As with just about most things in life, etiquette is an important part of playing poker on the net. Most people who have played in live card rooms or played at poker sites with online chat boxes know that some people can be quite annoying, sometimes downright rude. A bad attitude on a single persons part can ruin a fun night of online poker for others. It’s important to keep in mind you’re playing a game. When you forget about that, it’s time to quit for the day or for a while.
To avoid annoying people like this, and to avoid annoying others, there are some very simple online poker etiquette rules that should be followed. Etiquette aren’t rules, but important all the same. So without further ado, here’s some common online poker etiquette to abide by.
First of all, one should never belittle another player in the chat box. There’s just no place for it in a poker chat room, even if a person is being annoying or rude. All one has to do is either report that person to a poker room moderator or place them on your ignore list. All poker players have been novices at one time or another.
So, if you see a player call you down with garbage and get really lucky on the river even when you raised really big preflop and made big bets after the flop, you can’t forget the fact that they haven’t played the game for very long. They are not aware about the mistakes they are making. And etiquette aside, do you really want to make them aware about them?
Second of all, don’t gloat over your winnings. If you are on a hot winning streak at poker, or have won multiple times in one night, don’t go on and on about it. Other players become annoyed at that attitude very quickly. Remember, when there are winners there are losers, and if you’re stuck a big amount, the last thing you want to hear is a player carrying on because they’re a big winner in the game. Of course, it’s okay to say “Yay, I won a big pot!” or something similar when you do win. But, to continually go on and on about it is not very sportsmanlike and more than likely not going to make you very many new friends.
Third, do not cuss or swear in a chat channel while playing online poker. That can be very offensive to a lot of people, and will most likely cause people to put you on ignore or to report you to a chat room moderator. More than anything else though it’s just a really douchey thing to do.
Fourth, do not type in all capital, or upper-case letters. 99% of chat room participants dislike this immensely.
Fifth, sexist talk in the online chat box is also a big no no. Even though a player is using a men’s screen name, it doesn’t always mean they’re a male player. Many female players will use a male alias at the poker tables because of the image that female poker players have. It can often mean they are tight/weak players which can make them targets in the game, which is obviously not a good image to have, as players will often be looking to bluff them.
Sixth, it’s important that you don’t talk in the online chat box whilst a hand is taking place, especially if you are not involved in the hand. Let the hand play out and take its own natural course, things you say in the chat box can sway the decision making process of a player still involved in the hand, and it’s not really fair on the other players in the game. For instance, saying stuff like “he’s on tilt, he’s bluffing, you should make the call” just isn’t cool when you’re not in the hand.
Seventh, many online poker sites insist on speaking English-only at the tables. If you are speaking with other players in a foreign language, not only is it against the policies of that particular poker room, other players could think you are colluding, as you are talking in a language that can’t be understood by other players at the table, suggesting you might have something to hide. If you can’t speak English, and the policies of the poker site insist on English in the online chat box, then unfortunately you have no option but to resist chatting in the chat box.
Last of all, and certainly not least, when another player wins, be sure to congratulate them. It makes them feel good and is more than likely to help you make a few new friends.
Of course, these aren’t all the possible online poker etiquette rules to follow in an online poker chat room, just the most common ones. At the end of the day, if you always use common sense and have class when you play poker on the net, you can’t go wrong.