Does Demeanor Matter?
 

I’ll set the stage with an excerpt from a Doug Flutie interview back when he was QB for the Bills (Paraphrased as best as I remember):

Reporter: You’ve been very outspoken lately about the weaknesses in the Dolphin’s defensive line and how you expect to win on Sunday by exploiting them. The response from Miami’s defensive line was ‘Just wait until Sunday Flutie, just….wait….until…Sunday’.

<pregnant pause>

Reporter: Do you really think it was wise of you to rile them?

Flutie: What are they going to do, are they going to hit me harder? They’re pro’s, they’re already giving 100%.

So back to poker, does demeanor matter? Does a jerk hurt himself with his antics (not implying anything about Flutie), or is everyone already giving their best effort to seperate him from his money?

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

Definitely there are marginal situations where what you do doesn't really matter for you, but may matter for the other players in the hand.

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

I think it affects everybody to some degree. It'll just affect some more than others.

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

not in the long run.

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

The most profitable table is a smiling one.

Not everyone is giving 100% people (by people I mean fish) are there for fun. Don't drive them off.

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

Muhammed Ali constantly talked to his opponents. Of course, he had a great jab and a superior chin, but by the end of the fight his opponents were furious but could do nothing about it.

Re: Does Demeanor Matter?
 

I played in Atlantic City last week. 3/6 at the Taj. For a couple of hours I was sitting next to an old man who had alot of trouble seeing the cards on the table. I frequently read them out to him. Ace of spades, eight of diamonds etc into his ear so that he could hear. It was a pain in the ass but I was right next to him and he would have taken forever if nobady helped him.

After about an hour and a half we end up only me and him in a hand. I was in the BB with 2 4 off. Flop comes A2x. He checks. I bet. He laughs, "I should raise you" and he flips up his Ace.

My first response was to feel like an ass...I would have gotten played by an old man. But as I thought about it, I realized that Poker is a people game and I had benifitted from my people skills.

Kindness is +EV I think.
And for the record, I think he did the wrong thing...I would have raised and played out the hand if I were him.