Chat Box

I have made a conscious decision to remove the chat box or the abaility to chat from every table I play at. Whilst the human race is generally a social species I feel that the chat can distract me or worse put me on tilt.

I am highly competitive and when I am on the sports field I will hate the opposition as they are trying to stop me from winning. I feel that this is the same with playing poker, and why do I have to be nice to someone who is trying to take money off of me. However what I am more concerned about is going on tilt. I have seen it and felt it before when I have the right odds, make the right call and hit and all you get in the chat box is "fish" "donk" "muppet" and this gets my blood pressur boiling - this being what I had done eveything right. Some people can be nice, some rude and some downright nasty - but when you have done everything right and your opponent has two outs and rivers you it can be hard to take. Knowing that you have done everything right helps, but in the past I know that I have gone on tilt because of some snug player who just lucked out on me who then decides to abuse me further.

I think that maybe I should just continue with ingoring the chat but on occasions, like this morning, when I go all in with AJ and come up again AA and river a set of Jacks, I did want to say sorry because the poker gods have smiled upon me. However i should just carry on, learn my lesson and remember that the next nine times that it happens I am not going to be so lucky.

Here is my take on table chatter:

If you were to play live, you couldn't stop someone from talking, unless they used foul language or something. So, I've learned to take the chatter with a grain of salt. If someone calls me a donk, I smile and count my chips. If someone says nice hand (regardless of the context), I just say "thanks".

So, I treat playing online the same. If I get busted out, bad beat or bad call, I just leave. No need to add fuel to the fire, since it usually just leads to losing more.

How is having the chatbox turned off gonna make you feel any different after taking a horrible 2-outer on the river?

"I think that maybe I should just continue with ingoring the chat but on occasions, like this morning, when I go all in with AJ and come up again AA and river a set of Jacks, I did want to say sorry because the poker gods have smiled upon me. However i should just carry on, learn my lesson and remember that the next nine times that it happens I am not going to be so lucky."

When this happens to me and someone apologizes, it feels more like a rub than a sincere condolence. Mostly because is anyone truely sorry for winning? Why go all in if you are not looking to win by any means necessary?

Anyhow, that said, I generally leave the chat running, but mute the players that get too vocal. Just like in real life scenarios I wear headphones if the table talk gets to distracting.

Another option is to scroll to the top of the chat feed, it will stay there until you scroll back down. This way you can avoid the chatter, but still jump in when you want without having to mess with you settings.

The chat can be distracting and yes people do get nasty (I've been guilty of it sometimes though I constantly try to improve on that aspect of myself). But you can sometimes pick up on valuable information in the chat, especially if someone is tilting or if a third party poker gives information on how someone else at the table plays. You have to take it all with a grain of salt, but it can help you make decisions sometimes.