© June 4, 2008
By Daniel Cox
Editor, Gaming Review On Line

29 Palms – I realize I am sometimes guilty of it, too; the snide comment after an unimaginably bad play when 8 10 offsuit cracks your Aces and knocks you out early in the $40,000 Monthly Event. Let me assure you, it is not the right thing to do, especially on a site like Spade Club that caters to the beginning players and as Card Player Media and Spade Club head Barry Shulman calls them, “The Kitchen Table crowd.” Many of these players are new to the game and have grown up on televised poker. Since a 7 – 2 offsuit catching a miracle 7 – 7 – 2 flop is more exciting television, it is what people new to the game see winning big pots, not solid consistent play. There are several reasons why it is improper to criticize another person’s play.

First, it is bad poker etiquette to criticize the actions of another player. You may type “nh,” “lol” or “that’s poker” when everyone at the table knows you really mean, “How could you make that play?” That is OK, you are keeping yourself from going on tilt with a mild display of upset, but you really are not openly demeaning the player for his move. Remember, one player’s donk move is another player's decisive and insightful maneuver. The fact that it is bad poker etiquette should be the only reason you should refrain from being critical of other peoples play, but it is not.

Second, besides poor etiquette, it can sometimes make you look like a fool. Eleven time WSOP bracelet winner Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth is famous for berating players that take large stacks from him with play he does not feel is correct. Not only does he bad-mouth players for making loose calls, he verbally attacks those around him when there is a raise or re-raise in front of him or better cards are dealt to others at the table that cause him to lose a hand. Even though he is one of the most accomplished Hold’em players in the game, he has become a laughing stock in poker circles for his tirades.

Third, sometimes what appears to be a bad play is actually a move made by an experienced player. On one hand, it may have been a bluff that got a call and on the other, it was a calculated play with inferior cards. Paul Newman as Luke in Cool Hand Luke remarked, "Sometimes nothing can be a pretty cool hand." Gus Hansen has made (and lost) millions playing trash cards, so there is sometimes method to the madness. Poker legend Doyle Brunson has said that given position, he doesn’t need to look at his cards and Annette Obrestad (Annette_15), the 19 year old poker wunderkind (multi-million dollar winning player, WSOP Europe Main Event Winner) recently won an online tournament with over 150 entrants without looking at her cards (she did peek once). Therefore, instead of a fish making a donk move, it was actually a skillful player trying to take advantage of you.

Fourth, openly criticizing another player can only improve his or her game, which is something you really do not want to happen. By your humiliating remarks, the other player will realize he had made a mistake in his play and instead on not hitting the miracle two-outer and shipping you his chips next time, he folds and you get nothing. Poker author Lou Kreiger noted, “You have it in your power to turn a bad-beat around simply by realizing this simple truth: The more bad beats you encounter, the luckier you are. It's a sign that you are playing against opponents who continually take the worst of it, and, if you can't beat someone who always takes the worst of it, you can't beat anyone.”

Fifth, not only is the player you embarrassed going to be gunning for you in the future, other players at the table may want to shut you up. Most people do not like to see a player bullied, either with a larger chip stack, or verbally. These players may then “defend” the weaker player and target you. There are few things at a table more rewarding than watching an obnoxious player taken down a notch or two.

Finally, not everyone is as good as you think you are. Poker professional Dutch Boyd once quipped, “Poker is a lot like sex: Every- one thinks they are the best, but nobody knows what they are doing.” There are many ways to play poker and you may not agree with all of them. The important thing is to keep your comments on other peoples play to yourself. To paraphrase a great man, “Let he who hath not sucked out, cast the first stone.”