Let's Keep It Clean

by Matt Lessinger

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I'll warn you up front - this article is going to be part rant and part plea. The rant is against the level of profanity and nastiness in the chatboxes of online poker rooms. The plea is in the hopes that it can be reduced, even if only a little.

Maybe I'm naive, but it still astonishes me how much hate is spewed in poker chatboxes. People constantly call each other all sorts of names that cannot be repeated here. Many sites do a good job of censoring those players, but then, of course, they find ways around it. They simply change one letter of their vulgarity, or put spaces between the letters, and, voilà!, they are no longer censored. I cannot help but think that if those players would put as much effort into their poker game as they do into insulting their opponents, they would probably be some damn good players!

Why Do They Do It?

I think a lot of it comes from the online culture in general, because this behavior is certainly not limited to poker. In my limited forays into chat rooms, game rooms, and forums, I have seen insane amounts of name-calling and general abuse, even towards people who are unquestionably good-natured. The hatemongers clearly think they have a license to be as insulting and rude as they want. And I guess, in an unfortunate way, they do, since they can hide behind whatever online moniker they choose. If they acted this way in the real world, they would stand a pretty good chance of getting their asses kicked.

Unfortunately, it's their attitudes that have caused me to avoid posting in places like poker forums - or any forums, for that matter. It's a shame, because I know that the good people comprise the majority. But, I simply can't deal with the amount of rudeness that comes from the bad apples. And I feel that any effort to change them could fall on deaf ears.
I'm not here to take on the Herculean task of reforming the attitudes of the online community in general. At this point, I think it would be impossible. Instead, with most online spaces, I simply take the Howard Stern approach. If you don't like what you hear on his show, then just don't listen. Similarly, if I don't like the way I am treated in a particular online space, I should just take it upon myself to avoid it.

But There's One Exception

I don't care how much nastiness someone types in an online poker chatbox - it's not going to stop me from playing. I love the game way too much to be deterred by a few bitter souls. But since they are so unpleasant, and since they create such an uncomfortable playing environment for everyone, I really do wish there was a way to make them stop.

Of course, I can mute someone's chat whenever I want. I've done it sometimes when a player has become particularly insulting or annoying. Unfortunately, it's those same players who usually give away tons of information in the chatbox on a regular basis. I've even seen a couple of players, bitter from constantly being outdrawn, go so far as to tell the table their hand, hoping that everyone would fold. And they were telling the truth about their cards!

That is a somewhat rare scenario, but a much more common one is that such players give you clues about the correct actions to take against them. Often a player, through his chat, makes it obvious that he is on severe tilt. You then know that when he raises the very next hand, it's doubtful that he has anything decent, so you can play your hand accordingly. Sometimes a player moans about how he is tired of paying people off, because they are constantly showing him some ridiculous two pair. Now you know to increase your bluff frequency against him. As long as he is in the mood to get run over, you may as well take advantage of it.

So, even though these players may be cursing the entire table out, I hate to mute them, especially when their chat could easily result in my profit. Unfortunately, that leaves me with few options. If I'm not muting them, I'm stuck listening to the bad with the good. And the bad can often get extremely nasty.

Are You a Culprit?

Now it's time for my plea. If you are one of the people who cannot resist typing something nasty to your opponents every time they beat you, I urge you to think about how useless your actions are. Most likely, the only thing you are doing is creating an uncomfortable playing environment. If you cursed up a storm in a B&M cardroom every time you took a beat, you would most likely be asked to leave. Don't act differently just because you are online and can get away with it. Set a good example. Show some class. Tell your opponent "nice hand" or "nh" and leave it at that. You might be surprised at how easy it is to do.

If you have a history of being abusive in the chatbox, I imagine it's a pretty hard habit to break. I have my doubts that you will change your ways simply because I've asked you to. But maybe, just maybe, you will change once you realize all the ways you are hurting yourself through your actions. There are a lot of downsides to cursing and moaning at the online poker table, and next month I plan to show you what they are. See you then.

Matt Lessinger's Book of Bluffs is now available everywhere. You can purchase it at www.cardplayer.com by clicking "shop online." You can also find other articles of Matt's in his "Bet With Less" column in Card Player magazine.

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