Gulf Coast Poker Forums

Although I'm a big fan of staying positive, sometimes it's good to clear the air by talking about what frustrates you. Post the ONE thing that other poker players do that irritates you the most.

My biggest "poker pet peeve" is in a tournament when you're getting close to being in-the-money. A short stack player is all-in. The unspoken rule is that the others players in the pot will check it down (unless someone has a monster) and take out the all-in player to get closer, or into the money. Instead, someone tries to bet out the other players, and as a result, the short stack doubles, triples, or quadruples up. Here's one example that has stuck with me.

We're on the bubble in a live tourney. Short stack goes all in for less than the big blind, folded around to me in the Small Blind. I have K9o so I call the blinds, thinking the Big Blind and I will check it down, take out the all-in player, and be ITM.

Instead, the big blind looks at me and pushes all in! I shake my head, and give him a look of disgust as I muck my cards, saying something like "I hope you have a big hand". He turns over KJo. The all-in player has A8. The flop come AK9, turn and river are bricks. I would have won with two-pair. Instead, the short stack triples up. As icing on the cake, I end up going out on the bubble.

The player apologized and commented that he shouldn't have pushed, which I appreciated. I'm sure I made the same mistake when I first started, so it's hard to stay mad about it. I guess that's just poker.

Now it's your turn. What's your "poker pet peeve"?

I am very gald you brought that up. Thats one of many things. People don't understand getting to the money. Another one for me is when I play a cash game and people stack thier chips in 50's and not 100's. Could it be they can't count or that they are only willing to play for 50 at a time????? Maybe to them if looks like a bigger stack? Anyway thats my biggest peeve.

Thanks, Cheyne

I have to disagree with you about an unspoken "rule", at least as to cash tournaments. Granted, in a satellite tournament in which say the top three move on to a bigger buy in tournament and the small stack goes all in, the remaining three players would be stupid to raise one another out of the pot. The top three all win the same thing - a ticket to another tournament. I've heard of this type of implicit collusion among tournament players, but I haven't heard it called a rule.

It is a different matter in a cash tournament. In that case, each player's goal is to win the tournament, not to get anyone else in the money. If I see an opportunity near the bubble to pick up some chips, it would be stupid not to take it. All of the prizes in a cash tournament are not the same, like they are in a satellite. Those few chips may be the difference at a critical point.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, constant complaining about bad beats. I play $4/$8 at Isle and Hard Rock and have had my aces cracked by everything from pocket kings to 52o. It happens to everyone that plays limit (and no limit for that matter) and it seems like I always get seated next to the guy who chews my ear off about the "donkeys" that play limit and how they would all go broke in a "real" poker game because his queens didn't hold up. Have another jack and coke and stop thinking you're a special snowflake.

Haha, that's a funny pet peeve! A couple of times I've seen players in a 4/8 game stack chips in stacks of 4! It looks like a mine-field or something.



Good post Ignatius. A couple of (not-so-quick) thoughts.

I agree with a lot of what you said. I agree that a player's goal is to maximize their winnings without regard to helping other players.

Another reason I would bet in this spot is to isolate with a big hand in hopes of keeping the main pot for myself (instead of checking it down and allowing someone with a live draw to beat me). For that to happen, I need to be reasonably sure that my hand is better than the all-in player's. In the scenario I described, I don't believe there was any value in the BB pushing KJo preflop, into a small main pot, on the bubble, and with a player all-in. (Regardless of the results)

I could cite other examples where (near the money) a short stack is all in and there are multiple players on the flop. Some guy comes out betting (into a dry side pot) with his OESD or Flush draw and forces the players with marginal holdings (like middle pair) out. He misses his draw and the short stack wins a nice pot with something like Ace high.

Perhaps my use of "unspoken rule" was a mistake. My pet peeve is more about my own assumption that other players know why they are betting. I assume when someone starts firing into a dry side pot, with a player all in, that they are trying to protect and/or value bet a good hand that will win most of the time.



LOL, I know exactly what you mean. I also know how frustrating it is to get taken down pot after pot by crazy runner-runner hands. I'm getting better at mustering a sincere "nice hand", because I know bad beats are a part of the game. And I know that without players that "gamble it up", there's not as much money to be made by the better players.

By far and away the thing that just drives me to tears is when someone puts a pretty rough beat on you and says "Sorry".....Im like "no your not, dont say that. Be honest, Im a moron who was trying to get lucky, which I did at your exspense."

So true. Gotta love the gamblers with a heart.

Hey, I had to log in to post about another one. I'm playing 50NL on Bodog right now (trying to get enough points to clear a bonus) and there was a superfish on the table. I don't know if the poor guy is drunk or completely clueless. Anyway, he's busted three times in the last two hours and bought back in for the full amount each time. He just drew out on a guy with J6s and the loser is berating and cussing the guy out in the chat box. (On Bodog, it comes out censored as **** YOU!!!!). The poor fish got upset and left the table.

I guarantee the the guy cussing would not speak that way to the fish in real life. Apart from that, the fish had been flushing money all over the table for over two hours, why in the world would you want to yell at him and make him go away???? Say "nice hand" or nothing at all and tighten up, the fish will put it all back on the table. I don't understand how some of these wannabe online pros think.

As an aside, I don't know if any of you play on Bodog, but either I'm on a heater or 25NL and 50NL is extremely soft on here. I hate the software and was planning on cashing out when I cleared the bonus, but I just may have to hang around here for a while.

Agree completely. Unless there is a side pot you think you can get someone to fold out of, or if the flop improves your hand and you think a bet will be called by some of the others, it is dumb to bet in the situation you described.

That's a great point. We all get frustrated when a poor player gets lucky. Some people are gamblers and love to suck out on others. Why yell at them when they do? Sometimes, I'll jump in and defend the player, especially if they are really bad.

I've heard of other players who say something like "don't tap the glass" to encourage the irate player not to scare off the fish.



I do. I'm trying to get them added to GCP's list of U.S. Friendly poker rooms. They do have extremely soft cash games. I cashed out many, many, months ago, but they recently offered me $50 free money. I sent a reply, and they said that it was added to my account. Then, when I try to log in it says my account doesn't allow poker?! I emailed support and they told me to call. I've been too lazy to deal with it, but you've inspired me! Free money is free money!

Yeah, I wish I'd signed up through an affiliate so I could get rakeback on Bodog since I've been running so well on there. I usually play on Pokerstars but the NL play on Bodog is so soft that even I am making money. If you do get back on, look out for me - my handle there is BarGorilla. One warning, though, is that I'm trying to accumulate points to clear a bonus, so I'm playing shortstacked on a lot of tables. So if you get in a hand with me and the flop hits anywhere near me, I'm going to shove. I'm getting used to being cussed out a lot in the chat box myself!

If they'll still give me that free cash I'll look for ya. Bargorilla.. that's a cool name. I think mine is still my first ever poker name - PokerAceHole

My pet peeve is kind of nitty. I hate hearing people talk who think the words "bet" and "raise" are interchangeable.

That one just makes me laugh a little. I sometimes correct people at my home game, but rarely... I mean, after all, it's supposed to be a friendly game.

My biggest pet peeve is when someone is holding up the action by not paying attention. This is especially annoying in tournament play. I mean, if you're playing cards, play cards and AT LEAST pay attention to the action. It's not really that hard... I can even have a conversation and know where the action is at the same time.

Worse than a player not knowing the action is when the dealer doesn't know the action. That drives me nuts.

At Harrah's one day, I was playing a $1/$2 no-limit game and someone from early position raised it to $6. Someone after me said "call" and put in two $5 chips. The dealer didn't hear it, so the dealer starts arguing that he needs to make it $12 to raise because he put in more than half of what it would take to raise (never mind that he doesn't have any $1 chips). The player argues that he was just calling. The dealer says, "I didn't hear it."

So, I'm not even involved in the hand (as I folded), but I'm sitting two away from the guy, so I tell the dealer, I heard him say "Call" and then several other players say they heard him say call... but the dealer insist that because he put in more than half of what it would take to raise, that it's a raise.

Everyone starts yelling at the dealer and eventually calls the floor manager over, but then when he finally came over, the players dismissed him... I guess because the player who put in $10 just decided to put in the extra $5 chip while loudly saying raise. I wasn't in the hand, so I didn't feel the need to tell the floor manager... but I can guarantee that if I was, I definitely tell the floor manager the problem.

Course, the whole time this is taking time away from playing and it really did mess up the action at the table for awhile. My reads on people went to shit because I couldn't tell if they were tilting about the dealer or if it was their cards.

I have another story about a dealer who couldn't seem to make proper change (in a tournament), but I'll save that for another day.

yea i cant stand a slow dealer that doesnt know whats going on, and where i play its full of them. a bad dealer or a slow player thats not paying attention can totally ruin a game. we had to quit the other night for both reasons. so yea id say me biggest pet peeve is a bad dealer. especially if your stuck and trying to get even.