[slogger]

I play a fairly ragular NL home game with 2 of my buddies (and sometimes a few others) and they have now both complained about something that they believe I have a tendency of doing.

In fact, I think it has happened at most 4 times in the 6 months we've been playing, but I want to correct my behavior if it is something that is generally thought of as poor poker ethics or table manners (also note that I'd rather err on the side of politeness and respecting my friends' concerns than on maximizing my gains at all costs).

Background: I am a fairly tight player and when I play with one of these guys, in particular (very loose aggressive, loves to check raise and/or come over the top of small-medium bets for large percentages of his opponents' stack), I have been developing a very conservative approach to the early betting rounds. I try to let him push me around earlier on (unless I have what I am more than 80% sure that I have him), and build my aggressiveness based on hands that I actually hit as the game goes on. Because we often play for as long as 4-8 hours, this patient style has paid off more often than not.

The "offending" behavior: because of my opponent's tendency to come over the top with and w/o made hands (and sometimes even with pure rags), I generally try to take at least 5-10 seconds, but sometimes as much as 30-45 seconds to make a decision about whether to call or raise when he bets into me in this fashion. Part of this time is used to review the betting to that point and to try to put him on a hand (this is very difficult for reasons mentioned above) and part of it spent trying to read his demeanor. When I have a real hand, I'll occasionally ask him to tell me how many more chips he's got left (partly because I want to get a sense of the exact percentage of my stack at stake, and partly because I want to analyze how he responds).

The complaint: My friend says that although it may not be against any rule (written or otherwise), my behavior (taking excessively long to make a call or fold - sometimes as much as 2-3 minutes - and using part of that time to study him) is perceived (by him and others) as "poor form."

Now I agree that perhaps I should lighten up a bit when playing with my friends (as opposed to strangers in a card room) and speed up my play, but in all honesty, I don't take that long just in order to study my opponent. I hoenstly have difficult time deciding whether to put my entire stake (or a large percentage of it) on the line against this opponent when I'm not at least 75-80% confident that I'm ahead because I've been burned before (usually when I make a quick call; or even a quick fold) by not taking my time to consider all of the factors.

I'd like to hear some people's opinons of what is accepted practice in this regard. How long is "too long"? Does it matter to you whether you're playing with friends or strangers? If I only do this (take 30-120 seconds to make a call or fold) once or twice per 4-hour session, do my opponents have a legitimate gripe?

All comments. opinions and criticisms are welcome.