table talk ethics

[CurryLover]

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We're funny about things in the UK. Speech play of any kind is not allowed during a hand.

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Where do you play, Currylover? I haven't found this to be the case in UK casino tournaments nor in home games. But you may be playing at higher stakes than me or in a different city perhaps?

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I play mainly in Manchester, Blackpool and Sheffield. Like I said, some players do try speech play and often get away with it. However, it is generally frowned upon whereas in the US a lot of the table talk is considered 'part of the game'. I know that in some games (usually bigger games) a player's hand is declared dead if he engages in any speech play at all. And these rules are strictly enforced. A friend of mine once had his hand disqualified because he asked "what game are we playing?" in the middle of a hand during a high stakes dealer's choice game.

Others may correct me, but in the US many types of speech play are considered 'part of the game' that, in the UK, would be considered highly unethical, possibly cheating (and may lead to a hand being disqualified in card rooms that do what they say they will). Examples might be:

Betting with a flush and saying "I want to find out who has the flush"

Betting on a AAA flop and stating "let's see if anyone has the A"

Stating "I know I'm behind, but I call" when you flop the nuts.

My personal opinion is that players should just play their hands and not comment at all apart from to ask clarification questions like "how much money have you got left in your stack?" or "how much is it to me?". All of this nonsense like asking your opponent what he has when contemplating a call is at the very least ungentlemanly. But then, that's my cultural bias - in other countries such things would be considered completely acceptable.