Trash Talking to Trash Poker Opponents –
Does It Really Work?
The "good ol' days" when poker games
were mostly quiet and played by people with the proverbial
"poker faces"seems to be gone, with the influx
of "trash talkers" both in online and in
live poker games. The question being asked by many players
is whether trash talking works or not.
The Emergence of Trash Talking
Trash talking is a natural part of poker, mainly because
it is a game which involves equal parts psychology and bluff: rattling
your opponents is always a good thing, especially if it
pushes them into making mistakes. The activity is kept under
control during live games, however, because it is not unheard
of for fights to break out between players or, as in many
Westerns or gangster movies, for people to start shooting
over a bad hand or an uncalled for remark.
Trash talking appears to be a commonplace event in today's casinos and poker
rooms. Some observers attribute it to the popularity
of online poker – of which many players "graduate"
to live games, carrying their internet playing habits with
them. Online poker players are used to playing alone or
with themselves so they usually pace around and talk to
themselves. Moreover, people who are quite verbose in online
games (players online converse through chat boards in the online casino) have a hard
time getting out of the habit of using "talk"
to distract their opponents. Whereas online, other opponents
can merely tune out such talk (by closing the chat window),
it’s harder to tune out talk during live games.
The other culprit they point to is television coverage
of poker games, such as the World Series of Poker with some players actually playing to the camera. They note
that the objective remains the same – to rattle the
other players into making mistakes – but the camera
picks this up and makes it seem that it is all right to
do so, which gets the practice perpetuated.
But Does It Work as Part of Your Poker Strategy?
Experts are divided on the matter, usually saying that
it depends on the players at the game – and whether
you’re playing online or live.
In general, experts believe that trash talking online doesn’t
really work – mainly because it is an anonymous game
played over the internet, and ‘trash talk’ is
limited to online text messages that are easy to ignore.
More importantly, the action goes swiftly at online poker
games – cards are dealt swiftly, people raise or fold
just as fast, and hands are over and done with in minutes
– leaving little time or opportunity for all-out trash
talking.
Focus is important in online games. This is the main reason
why most attempts at trash talk or rattling your opponents
with words seldom works.
Live games, on the other hand, are another matter. Some
people are definitely affected by trash talkers to
the point of losing their focus on the game. Nevertheless,
experts note that the more experienced or top caliber players
are not easily sidetracked.
Veteran poker players cannot easily get rattled because
they've "been there, done that" and they’ve
learned their lessons early on. If and when they lose in
a game with a trash talker, bad cards, rather that the trash
talk is generally the reason.
In the end, most experts advise caution when trash talking
at a live poker game as a poker strategy. At best,
you’ll weed out the 'weak' players but you’ll
end up playing with those who are not affected by your antics
who may just be tempted to make you lose your stack and
to make you eat your cards to shut you up.
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