When your friends get mad at you

[dogmeat]

Here's the deal - people used to get together and play a little poker for fun, and maybe a player or two thought they might make a few bucks, well, that's cool. However, since you (and 99% of the world right now apparently) thinks they are the second coming of Johnny Moss, they play like winning is more important than anything else.

Playing against somebody that is raising every hand is not any fun, and that's the problem. You want to push everybody around - fine, just understand that you have no friends at the poker table (and none afterwards either). Make your choice, friends - or money (I'm not judging, just giving you your options).

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the candor. And it's definitely something to consider. One thing though, like I said before I don't think I'm the greatest player in the world. I don't know why people keep insinuating that I think that I am.

[MicroBob]

I think your friends want to play 'real' poker that they can afford...instead of sitting there with some guy trying to bust them all night long.


Some people react really negatively to hyper-aggression if they can't figure a way for it to be +EV for them.


Several months ago i entered a freeroll tournament on absolute.
About 5 minutes in the GF calls and got out of work early so we're going to go out.
So much for the freeroll.
But instead of just sitting-out and letting myself get blinded-away I go all-in on every hand (you see this happen sometimes...and the guy explains in the chat-box that he has to leave all of a sudden).

Well....I catch amazing cards and bust player after player.
84o knocks off QQ...etc etc etc.
I double-up several times and am the chip-leader. and I just keep going and going because I'm trying to leave anyway.

I probably busted out about 10 players.
I even explained that I was just trying to leave..."please take my chips."


A couple players were LOL'ing when they got busted by ridiculous holdings.
But there were some players who were getting REALLY mad that I was 'ruining' the game by playing like that.
I found it to be pretty interesting actually.


But since it was a freeroll I guess looking back I can kind of see their point.

This is almost the equivilent of showing-up on a play-money table where people are trying to just learn how to play...and then going all-in on every hand and just turning the friendly poker game into something completely different.

I think the game with your friends should be a little friendlier and it's just something you are doing to have fun.
So while it is not for play-money, you shouldn't go that crazy if it creates ill-will.

and if you want to think in TRUE ev terms: Ticking off your friends to the point that they won't want to give you their money again is definitely -EV.
If folding every once in awhile makes them happy and makes them willing to come back with more money in the future then playing a bit more passively will actually be higher EV for you in the future.

[2+2 wannabe]

I love this new reply-thingie

microbob is spot on