Is Poker like driving? Everyone's a donk except you?

We all know the typical donk calling station that runs you down at the river with the miracle 3 outter etc. But when someone tries to make a move and gets caught are they always a donk in your mind? Are you a donk if you get caught trying to make a odd play?

I was playing a limit .10/.25 ring game the other day and called a raise pre-flop from the BB with crap cards. I saw the flop and hung around for the turn then folded. All of a sudden someone starts going on and on about my play. First I asked him why he was at these low limit micro games if he was so great? No answer just more babbling. Then I asked why he didn't write a book for me to read with all his knowledge of crushing micro limit games. No answer more babbling. The guy sits down with $42 at a table where most people have $5 or less. I am just about to leave the table when I get a hand right before the big blind. I can see from the previous hands this guy is a fool. So I goad him into playing against me one last time and end up taking over $3 off him with a full house before typing bite me and hitting the X to leave lol. Yet I was the donk for calling a .10 raise preflop! I know this is nothing but damn why do people have to be such jackasses? Think I am going to disable chat.

It's mainly donks who use chat I find. Mainly if someone is saying something in chat, they aren't multitabling or aren't concentrating, so usually they are weak in some way. I don't use chat ever, because I used to get into these arguments and it just takes your attention away from your game.

On Bovada limit games I can bring my whole roll modest as it may be lol. This guy just sat down I was at the table awhile and it was 6 Max. The guy was just a jerk. I disabled chat no need to chat with anyone that I know only as a number anyway

If you would use the search on here, you would find other threads, just like this one, telling you the same thing, about turning off the chat!

I just put the Tab on stats instead of chat =)

at the poker tables there are many who come with money ... but that does not mean they are sharks, we must detect them and take the money ... hehe

It seems that in this case chat was effective for you. Sort of a reverse implied odds situation for him. It really seems, from all you've said, that his game was about intimidation (bringing $42+ to a .10/.25 limit game along with the insults and name calling) rather than solid play. Personally, I love reading the chat box tho very rarely use it myself (the emotes on merge are kind of cool tho). To my way of thinking, intellect is a poker player's greatest attribute, so if I can get a read on an opponent's level of thinking from the stupid crap they type into the box the better for me. Insults, racist remarks and name calling I feel are all indicative of small and exploitable minds. Vanessa Selbst was once asked, "What advice would you give a player to improve their game?" She replied, "Think about what others do that pisses you off, whether it's 3 and 4 betting you, raising your button... whatever, then find ways to incorporate that into your own game." So if I run into someone who calls me a donk, fish, idiot.. whatever, I know I've gotten under this guys skin in some way and am absolutely elated by the fact! So if I can find a way to exploit that, getting him to play on pride and emotion rather than thinking situations through... hurray for me. I'll goad him on LMAO the entire time. When it comes down to it he will either not want to contest a pot with me for fear of losing to the guy who he's been calling a donk or will at some point over play a hand (as what seems to have happened in your case) out of pure ego. Win, win in either case as long as you are mature enough to not get caught up in it yourself.

I find that some people are using chat to try to get people on tilt. I guess it could help, if you manage to keep yourself cool...

you can tell a donk by the way they say things,

but in general if im playing in a donkfest like a free roll or something i always feel i have the edge or for example playing 5p sit n gos i cashed in every game over about 23/24

at the point where im being exploited is where I draw the line on assuming all my opponents are donks

nice comparison, I agree with the chat good players usually don't chat while in the midst of playing online unless it's a home game or freeroll, an analogy I could give is those who beep there horns when a good driver is being safe and giving way to other cars is the donk of the road because they don't understand that you are trying to not only be safe but respectful on the road, now there's nothing wrong with beeping your horn but it should be used in the appropriate situation just like it chat should be used appropriately in online poker

Soo it would seem. but in that case why dont you finish 1st every time. ?!
At this lvl people play cards not situations soo much,pay attention and they all will bee donks. Easy to say ofcorse.

You don't have to disable your chat bowman just ignore the donkeys. If you disable your chat, you will miss talking to all the good people.

I'm the donk...everyone else plays well.

Bowman26 said:

On Bovada limit games I can bring my whole roll modest as it may be lol. This guy just sat down I was at the table awhile and it was 6 Max. The guy was just a jerk. I disabled chat no need to chat with anyone that I know only as a number anyway

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Best reply..."Just because you don't understand my plays, doesn't mean that I don't".

Or "lick me".

Either one works

Three points

1) I have yet so see a solid winning reg use the chat box, other than to say nh or wp at absolute most. They never have chats or arguments at the table.

2) It might be more relaxing for you to turn off chat

3) Chat is sometimes a wealth of information, you dont need to say anything. Especially at microstakes there are so many slanging matches going on in chat, take this information and use it to build a picture of the table dynamic. Every bit of information you collect can add to your edge.

I've used it to my advantage when two other players get into a pissing contest, because I know they're both likely tilted and are going to shove garbage when I raise with a good hand. I love it even more when they're shoving crap hands at each other and one knocks the other out, then the one who's left thinks they're bulletproof and will call off their chips with very little.

Getting involved in the argument is the worst thing you can do, it distracts you from the game and you might get on tilt as well. I've participated in decent conversations like on CC freerolls but I really shouldn't, because all it does is make me lose focus.

To answer the original question, I AM a donk and a blindfolded one at that.

Bowman26 said:

Are you a donk if you get caught trying to make a odd play?

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I'm harder on myself when I screw up than on anyone else. By far. I'll compound my crime by apologizing in chat for putting a beat on someone when I really should pretend I thought I made a good play.

Maybe because I play just for fun , not for maximise profit, I use the chat often. As more I chat , I usully make better decisions and make more winnings. I can concentrate better if I not just focus on the game. Sounds weird but its the truth. I m a truck driver and I m used to do other things while driving. In poker its the same for me.

The best players don't have a time to chat, they multi tabling...

The best players don't need or have time for chat. They know exactly what they're doing at the table and just focus on playing poker.

Bowman26 said:

On Bovada limit games I can bring my whole roll modest as it may be lol. This guy just sat down I was at the table awhile and it was 6 Max. The guy was just a jerk. I disabled chat no need to chat with anyone that I know only as a number anyway

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i play on bovada and there is definitely a limit to what you can bring,
I often chat in tournaments but never in cash games, i really only consider people donks when they make ridiculous calls, if your betting i don't consider you a donk because you can bet them out of the hand but when ur calling with low pair odds are your just calling to call and hope they are bluffing every time. Also i am a pretty aggressive player and do a lot of betting so i wouldn't want people calling me a donk when i get caught lol.

There are many players like that and more if they are Russian .. are sick in the head.
I think if it's good Logoff chat and make your own decisions

Yes and it is probably the most ingenious part about the game. If people knew that the reason they were losing was because they weren't good enough then they might stop playing and therefore depositing. The ego element though allows them to blindly chalk it up to bad luck and keep throwing their money away.

I guess if you can't handle the chat, then by all means, you should turn it off. I think we should be stronger than that, though. You should be smart enought to see that the guy berating other players for the hands they have played is playing more hands than anyone else at the table and realize that it's a tactic. By criticizing everyone else's play, this guy is hoping that you will tighten up so that he can run you over with aggression.

I'm amused by the guys that try to talk you into playing the way they want you to. I think it's hillarious that the guy who just ripped someone a new one for playing J-7 suited just called a raise with J-6 off and ran his flopped Js into my set. I'm not going to comment, because I don't want to point out anything to anyone that isn't paying attention. But it is funny to me.

What I don't find humorous is when someone hangs around crying about a beat. Notice that I didn't say bad beat. That's because it isn't a bad beat when you jam your stack in whith Q-6 on the button against my blind and I call you with A-4 suited and bust your ass. I could ask whether it's worse to shove with Q high or to call with A high. I won't because I'm not interested in the response. You can call me all the donkeys you want. It doesn't matter to me. I know how I play. A-4 isn't even in my range. But I saw you coming. If I tell you that, then it might help you make a better decision next. So I won't. As others have already pointed out, it's a distraction from the game. Why let yourself be distracted, especially by someone who has already been eliminated from the game.

You can choose to turn chat off or leave it on and just ignore these chumps. To me it's like six in one hand or half a dozen in the other. The way I look at it is that it's all a real life simulation. In real life you can't just turn chat off. Either you have the strength of character to block it out and remain focused on the game, or you leave. Or you could always jump up and throw a chair at someone and leave with security.

The bottom line is that I know how I play. No name calling or post hand critique or anything else that anyone types in that little box is going to change that. When I someone outplays me, I might consider changing it up.