The Poker Community, Merciless?

[TheRealPage]

Well, one day or another it had to happen, after all that happened in the poker community in the last weeks, there's a debate going on social networks about the « merciless » of the poker community.

A/p the Cambridge dictionnary and many others, merciless: having or showing no mercy.

Ok, I know things escalated a bit between some persons and frankly I find the community quite different then 5-7 years ago.. but is it? Can people around see the entire community merciless to a point they'll can change their mind about playing poker? I'm not saying they'll all quit, but maybe hesitate and stay occasional/recreational players instead of becoming good more regular or pro players?

iMO: I don't see merciless.. yet.. but something similar to « divide and conquer » seems to happen.. I don't remember the last time people of the community were bashing on each other like I'veseen the last weeks.. for reasons I've seen..

what's yours?

-TRP-

 

[Inequitas]

Well,

what's yours?

-TRP-

I Totally See what you're talking about, it does seem there is a lot of drama on some social media networks recently with Competitive Nature spiraling into what could be perceived as Nasty "merciless" behavior...

I Keep telling my self "It's a Drama, put on for the fans like a WWF plot or even a UFC press conference" who knows but I've always thought of Poker as a gentleman's game... obviously merciless LOL

 

[HaroldHouse]

I think its all just winding up for the upcoming wsop. Nervous and excited players talking smack and looking for an edge in the games, in advertising their own masterclasses, and for selling their action. Poker players today do more than play poker, they sell their brand. Whether its for coaching, deals with online sites, masterclasses, viewer traffic on their streaming, youtube, or webinars. So Twitter is todays pro poker players main tool to get the most out of all the different things they are doing.
I like that it gives insight to their real personalities; but I think a lot of it is deliberate hype for advertising and trying to being the most relevant talked about player.

 

[vov4ik]

Well, one day or another it had to happen, after all that happened in the poker community in the last weeks, there's a debate going on social networks about the « merciless » of the poker community.

A/p the Cambridge dictionnary and many others, merciless: having or showing no mercy.

Ok, I know things escalated a bit between some persons and frankly I find the community quite different then 5-7 years ago.. but is it? Can people around see the entire community merciless to a point they'll can change their mind about playing poker? I'm not saying they'll all quit, but maybe hesitate and stay occasional/recreational players instead of becoming good more regular or pro players?

iMO: I don't see merciless.. yet.. but something similar to « divide and conquer » seems to happen.. I don't remember the last time people of the community were bashing on each other like I'veseen the last weeks.. for reasons I've seen..

what's yours?

-TRP-

I think that if the surrounding and novice players constantly look at conflicts and other things in the community, they will continue to think that all communities are ruthless, I think that if the players are seriously going to play and become excellent and professional players, they will not be disturbed and nothing will stop them and they will achieve their goals and become good players, but this is my opinion on such thinking, but everyone has their own ideas and thoughts about communities

 

[Poker Orifice]

I've always thought of Poker as a gentleman's game...

I've heard that saying before but certainly don't find any truth in it. I mean how gentlemanly is it to be trying to con your fellow player out of their money... or to exploit their weaknesses.. induce them to make a mistake & then capitalize on it
Poker is a nasty game imo

 

[Zvezda kz]

As long as there is money worship in society, there will be no gentleman poker game. Yes, and never was. But, of course, there are exceptions that confirm the rule. All cash games have always raised the low qualities of man in nature. Therefore, I play in tournaments, and not in cash games, where the feeling of excitement of profit prevails.
I always liked the feeling of competition.

 

[TheRealPage]

The "gentlemen" part of the game is more about how you react vs your opponent once the hand/game is over..

After behing eliminated, the suggested reaction is: whatever the way it ended, shake hands with your opponent and wish the best until next time.. no "war" outside the poker field.. in poker we should have rivals, not ennemies..

Other then that, I go with Poker Orifice, there's nothing "gentlemen" in a poker game once it started..

-TRP-

 

[PaxMundi]

Has poker ever taken its self that seriously though ? It's a game that is televised where the ambassidors of the game are allowed to play half dressed and drunk while getting massaged by half dressed women. Poker has never really promoted it's self in a good light.

 

[terryk]

Some people just take themselves too seriously,,, it reminds me of those guys that hang around the basketball courts. Get a life.

 

[c0rnBr34d]

I do feel that the game has been trending downward with regard to it's perceived "mercy" rating. I've only been playing for about 15 years and the first 5 or so was mainly home games and online free rolls. After the boom and the internet age of information it seems to me that at least the casino games are much less sociable. And I can agree that this makes the new players feel much less welcome. Just last week we had two new players at a 2/5 game complaining about how "serious" everyone was. One other player and I were trying to keep the mood soft and make jokes and such but the headphones wearing hoodie and sunglasses types with no table interaction set a mood of mercilessness that is definitely bad for attracting new players. I'd imagine this type of player didn't exist in anywhere near the numbers they do now before the boom. Having games feel friendly and inviting even if they are not is very important to sustaining higher win rates in my opinion. Playing against all pros and beating the rake is much harder than throwing some fish and whales in the mix.

 

[neptun1914]

Poker is individual game and everybody can use whatever they decide to get edge if it is allowed by the rules. I also do not like the hoodie+sunglasses+headphones types of players because if i will play with such people i better play online - their interaction with the table is the same. This is something that we can not control though but the big names in the industry like pokerstars are trying to encourage their pro players to also be entertaining because this attracts new players. I hope that this will be enough to not convert this game into boring thing.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Therefore, I play in tournaments, and not in cash games, where the feeling of excitement of profit prevails.
I always liked the feeling of competition.

I felt this ^ way too. My first 7 or 8 yrs. was mostly tournament play. I actually felt bad taking player's money on cash tables... & it's not the sentiment one wants to have if hoping to play poker well (or optimally). I too thrived on the 'competition'
For the past 5 or 6 years it's been mostly all cash tables for me Mostly due to time restrictions initially. I'm hoping to get back into playing mostly tournaments again soon.

 

[guineasqueak]

Poker attracts many strange degens with the virtually zero barrier to entry. Very similar to day trading Bitcoin, for example. The only barrier is money which can be facilitated with no discrimination. If you don't have money, you don't play (only freerolls).

It's completely natural and organic for poker to be merciless. I never show mercy on opponents, friendly or not. Likewise, I do not want any mercy shown towards me. This is the unspoken code of conduct I follow.

 

[TheRealPage]

It's completely natural and organic for poker to be merciless. I never show mercy on opponents, friendly or not. Likewise, I do not want any mercy shown towards me. This is the unspoken code of conduct I follow.

Showing no mercy during the game, that's the game.. ok there're limits but still.. that's the game! After all, we are all there for one thing: win. May the best, win!

But what after the game or the week after? will you be merciless and become the "Tony G" of a player who bluffed and shoved with 9-3 after you called with aces or kings and it kicked you out of an important event, hitting a trips on the river? (I'm not talking about someone who called your all-in with 9-3, but a bluff you called.. variance here).

-TRP-