Playing regular poker with you're friends, do you help them improve?

[SlyR]

I learned a lot by playing with my friends. Table talk was allowed to a certain extent; we found that it adds to the fun when you can discuss why you played the way you did during a hand. At low stakes, it doesn't hurt the game much. After all, the weakies will remain weaker than you even after receiving a pointer here and there. Often, the stronger players in our game would make a remark like "Say, you know what Caro has to say about betting with force like that, don't you?" with a bit of a smirk, as if we were almost mocking the advice in the books. The guys who didn't read about the game would just dismiss the comments as smart-ass remarks and only tentatively take them to heart. Basically, the strong players in our game never actually sought to offer solid advice; but the amount of table talk that was heard must have rubbed off a little occassionally. No big thing.

[Ralph Wiggum]

For those friends who don't know about my poker hobby:
No, I never offer advice (nor do they need to know about my poker obsession), but I don't play to clean out my friends either. We play all stupid sorts of made up of card games in addition to Holdem. It's best for my BB/100 they remain clueless about my shark-like poker ability (relatively speaking). The last thing I'd want is to have to deal with another good player in a serious game online or live, and it'd be stupid on my part if it's one that I created. There's usually a friend who sees himself as a table-tutor (usually for ego purposes), and I usually let him do the talking. I think the rest of the guys aren't looking to specialize in poker (so why encourage them?), and they just want to socialize and have a good time.

For the friends I play with who know the game, and know that I know the game:
No, we just play for fun, and we LAG it up quite a bit. It's never much money, so we might as well play for fun, and have a good time, since at most it's only like 3 of us playing among a table of fish. There's rarely a hand in these games that's noteworthy enough to really have a serious strategy discussion.

Finally, if you're going into these home games with friends to clean them out of beer money/lunch money, then maybe you should just stick with more serious games. You can't be winning a significant chunk of change from these guys, and why would you want to clean out your friends anyways? They're just there to have some fun, and they won't like seeing you constantly cleaning them out.

[Lawrence Ng]

This is a very interesting post and a subject that has also arisen in my mind as of late.

A good friend of mine and I play together. My mentality is that there are no friends at the poker table. I will play my game straight up against anyone and though it hurts to get beat by a friend who makes a move on me, it is a part of the game and I accept it. I never take things personally on the poker table.

My friend however, is the opposite. He is a horrible poker player, but believes that since we are friends we should "check-it down" heads up.

Well, I have explained to him time and time again that I will not check it down heads up. There is no way in hell I am going to give him a free flush draw against my overpair when I am a massive favorite to win the pot. If he wants to win, he must pay. If he pays, and outdraws me then all the better for him.

I have also tried to help him with his game as well, but he has a bit of pride and ego. He really believes he is a good poker player, but for the love of god I know he is not because I have watched over him for months now and believe me he drops more bills in the game than he does cashing out. He makes excuses, refuses to adjust, and other rambunctious knockings that only a bad poker player would make.

I really do not know what to do now. He's flushing money away, some of it to me of course. I would like to help him, but it will hurt our friendship. He's a great friend, but horrible poker player.

I guess his refusal to accept a good friend's critism is a sign that I should not help him. Poker after all is not a gentlemen's game. Is it worth it to hurt our friendship over poker anyways if he is too nieve to see is a bad player?

[gibs]

I usually don't help them mainly because nobody likes a table coach. That is unless they ask me for help. I have lent my books to a couple of friends and have given them pointers that I have picked up along the way, but this is all after we're done playing. The only time I'll help someone during the game (in between hands of course) is when they are a complete newbie and I have persuaded them to play so we can have close to a full table. I'll tell them things like "never draw to the ass end of a straight" and "always scan the board to see what hands might be out there that can beat you." Then hopefully if they don't do too bad they'll come back and play again.

[Bob T.]

If they ask, I help them, if they don't, it isn't any of my business, and I don't. Some of my friends like talking about hands, and I've learned from them, too.

I also don't mind playing hard against friends, the group I play in is fairly competitive, I would guess that at least half of them are winning players at Canterbury, and half the fun is outplaying them on a hand, and then teasing them about it at work the next day. Or for them, outplaying me, and teasing me the next day.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.

[Bob T.]

Larry,

I think that one thing that you have to recognize is that people don't all play for the same reasons. Since it seems that he doesn't want to face the fact that his results don't add up to those of a winning player, and he also doesn't seem that interesting in changing an ineffective game, he probably is playing for reasons other than to perfect his game and win some money.

A lot of people play for the fun of game, and/or comeraderie, and look at the expenses they have as entertainment expense. As long as you are friendly, and maybe funny, they really don't care if they lose money, in fact, it is what usually happens, so they aren't surprised or dismayed by it.

What might bother your friend more than losing money, or being a bad player, is your confronting him with the evidence that he is a bad player.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.

[3rdEye]

In a home S&G one time, on a flop of A 7 4 rainbow, my buddy called an all in bet with a 45 against an AK. The 5 came on the river, and my buddy (who gets a bit egotistical when he has a buzz) was going on and on about how he "schooled" the AK guy. I tried and tried to tell him that his play was retarded, but he would not listen (for him, the results were all that mattered).