Berating the fish?

[sfer]

My presumption was that they are laggro steaming.

[Lestat]

As long as there is poker, there will be people berating other people.

I'm more surprised that this surprises you. You have been around for a while, right?

If they often berate YOU it might be cause for concern however.

[mosta]

just the other day I decided to turn off all player chat. I think it's really better, for me. I'm not a big tilter (it's mostly just internal stress, not really changing my play), but if I'm on a bad run, a comment can add an extra touch to the annoyance. more importantly, when I feel a strong urge to smash my screen and curse a guy, having the chat off makes it not feel like there is a guy there on the other end. it's easier to be detached and just take it as patterns of numbers. I'd always resisted turning off chat b/c there might be some useful info in there--there is not.

[stigmata]

I see A LOT more verbal abuse at the 6-max tables than the full ring. I think that what you are experiencing is partly due to the effect of short-handed structure on social dynamics.

The simple fact of the situation is that you are involved in pots with the same people much more frequently. Combine that with the higher variance and the decreased standard of hand at showdown, and you have a great combination for the game getting "personal". People become emotionally involved with each other in a way that does not happen as often at a full ring games.

[Net Warrior]

I don't respond to beraters in any way that would give them information about my game. I do this for the same reason that I never show my cards for free. I want them to pay to learn anything about my game.
If I've been frustrated during a session, or if there is some other reason that an opponent comment might alter my game, I turn off chat.

[highland]

Whenever I see someone acting rudely to anyone (me especially), I simply spend more of my mental energy trying to play correctly against them. Look up more of their stats, take notes on how they played specific hands, close my 2+2 window, put my feet down, etc.

Interestingly, in my home game, we do berate the fish, in the hopes that they will study and get good enough to beat the 3/6 online instead of breaking even. Of course the jabs are lighthearted. Perhaps we need to start being mean-spirited to get our friends through SSHE :P.

cheers,
highland

[Roswell]

In one of Sklansky's essays, he says that higher-limit players are almost always gambling with a greater portion of their net worth than low-limit players. Also with regard to Party 30/60, many of the opponents are likely to have insufficient funds on deposit to weather the swings. Thus, losing one big pot might affect their ability to continue to play 30/60 online.

These two factors might lead to more flaming in the 30/60 than at lower limits.

[DeeJ]

Just say "I'm still learning, sorry" [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[fnord_too]

Berating does not affect my play, other than noting a lack of self control on the part of the berater. I usually say nothing if someone spouts off at me. Their outbursts are truly out of ignorance and stupidity, regardless of how you played a hand.

I won't say that all players who do this are losing, or that it is sometimes not a ploy (ala Tomitivo), but I think most of the time berating an opponent is indictive of leaks in one's game, even if one is a winning player.

It is highly unlikely anyone who berates you (or does not berate you for that matter) has done anywhere near the amount of analysis on the game that you have. Adjust to their play, not their words, but certainly be aware that their words may belie the fact that they are steaming (or not, again, Tomitivo ranted a lot without steaming).

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
It's probably because of your BB defensive, i get it a lot after i've shown a BB defensive hand like T5o etc.

It's def. not a strategy of 30/60 players it's just because of the amounts of money and ego at stake for these players.

[/ QUOTE ]