’s winning. Again, it’s counter-productive. The ability to read people is one of the key separations of pro versus amateur levels of play. This is even harder online, but not impossible. When you start getting someone on tilt because of insulting jibes, you lose what small ability you might have of putting someone on read.

Imagine you have a thousand hands plus on a player and have a good idea that they are a mousy player. When you beat them in a big pot, you start insulting them and all of sudden, you’re entire data set is worthless. Next time they play against you, it could be just because they’re on tilt and loosened up because they have a such a strong desire to get revenge. Suddenly, they’re playing marginal hands against you strongly and you no longer know where you stand.

Finally, it mostly shows other players your lack of experience. Usually speaking, the players who complain the most or act out in a rude, inappropriate manner are doing so because they lack experience. This helps me and others play against them. I know that they are probably more likely to make mistakes when they have a draw or anything else. So, I play them.

Poker is just a game. Being of good character is life. Which is more important to you?

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