F U: Why Swearing in Poker is Actualy Good For You

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F U: Why Swearing in Poker is Actualy Good For You

By Arthur S. Reber
User rating: 4.36 out of 5 (218 votes)





Just about the most popular shirt you see around these days has FCUK emblazoned across the front.


There isn't a soul this side of a two-year-old minister's daughter who doesn't know how to flip those letters.

Yet if you do, and someone is offended by it, you may find some defender of the laws of 'decent folks' writing you a ticket for "disorderly conduct."
We all know this is just f*ck*d up b*ll sh*t --- but we can't really say it.
And, anyway, as Mike Matusow has found out at the poker table, repeated offenses get you repeated fines - up to 10 minutes per F-bomb even.

It isn't just poker rooms, bars or other hang-outs of the young and restless that swearing dominates conversations.

Ever look at the transcripts of the tapes Richard Nixon secretly made of the lofty deliberations in the White House? I have.

They're not easy to read. Indeed, it's tough to figure out what Tricky Dick was saying at all because essentially every other word was "expletive deleted."


Swearing is a fundamental feature of human talk. President Obama noted that Mother's Day had an odd ring to it for Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, because "Rahm isn't used to hearing the word 'day' follow 'mother.'"
If you take a quick look back at the history of languages and how they've changed, you'll find that every generation has its 'cuss' words. And they change.

'Bitch' and 'bastard' originally referred respectively, and rather benignly, to a 'female dog' and a 'person born out of wedlock.' They slowly wended their way into use as effective insults.

As such, they functioned as words that 'offended' others - which is sufficient to have them fall under some loosely structured disorderly conduct laws. Consequently, they were 'banned' from the airwaves in the US as unsuitable for the ears of 'decent folk.'

Nowadays, bitch and bastard have become so common they've lost much of their affect. They're barely offensive and hardly insults - and are printed with vowels rather than asterisks. The only TV show where you won't hear them is Sesame Street.


Ever wonder about cursing? Why it's linguistically universal? Why all societies have swear words?

Universality alerts psychologists to the possibility that we've stumbled on something fairly deep.

Much of the early research on swearing wasn't very illuminating, since it tended to be clothed with concerns about morals and ethical conduct.
But Timothy Jay, a psychologist at the Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts has carried out some research that cuts through all the trivia and gets right to the heart of the matter:

Cursing is good for you!

Yup. It turns out that swearing has real and important psychological functions.

Its immediate impact is to lessen tensions and release frustrations. When you're really pissed (note, not 'p*ssed') when some donk-brain sucks out on you on the cash bubble, it's psychologically uplifting to let loose with a couple of juicy 'expletive deleteds.'

There is, in addition, a secondary gain of even more significance (from the point of view of smoothing social interactions) --- the release of tension also makes it less likely that you'll resort to physical abuse.

And, as we know, when a particular behavior makes you feel better, it's a psychological certainty that it will become an action deeply ingrained and oft-repeated.



So, is there a poker message here? Sure. And interestingly, the WSOP has figured it out. "Empty" swearing, venting, is okay. It's no longer a violation to hurl a "WTF" when the one-outer hits the board.

But it's still a violation to turn to the guy who slurped out on you and call him a "dumb mother f*ck*r" ... and it should be. The offense isn't in the sound of the words; it's in the intentions of the speaker to harm another.
The real crime is "verbal assault." This is where the "indecent" element comes in.

I'm a big fan of what I guess we call "directionless" cursing. It can be an art form, a way to express political and social ideas, a device for exploring the edges of meaning.

And now it turns out that it can actually make you feel better. Or play better.



Feel free to releave your tensions and yell as loud as you ca at the monitor, "F#$% the F#$%ing F#$%ers!" But only if it referrs to the cards and not anyone directly.

Great f@cking post. I've been known to hurl some slander at all the idiots we have to face on a daily basis. Didn't know it was good for me LOL.

Very entertaining

That was a good read

Thanks for sharing....I new cursing is good for me - I do it often enough.

Most people here know me as a decent player, always polite - because I don't swear in the chat-box - If only they knew ...

Damn now they know: - f*ck , zipfiklatscher, aaaarg.....

i've been using cuss therapy since i was a kid. of course its good for you. i cuss even when i'm happy, they're like vitamins. i mean, "wtf" can be followed by "he called me down with a f'n 2 outer and sucked out! that f'n c@#$sucker! goooood dammit!" or it can be followed by "he called my std raise with a J9o just cause he was on the bb, called me down because he hit his 9on the flop, didn't raise me after he hit his 9, my AK turned good hitting a K on the turn...and now he's saying 'i had you' in chat! HAHA WTF, stupid c@#$sucker bastard should have folded to begin with!"...i mean, i think these things and just say the bad words out loud.

But I find that calling somebody pancakes for brains or stupid idiot that is probably here just to donate his trust funds to the table gets the villain just as upset as cussing. So it can be used, but not necessary. Keep callin me names though, it is entertaining for me to push you to tilt without swearing back... Have fun!

It's one thing to curse out loud at the monitor. Another to type it into the chat box. It lets others know you are on tilt or near to it. Can't be a good thing. I, for one, will use that information.

Go ahead and yell out loud, if it helps you vent. And if nobody in earshot minds all that much. Or is very young -- otherwise you will have a toddler who will be cursing in kindergarten. And on track to being suspended more often than normal.

Public swearing may be more and more of a common occurrence... but it still indicates lack of manners. It's rude. It also is a sign of lack of intelligence. And lack of self-control. So when you swear, that is how others will regard you-- as a stupid, rude, angry person.

Still want to vent?

And, no, it is seldom an art form. It can be, though--inventive, thoughtful and clever cursing is definitely interesting. But that's not exactly the norm.

what the fcuk is this thread?

****in eh!! We all need to EXPRESS.

So true txs for the reminder. Now **** off!

And all u folks can folk yourselves too u censor folkers.

0011001011001001 01110!!!!

^^^Lmao
Actually F.C.U.K. is not a swear. The logos on the shirts and pants are for the vender French Connection U.K.
They put that on all their apparel.

awsum PHUKN thread hahaha really intrested!
forgot im playing razz

Great FCUKing thread

Great fracking thread! I swear when I'm happy and when I am p*ssed, it's a lot cheaper than therapy sessions! LOL! I actually never type curses into the chat box or express them directly while playing live. I will yell at my monitor and I will go for a walk around the casino and mutter to myself like a crazy person. Afterwards I do find that I feel a lot better. Better to let it all out and not go on tilt or let it build and say something you will later regret is my theory.



^^^Everyone has a right to their own opinion, as it long as it an opinion and not a predisposed ideology spouted as fact. If a person disagrees with me, I welcome it, I may challenge it and sometimes I even embrace that persons opposing point of view. With that said, I for one find self-righteous, indignant rants to be offensive and rude. Almost every member that posted in this thread used an expletive and found humor in the article, you just told them all that they are rude, stupid angry people. Perhaps it's your opinion that the members who posted here are rude stupid angry people, if that is the case, it should be stated as such instead of hiding behind "others" will view them that way. I will not speak for the "others" in this thread, but I for one find your post to be a self-righteous, holier than thou rant that makes you look like a prude. And yes, I still want to f*cking vent!

Eh, it's just as relieving to say 'Jeesh', or even a strong '', etc if you don't want to come across as an uneducated trailer boy or an egotistical jerk (see post above)
Particularly important is the the use of replacement words with kids around.

You may like your swear words, but when they infringe on the innocence of a child you're standing on thin ice. You risk not only labeling yourself a world-revolves-around-me juvenile (and a punch in the nose) but alienating customers to the establishment you're supposedly supporting.

Swearing has it's place. In the earshot of someone other than those you know is not that place. It's no different or less offensive than farting in someone's beer then getting mad because they don't want to drink it.

Hmm, this will probably get me in trouble, however, I think most will agree with me. F#%k Off dude, who the F^&K do you think you are?

The Post was meant to be fun!! And everyone has the right to thier opinion.

The offense isn't in the sound of the words; it's in the intentions of the speaker to harm another. The real crime is "verbal assault." This is where the "indecent" element comes in.


Remeber to keep it directionless and it will remain harmless.

Yeah - ok - ermmm - **** you all ????

You can't make me have any f*ck*ing fun! So there!

Lol... nice article there...

Very entertaining...

**** the * in the pokerrooms...

@!$^!@ !@(!@ **^*^# @@! !@!@ (&*(&##

aaah, there, i said it. that's what i think about you guys and what i think about the last two cc fr's i've been destroyed in...so take that!

Pretty amusing F**king story...Thanks

Well Said Champ.Swearing is a sign of weakness, and a lack of comprehension of the English language. There are many words that can be used to insult or abuse without resorting to swearing.

IRONY ITT

I'm an old school sportsmanship buff. Even hurling a few zingers at the monitor during a game wouldn't feel right to me. Even the directionless stuff still strikes me as a general violation of sportsmanship.