Do you show mercy? (1 Viewer)

[shorticus]

I conservatively consider myself a relatively average poker player (I feel like I can hold my own in any stakes), but I do struggle with playing against people who are relatively new to the game. I almost feel like it's stealing. If I get invited to a family home game, I feel bad, because my objective has always been to win as much as I can whenever I can. Basically put, I show no mercy. I'll play just as aggressive at a nursing home as I would a casino (and any place in between) My opinion is that if you want the game to be less aggressive, play limit.

Do you all ever play less aggressive in certain games than you would normally? Do you take it easy on newbies or poor poker players?

 

[nitzilla]

Hell, I would check raise my grandmother......

 

[Chris Manzoni]

The handful of guys that I talk poker hands with, whenever we play each other we go after each other in a most brutal fashion. One of our favorite things to do is go play and $80 tournament at Harrah’s or some nonsense in Vegas and then Play the trashiest hands possible against each other and show bluffs often, we also love to slow roll the crap out of each other as badly as we can. My friend went into the tank against me with quads, it was pretty amazing.

 

[Nuhockey]

When I used to play with my friends we used to be ruthless. Certain players would be targeted and they would welcome it. This included as above slow rolling. We would also try to increase the action by other players giving away lottery scratch offs if you felted certain players. We'd also show bluffs and laugh at the person who folded. It was a lot of fun. A lot of fun smack talk was done. At the casino it's every man/woman for themselves so I try to take out whomever is at the table. At the Casino if there is someone at a casino table that I particularly don't like or feel they are being a D$&K or Ahole I will go after them and try to bust them out even harder. Sometimes going after some of those people doesn't work out that well because I want to break someone so bad I'll call them when my mind knows I shouldn't but I do it anyway. I have to really dislike you pretty bad to do that and there aren't many people that happens with.

 

[ReallyGoodUsername]

What's better? $800 in one night or $100-$200 every week for the foreseeable future?

If I'm playing a pickup game of casual soccer and one guy brought shin guards, cleats, and a headband, sprinting around everywhere and has scored 12 out of the 13 goals and everyone else is there just to have fun and not be a gym class hero then that guy isn't getting invited back.

 

[shorticus]

@ReallyGoodUsername for me personally, I'm going to be busting my ass learning more and more about soccer to figure out how to kick that guy's ass LOL. I get your point, but in all honesty, I'm not sure how to slow down in a poker game. If you cheapen your bets, your more likely to get chased down and beat on the river. Would you just attempt to get ahead early and just play ultra tight the rest of the evening?

 

[Mike Wells]

 

[Rhodeman77]

Most of the time I’m trying to win as much as I can. But there are definitely times I take it easy on someone that is getting destroyed. Now this is only in my home game.

As @ReallyGoodUsername said I want to shear the sheep 100 times, not slaughter him once. I will make bad calls and donk off some chips to new players too. If I can hook them with a win on their first night they are more likely to play again and again.

That said, if I realize someone is drunk/on tilt and going to lose the money no matter what, I’m going to try to get it before everyone else.

 

[ReallyGoodUsername]

@ReallyGoodUsername for me personally, I'm going to be busting my ass learning more and more about soccer to figure out how to kick that guy's ass LOL. I get your point, but in all honesty, I'm not sure how to slow down in a poker game. If you cheapen your bets, your more likely to get chased down and beat on the river. Would you just attempt to get ahead early and just play ultra tight the rest of the evening?

I just wouldn't take it that seriously and not pay attention to calculating odds and bet sizing. I get your point on it being motivation to get better but I guess in my example I'm talking about a group of players that don't play more than 6-7 times a year and don't even know pre-flop heads up odds. If you can beat them going 50% and still have everyone enjoy themselves why go 110% if you know they won't react positively to that?

 

[sheikh617]

What's better? $800 in one night or $100-$200 every week for the foreseeable future?

If I'm playing a pickup game of casual soccer and one guy brought shin guards, cleats, and a headband, sprinting around everywhere and has scored 12 out of the 13 goals and everyone else is there just to have fun and not be a gym class hero then that guy isn't getting invited back.

On our more casual/short handed nights if someone busts we've gone as far as pooling and splicing people back in to keep a game live and friendly. I think it really depends on who is at the table. I have certain players who don't know what the word casual means and if they are in a hand it is a stacks vs stack battle to them at all times. So it's highly dependent on the crowd. I also agree with what Rhodeman stated above. If someone is donking off chips for whatever reason, I want to be the recipient lol.

 

[shorticus]

@ReallyGoodUsername @Rhodeman77 points taken. I see where you are going with your comments.

 

[ReallyGoodUsername]

That being said there's ton of situations where if new players are just not paying attention, being hardos, wearing earbuds and glasses, going all in constantly, etc etc etc then take them for all they got.

 

[sheikh617]

Nothing like shutting someone up in the form of stacking them lol.

 

[fieldsy]

I don't necessarily show mercy with newer players in terms of the way I play within the game, but I do go out of my way to make the game more welcoming/less intimidating to someone who clearly hasn't played much. For example: I'll give lots of leeway and warnings on things like unintentional string bets or acting out of turn; I'll pause before the next player can act to ask them their intention if they throw in an oversize chip where I think they may be trying to raise; assuming I'm dealing, I try to point my hand to where the action is so the new player knows and doesn't have to ask "is it on me"; and if they do something wrong I take the time to explain the rules while trying not to be condescending or a jerk. I may also show my hand in spots I would ordinarily just muck, to show them they made a good fold or whatever, but that could be considered a strategic move and not an altruistic friendly one.

Also, if I'm in a cash game with some people who aren't as experienced, I guess I show mercy in the game selection. If I'm playing with my regular crew, we'll mix in orbits of PLO or some stud or draw games or whatever. I'm much less inclined to do that with someone who doesn't know the games at all. Everyone who plays poker should expect that they may lose money, but no one wants to feel like they got hustled or pressured into playing a game where they don't even understand the rules. The first time I played poker in college it was with some guys who knew I had no idea what I was doing, and they took my (very small) buyin without hesitation. It soured me on the game for a long time, so I try not to do that to people.

 

[DoubleEagle]

One of my poker buddies is friends with a semi-pro who is a very successful/wealthy business man. He frequently plays on TV in some of the big cash games. A couple of weeks ago my buddy was playing with his friend in cash game. My friend was doing pretty well and had about $7,000 in front of him. I can't remember if they were playing $2/5 or $5/10 NLHE, but that really doesn't matter to this story. The semi-pro is very aggro and put my friend all in on the river. My friend decided to call. It was only the two of them in the pot. The semi-pro then told my friend that if he would fold he could take back everything except for $1,000. My friend took him up on his offer and the semi-pro showed him the stone cold nuts. I thought that was a pretty generous thing to do.

 

[sheikh617]

One of my poker buddies is friends with a semi-pro who is a very successful/wealthy business man. He frequently plays on TV in some of the big cash games. A couple of weeks ago my buddy was playing with his friend in cash game. My friend was doing pretty well and had about $7,000 in front of him. I can't remember if they were playing $2/5 or $5/10 NLHE, but that really doesn't matter to this story. The semi-pro is very aggro and put my friend all in on the river. My friend decided to call. It was only the two of them in the pot. The semi-pro then told my friend that if he would fold he could take back everything except for $1,000. My friend took him up on his offer and the semi-pro showed him the stone cold nuts. I thought that was a pretty generous thing to do.

What a fuckin' guy. That man deserves run good for the next couple months.

 

[shorticus]

@DoubleEagle That is really awesome! Nothing but well wishes for that guy!

@fieldsy that's good input. Thanks!

 

[PKF655]

I will take it easy on kids and good looking women who want to learn. Then again we will most likely playing for nickels or quarters which is not going to break me. If we are in a casino well sorry....

 

[Hornet]

I generally agree with @ReallyGoodUsername and @Rhodeman77, but I would also caution you to be very careful soft-playing certain people in home games in light of the table dynamics. If you can casually donk off a few chips here or there, great. And everyone understands not wanting to crush a guy at the end of the night when he’s already stuck big. But if you let certain people take bets back (like the semi-pro example above) and not others, things can get very ugly very quickly. We’ve even had arguments at our home game because a certain player will only run it twice with people he likes.

My rule is I generally play individual hands like I would at the casino. But I see these people every week, have them at my house, and consider them to be my friends. So on a rare occasion I will cut them a break. And personally, I think the only way new players or bad players can learn is to play against them correctly.

 

[shorticus]

My only issue with "pulling it back" is that if you're going to force me out of a pot to do that, I feel like you're trying to save money between you and the other person. I'm personally opposed to the three player pot with two friends. One friend makes a big raise, the middle guy folds, then the other friend calls, and they pull their money back. I've had that happen at one poker game, and that was it for me. I also hate checking it down when two friends are at the table and are the last one's in the hand.

The ideas of giving someone a break who's had a rough night...meh okay. That's fair. No need to kick a man when he's down, but I agree, those are all situational things.

 

[johnjohn]

never. well sometimes.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Think about it this way. Stu Ungar was the greatest Gin player ever but he barely made any money at the game. Anywhere he went he he would find the best player in the town and destroy them. After that nobody would play against him.

On the other hand Amarillo Slim would show up in town and lose at pool to a bunch of average guys until word got out that there was a huge fish losing money. At which point he would hustle the best guy in town getting great odds all the while “barely” beating him.

Both were considered to be the best at their game, one couldn’t get a game to save his life and the other made a fortune from it.

 

[Trihonda]

I live in a fairly affluent area. I have neighbors who have lots of money, and like to play friendly poker, and don’t balk at losing a few hundred bucks in a session. I win in this game, and don’t play “optimal”.

There was another neighbor who is a very good player, and very agro. He punishes weak play, and really goes after the money, at all costs. The problem, these are all neighbors and they got pissed off, and Mr agro player not only got disinvited to poker, but was banned from almost all neighborhood social activities (since they often led to friendly drunk poker games til 4am).

Know your players.. know your game. Don’t “overfish” the pond. A casino might be a river (with a steady stream of fish). A home game might be a pond with much calmer waters (lots of fun) but with limited fish.

 

[Lemonzest]

be merciless but play at stakes the fish can afford. This helps them learn how to be TAG.

 

[Saoliver]

View attachment 313636


Hell, I would check raise my grandmother......

“As Canada Bill Jones said, ‘It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.’”

 

[inca911]

With similarly skilled players who know what they are getting into, it’s a fair fight. That said, I will slow down if someone I know is playing tilted.

With new or less experienced players, I’m a big advocate of microstakes and $0/point OFCP.

 

[Legend5555]

While I generally err on the no mercy side, my home game back in the day was nerfed pretty hard when one of the losing regs had enough of it. Though it was likely more due to the berating he received from some for his bad play than his actual losing. Nicest guy too. It was a loss for all.

 

[Highli99]

Though it was likely more due to the berating he received from some for his bad play than his actual losing.

This times 100. Be nice and don’t tap the glass. Quietly rake pots. Don’t lecture. Don’t apologize when you win. Laugh and Congratulate others when they suck out on you. Keeps stakes at a point where the least experienced players are comfortable.

 

[shorticus]

@Highli99 I could literally start a whole different thread on lecturing. That's a totally different topic of conversation. I don't like getting involved in those conversations at the table. I played with a guy who literally wanted to debate the play of every. single. pot. during the night with the guy next to him. They were debating which hands were the right hands to play and which ones weren't. As he continued to go to his wallet for hundred dollar bill after hundred dollar bill, he asked me if he was right about his point in the debate during one hand, and I politely stated, "I don't tell people how to play the game, everyone is entitled to their own opinion or strategy."

 

[Mr Winberg]

As he continued to go to his wallet for hundred dollar bill after hundred dollar bill, he asked me if he was right about his point in the debate during one hand, and I politely stated, "I don't tell people how to play the game, everyone is entitled to their own opinion or strategy."

That was the wrong answer. The correct answer is:

"If it's good enough to call you gotta be in there raising, all right. I mean tight but aggressive, and I do mean aggressive. That's your style, Professor. I mean you gotta ...you gotta think of it as a war."