Why do people say "nh"?

There's one thing that's been bugging me ever since I started playing poker. Why on earth is it that people tend to say "nh" when you turn over a full house, quads or a similar big hand?
I never answer with "ty" because it makes no sense whatsover. It's not like I had any influence at all on what cards I was getting dealt. I guess they could say "nh" to the dealer, but he has no influence either.

Personally, I'd say "nh" if somebody played their hand really well, complimenting on their skill. But everbody seems to use it as a mere way of saying "boy, you sure got dealt some impressive cards there", which is answered by "thank you, I used all my skills to get dealt these impressive cards".

Why is it that a straight flush is an insta-VNH!! whereas a light value bet with second pair that gets called by a smaller pocket pair rarely is?

P.S.: Imagine you win the lottery. Your friend says "Very nice choice of numbers" and you answer "Thank you". Seems weird, doesn't it?

Full House and Quads? I've had plenty of "nh" when i've gone all in with AK and AQ and won with Ace high! Or a Pair of 8's that wins a coin toss unimproved.

Most opponents wont understand or notice your really good plays - the reraise to a blind steal, the brave calls, the correct laydowns etc.

I'm happy that people do type nh, and gg though - it's a tell that they are playing for fun and not to win.

If Im not involved in a hand, I'll say 'NH' to anyone that shows a nice looking hand. Quads, boat, nutflush to beat 2nd nut flush, whatever. If its a nice play, I'll say 'nice play'. There is a bit of a difference.

If Im involved in a hand, I'll say 'Nh' to any hand that beats me. It doesnt matter if my KK gets cracked by J2o and the run 2 pair on me. It still gets a 'Nh'. I think its out of habit and I want to show a bit of a friendly personality.

why not an i prefer that to you lucky FXXXin donkey or similar lol

It's just a small matter of people being polite, giving congrats for a hand well played. I say it when I see a good hand played well.

I chuckle when I see an stupid play rewarded and someone says "nh" but don't say anything. Let the guy feel good and continue to make bad plays then pretty soon you'll have him dead to rights with a good hand. Comenting on how bad someone's play is will only lead to them either targeting you or worse yet actually make play better.

Being dealt AA and calling an all in is a hand well played?

Agree with Chris, you very very rarely see this when someone has played a hand well.

Agreed, don't exactly get the point. If I get outplayed I'll say something like nh, or when someone calls down my bluff with like 2nd pair I'll say "nice call", but for example yesterday I made a nice call-down with an underpair to a shove and I got an "OMG" lol.

I have seen pro's either say nh or tap the table which is the same thing, I've heard Tony G say wd you outplayed me, Howard Lederer Gus Hanson and Freddie Deeb say it all the time. Many times I have been told well played after flopping a boat and checking to the river to induce a bet, similar when hitting a str8 flush on the turn and checking to the river, maybe your playing with uneducated players?

Problem with the internet is that most people would take "nice call" as being sarcastic, even when you really meant it.

I fully agree with the first statement and do that occasionally. I also sputter an "ouch" like I did last night when I found myself allin with a KJ against AA. By the end of the hand, the board included a T987, giving me a straight.

I'm one of those people who might not respond to a "nh" because, 1) I usually find chat distracting; and 2) I could be chatting with a friend who's watching my play. On not-rare-enough occasions, if I have the chat window open, I accidentally tell the table what cards I have!!

The "nh" is not nearly as ridiculous as an allin situation where the players say "good luck" to each other. At best it's insincere. However, it's a lot better than the players saying what they are really thinking.

Well, I guess if you see "nice hand" and "nice play" as two different things then it makes sense to simply use "nice hand" as a polite way of concluding the hand.
What doesn't make sense then is the other player answering with "thank you". He should just say "nice hand" himself then.

I don't know, maybe it's just a terminology thing or something.

I often say nh to quads and straight flushes...i don't see anything wrong with that. Quads/straight flushes are nice hands that you don't see all that often. If somebody was to say "well played" for a straight flush, unless there was some serious trapping going on that worked very nicely, yea i see why that would make you think "wtf". But i don't really see how "nh" reflects upon the way the hand played out. When somebody says "nh" after 77 beats KK all in preflop then yes those players should be shot.

I say nh all the time , and gg too . many times it is a nice hand and sometimes it's just the best hand at showdown . don't even understand how someone can confuse it with well played .

how could a common courtesy upset someone ? I love it when common courtesy is confused with just playing for fun , makes it fun to take their money
my suggestion would be for any crabass that don't like friendly chat to turn it off. and for the record anyone that wins the lotto , I think made a nice choice of numbers and for any compliment , I reply TY .

pretty silly thread but to each his own

With all of the times players should be shot, those of us struggling to pick up not just the game dynamics but the social customs as well are likely to bloody our keyboards into failure.

For some people socializing is just as high on their "Why I play" list as making money is, not mine, I really could care less about the person on the other end, but nh offers chatty players an opportunity to be warm and fuzzy.

On a side note, anyone who uses "warm and fuzzy" in a poker forum post should be shot!

Yea all i was saying is that there are far better times to say "nh" than when somebody gets all in with the worst of it preflop and sucks out.

Just to be polite I guess. I agree that it's over done though. Personally, I find the use of nh cathartic. It helps me get over a particularly bad beat. The other night I busted out of a tournment on the 5th hand with top 2 when I called bottom pairs allin with bottom pair. He turned his 2 outer. That warranted a vnh.

I am guilty of this,but it's a case of either typing nh or going on tilt and typing 'you *"^&! luckbox,how the hell could you call with that ?' Try it,it does work.

Usually I reserve it for a hand that I actually think was played well - which isn't necessarily one where a person flopped a boat or something.

Though I will occasionally use it in the way that FourDogs describes: it's less likely to get you chat-banned than "You luckbox &*$$##SS^&S*!" I guess.

I'll also occasionally (very occasionally, actually) use it if I think it might tilt someone who's just taken a bad beat - having a third party poker tell the person who just sucked out horribly on you that they played the hand well can be mega-infuriating

Np.

The "nh" is not nearly as ridiculous as an allin situation where the players say "good luck" to each other. At best it's insincere. However, it's a lot better than the players saying what they are really thinking.
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I gotta say, I was astounded to find (and I am almost certain it is true) that 2 players folded to keep me alive yesterday. I think it was Carbon. Some really feel it is a freeroll, and are in it for the fun. I certainly am, and if leading, will always warn a nice chatmate to fold, regardless of who is in the sane hand. I'll wind up winning but not as much as I could have, and that is FINE. And I think many are the same way. If in a freeroll, it's a different mentality, they are there for the fun, as I am, and want to share a table with people they like.

I was raised to respect other ppl, and saying thank you when someone says something nice to you is just politness and respect.

To me when its a winning pot for me and someone says NH, i assume its more like nh wow i got owned and/or I thought i was winning.

Yes, but I guess the difference between you and I is that I wouldn't take the "nice choice of numbers" as a compliment because it was completely random chance, not skill, that made me win.
Dito for taking down a pot with quads.

nh sir

Attached Images

nh.JPG (15.4 KB, 6 views)

wp AG, wp.

FYP.



I will throw out the occassional nh or wp but not simply as a need to say something "nice". I compliment only at the table when I believe something I just saw deserves some recognition. I've started to use nh now as more of a reinforcement of crappy players mistakes after they suck out on me. But I only use wp when I truly believe it was something done especially well and beyond the norm of the game.

.

I've had tables where people get sh!#ty when you dont say ty after they say nh. i do say nh but only to nh's ive lost 2, sort of a gentlemans way of losing.

That having been said, nh u donkey, lol, where's yo mama? I'm gettin on a plane tonite u donkey g&^% mo(*&^ P7684, bite me again! LOLOL!

BTW gg.

GG always reminds me of gum, BTW.

Sorry got this all wrong. By 'nh' you mean they are sneezing, or is it more like a snort? The 'ty' sounds like a sneeze too.. Hmm, I like to say nh ty, gg gl all, pass the gum...

I view "nh" as just a common courtesy, kind of like asking someone at work how they are doing even if I couldn't care less. Just trying to keep the game polite and distract from the fact that we all are trying to cut the other guys chips away from him and ride him into the poor house while we move on up to the mansion...

So when you end up suckin someone out and a player says nh, do u say "I got lucky" or "ty".? ( the latter I suspect ). At the end of the day we all know suck outs occur ( geez ya should'a seen the WPT on tv this past weekend). All in AK calls are made every day with QK sooted and the QK wins, it's all down to respect for the other player, If he was willing to risk his stack with junk ( junk= 2 live cards ) or a good drawing hand (QK s) and they catch, is it really nessessary to sound off? OK they got lucky, is Doyle Brunson a #$%^ for winning 2 WSOP's for pushing with 10 2 os. Many times I felt like throwin the lappy through the window, but as I said before, you only get really ticked off cause it's a tourney and ur out, or a ring and ur stack is gone. Long term, luck wins tournies, skill wins ring. I recall checking a str8 fl on the turn and a please call me bet on the river ( whick got called ) in a CC game on PokerStars, the only comment was " we know who the $%^& is ). All oblique words were posted that way.

Actually it all depends. In most cases I wouldn't reply at all if it was a public game since i rarely talk in those; though I have actually used both of those in the past based on motivation at the time.

At CC games lord only knows what I'd say , but that is a totally different scene to start with.

Interesting Post guys,

I tend to us "nh" as a means of acknowledging a win, not so much a good play. I use "nice play" when I feel my opponent played well or outplayed me.

Last night I had a funny experience. I got sucked out on the river by an OSD despite raising pre flop, cbetting the flop and the turn. We bot hit the straight on the river but he had the top straight (I had pocket pair in the hole.) My opponent typed "ty" after winning the pot and felting me.
He is now in my buddy list and I can't wait to catch up with him again .

I usually say nh to donkeys whenever they win a hand. I figure it makes them feel like they are playing good and if they lose maybe they'll deposit again and keep playing.