Delusions of Grandeur, Insanity, or just Stupidity.

[rkiray]

I usually don't pay attention to table chat, but this was the most outrageous I'd ever seen. This guy was so bad it was actually funny.

UB 2/4, really great game. Three or four terrible players. I'm getting good cards, but I'm getting sucked out on left and right. I'm down about $120 mainly to the worst guy at the table. He is up huge. Here is the type of beats I've been taking from this guy. I open raise ep with AQo, only the button calls. Flop come 57Q. I lose a big pot to 57o. It's been like this for about two hours and for the first time in months I'm on the verge of tilt.

I lose two hands back to back to the moron. Suddenly another bad player starts talking smack to me. I had not said a word at the table and the last two hands he was not in. I have no idea why this guy decided to pick on me. He said I was so bad I should quit playing poker before I lost all of my money. I didn't say anything back, but two other decent players starting defending me. (probably defending the big donator). Now this guy claimed he was one of the best players in the world, and he wouldn't tell us his real name because we would be afraid to play against him if we knew who he was. I thought this was hilarious. So I made my only comment. "Yeah, all the world champions play 2/4." He said it was his first time at UB and he wanted to get a feel for the software before playing for real money (I guess we can rule out Phil Helmuth). I was only there for about another twenty minutes but during this time this guy was giving "lessons" to everyone (mainly the two guys arguing the most with him) and he kept insisting he was one of the greatest poker players in the world. The good news is his comments were so dumb they had me laughing so hard that the edge of tilt disappeared.

My question is why would anyone act like this. He didn't seem to be joking. He really seemed to believe he was a great player. But he had only been there about 40 minutes and I had already noted several mistakes including calling a raise in BB with T4o, calling three cold on button with A9o and raising in mp with KTo after one limper. Is this guy insane or just really stupid.

[stantheman]

I'd say stupidity with a small dash of insanity...

I'm seeing alot more of these poker PHD's on UB lately. Not sure how the players on the other sites are evolving, but it seems that the more often poker is on TV the more our fellow UBers can study the finer points of the game... and then, of course, instruct the rest of us on how it's done. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Nate tha' Great]

You can also use this to your advantage.

Ex: playing at a no limit table at Party last night. I limped in from MP with something like 98s.

I hit bottom pair on a AQ8 rainbow flop. I led out with a modest bet of around $3. There had been no raise preflop and just three to see the flop so I thought there was a reasonable chance I could take it right there if nobody held an ace.

Player in the CO then made it $40, which I thought was a patently ridiculous bet in this situation, but that's another story. I have exactly $38.50 in my stack.

I say: I don't even have 40 bucks! and fold.

CO says: Sorry, too lazy to type 38.50

I say: If you had bet 38.50 I would have called!

CO, in complete seriousness, proceeds to explain the all-in rule.

I say: "I saw people playing poker on TV and thought I'd try it for myself!"

CO welcomes me to the table and explains the all-in rule again, then asks me if I understand.

I wait for like fifteen seconds and say: "I guess so."

I got a fair amount of action from there on out.

[BigEndian]

Table coaching is my biggest pet peave at the moment. And I do my best to discourage it with simple comments like, "the world doesn't need another table coach." And frequently telling people "nh" even when it's utterly clear it was a bad beat - hoping that the coaches will fillow my lead.

Nothing worse than having a table with 4+ live seats and some straight-rod feels they have to lecture them about what idiot players they are and how much money they're making from their horrible play.

- Groove

[rkiray]

[ArchAngel71857]

I actually ran into this in a 10+1 tourney.

I had 88 UTG or something and raised, yada yada yada.

Flop came 4 K Q, i get c/r by the SB out of nowhere. It was low limits and i had a lot of chips from my button hand ( i flopped a set), so i decided i would call him down to see what he called fomr the SB with that he was able to c/r me with from the SB. River was an 8! hahaha, I felt so bad.

ooo wait, hold on i just got AA at my table. Sweet doubled up!

Anyway, so of course now i raise the river, and take it down. This guy right to my left rips into me "unbelievable, nice river." And knowing what just happend I say "lucky." Cuz, it really kind of was. Now he lectures me "poker isn't a game of luck, its a game of odds." It is? OH MY GOD! So of course, I am so suprised I egg him on "really? how so?" to which he gives a piss poor explanation of pot odds (in a tournament). And how he is so good, yada yada yada. Ao every hand after that, he says stuff like "this is why I can't win at LL, too many fish prevent me from building my bankroll." I thouroughly enjoyed it, esp when i put him out ( i hit every set that hand). Asking him about my play ("did i have the odds to raise with my two pair there?") etc.

But it gets better, three friends IM me and start idle conversations. Within 2 minutes each was on the rail watching this guy and offering thier own advice to him, such as "XXXX, you sould only play pocket pair when they are sooted." and such gems as:

"Friend 1: He must have had pocket rats."
"Me: What is that, I have never heard of that."
"Friend 2; that is new to me."
"Enemy: me too."
"Friend 1: me too."

It was the only time i got lectured at the table. But i really thought it was funny about pot odds. Esp since i was in a tournament.

Usually, I think this results from people who are arrogant to begin with, then they get their hands on ToP or HEPFAP, and then proceed to try and impress players with not their play, but their knowledge. They would do the same thing with football, baseball, movies, politics, religion, whatever.

Moving on, Dynasty pointed something out to me on a post in the early summer. Besides starting hand requirements, no aspect of my game was better than the hand I lost on and posted. This may apply, some of these people get some knowledge and their post flop improves tremendously, but they are prideful or gamblers at heart, and have to play anything. Just my two cents.

on to get my Pocket Rats!

-AA

[ArchAngel71857]