Some guy named Aaron Moore, whose name I hadn’t heard until someone crossposted one of his columns on the CC forums, has a lot of weird ideas about poker.

Be aware anytime you hear someone at the table say to you “good luck” or “sorry.” In a landscape of lies, those are the two most disingenuous phrases ever uttered at a poker table.

and

If you truly feel sorry when you give someone a bad beat, then you are playing the wrong game. Everyone sitting at the poker table is there to win chips and dollars in just about any legal way

and

There are many times you will find yourself in uncomfortable situations at a poker table. Rather than making a bold lie in the form of uttering “good luck” or “sorry,” think twice and handle the situation the right way by being a gracious winner or a noble loser.

Fair enough. This guy doesn’t like it when people tell him “good luck” or say “sorry” at the poker table, because he feels it’s disingenuous. No one really means it anyway, so saying it is only a bold lie. And I agree, on one of the two points: I don’t particularly feel that it’s necessary for someone to say “Ow, sorry man, my runner-runner flush was really lucky.” It doesn’t help me (I know it was lucky, buddy) although I suppose in some weird way it’s a consolation that you realize you got lucky. But I can do without the “sorry.”

However, I can’t bring myself to agree with the “good luck” part. This Moore is apparently a sports writer, and uses three examples:

Did the Pittsburgh Steelers say “sorry” to the Oakland Raiders when the Immaculate Reception put them in the Super Bowl?

Did the Yankees say “sorry” to the Red Sox following the Babe Ruth trade?

Did the USSR basketball team say “sorry” to the USA after a terrible call gave the Russians the gold medal in the 1972 Olympics?

… but he has no examples of how unusual it is for people to wish the opposing team good luck in other sports. Because they do. Ever see that moment where the two captains of the teams go up to the middle and shake hands? That’s what they say. “Good luck.” It’s just a phrase, of course, they don’t really want the other team to be lucky, of course not. But it’s not disingenuous in the same sense that “sorry” is, because it doesn’t carry any gloating with it. It’s a way for two people to agree that now they’re in this until the end, and it’s nothing personal.

It’s just a phrase, much like “how do you do” is just a phrase. You don’t really want to know how the other person is doing. If you want to stop disingenuous phrases, that’s a better place to start, because it’s a lot more common.

Isn’t smiling at your opponents in poker also disingenuous, come to think of it? Wouldn’t be more honest to growl at them, since you are, after all, there to fight a war of chips? What’s with the relaxed attitude? It’s false and fake and has no place at the poker table, right Aaron?

In closing,

If you truly feel sorry when you give someone a bad beat, then you are playing the wrong game. Everyone sitting at the poker table is there to win chips and dollars in just about any legal way

This was the quote that made me realize that he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about after all. People play poker for all sorts of reasons, and only a fairly small minority has as their be-all end-all goal to win money or chips. The “Cincinnati Kid”-machismo attitude to the game shows a profound lack of understanding when it comes to who plays poker and why. Some people play to socialize, some people play to kill time and some people play to have fun. They may really mean it when they wish you good luck, because they’re more excited about having made a friend than who wins the pot. Failing to realize that may well make you act as an asshole at the table, Mr. Moore.