Screw etiquette? That makes me sad. Why do we strive for civil conversation here if cyber life and real life have such vastly different rules?
Couldn't agree with you more, rain. Poker is poker, etiquette is etiquette. No one would jump up from a live table after a big pot, probably from fear of not even making it to the door, but hopefully because it's just poor form. But you see it all the time online. There's a whole list of common online offenses that players wouldn't dare try to pull at a live game, but they seem to think acceptable in an internet room. Here are my pet peeves:
1.)
Rants and taunts. Someone takes a bad beat and goes on about it for fifteen minutes. Or some donkey sucks out a big hand and immediately pulls out the sarcastic "Thanks" and "LOL". Dweebs who would never say 'boo' to someone face-to-face across the table turn into tough guys in the safety of their anonymous dens. And here's a tip...observer chat is for saying hello to a friend at another table, not railbirding after you've been eliminated. Show some class and find another table.
2.)
Dumping chips. Someone gets bored, or shortstacked, or entered a tournament they knew they didn't have time to complete. Instead of doing the correct thing, which is simply standing up and allowing their chips to blind out, they start going all in to purposely bust out. Forgive me, but I have a real problem with my opponents being gifted with someone's entire stack. Chip dumping will get you canned at a brick-&-mortar casino, but no one bats an eye at it online.
3.)
Announcing pockets. Often goes hand-in-hand with #2. It's not enough for the unthinking clout to give his chips away. He also has to declare his all-ins pre-deal AND tell the table the rags he has in the hole. Another variation is folding and telling your cards while the hand is still in progress. I know this actually crosses the line between bad etiquette and outright rules violations, but it's rarely given a second thought in online play. In fact, the next time someone does it, try calling them on it. Not only will the offender not care,
but the rest of the table will roast YOU for being a hardassed jerk! Unbelieveable.
4.)
Chatting someone up when they're involved in a hand. Wait until they're idle before asking them how their favorite team is going to do this season, or whether they're in the big tourney later.
5.)
Slow play. Yes, there's a clock, and yes, you are entitled by rule to every tick of it before taking action. But players who use it all up on every hand ruin the game for everyone else at the table and are just being rude. Save the time bank for truly difficult decisions, not whether you're even going to enter the pot. And I don't care if you're playing three other tables. If you can't keep up with the game play, close a couple of them.
6.)
Playing like an idiot because it's "play money" or a freeroll. You either respect the game of poker or you don't. It really shouldn't matter what the environment is, you ought to have enough integrity to play it straight every time you sit down. Going all in four straight times with rags isn't funny, or cute, or "the way you play
freerolls". The only place where that's common wisdom is in Donkey Land.
I think the biggest reason for the horrible table manners of this whole generation of poker players is that most of us learned how to play online, and online poker is our only point of reference. I hate to offer ignorance as a valid excuse, but it is probably the reason. They just don't know any better. Monkey see, monkey do.