YOU Can Make POKER Less PAINFUL (or--A Pain in the Arse can beremoved ...without surgery)

As you will read in this article, the removal of a pain in the arse, from the poker table, can be accomplished without going under the knife, if you are diligent and persistent.

At the 2005 WSOP, there were couple of players who acted objectionably and (See our 2005 WSOP Views) they received penalties due to this objectionable behavior.

Playing poker will expose you to poker players that consistently believe that their feelings at the table are more important than anyone else’s feelings. They will behave as teenagers, consistently cursing, chide other players for the way they play their cards and money, or are downright rude (toward the female player these "teenage players" will actually make sexual advances via chat).

This is unacceptable in MOST poker rooms whether you are playing online or at a brick and mortar poker room. You do not need to just sit by and "take it". There are things that you can do in either venue. Below you will find ways to handle both.

ONLINE POKER ROOMS

If you come across one of the above-described players, you can choose one of the following Options:

1. Notify the poker room manager via email or chat;
   
   
2. Block the chat of that particular player (in most rooms);
   
   
3. Turn off your chat altogether; or
   
   
4. Totally ignore the behavior and continue your game; or
   
   
5. Surgically remove the poker room from your computer.

When you open your account with a particular poker room, I suggest that you explore what options you have if/when you come up against such offensive behavior.

What do you need to provide to "support"?

• Do you need to know the player’s screen name?
• The table number or name of the table?
• When it occurred?; and/or
• Do you need to have information that is more specific to report the behavior?

One poker site, explained to me that I needed to have a copy of the chat log of what happened at the time and then they would investigate.

Then again, you could continuously notify the manager of this obnoxious behavior and see what happens.

Option Two is actually a very simple step in most poker rooms. Right click on the player/avatar and you need to make a choice whether you want to make notes on them or if you want to block them.

Personally, I have a problem with the third choice. You may be having an agreeable chat with someone else or want to have a chat…and you won’t be able to unless you go into AIM or Yahoo Messenger or some other way to chat, but then you could be kicked out of that poker room/site for "collusion".

Option Four is the easiest step of all, if you have the patience to wait for them (the offender) to be knocked out (of a tournament) or for them to leave. It is very easy to fall into the trap of egging them on instead of getting them to stop.

Then there is Option Five. If you receive no help from that poker site, you may have to choose whether you want to continue to play on that site or remove your funds, delete their room from your computer and not return.

BRICK AND MORTAR POKER ROOMS

In a brick and mortar room, there is additional abusive behaviors that we should not tolerate, at all, for any reason, and that is the abuse of the poker room staff. The staff includes the cocktail servers, the dealers, the management, and even the cleaning personnel.

Now if you are in a brick and mortar poker room, the dealer at your table has the authority to stop any of this behavior. If he/she does nothing, you may want to bring the behavior to his/her attention. If he/she still does nothing, you should call the poker room manager over and explain the situation.

Most brick and mortar rooms have a zero (0) tolerance for any type of offensive behavior. An excited utterance may be excusable, but continuation of such behavior is not.

Just because a tourist or regular player has been drinking, does not give them license to ruin everyone else’s playtime, not even, as stated above, in Vegas.

I believe that it is up to all poker players to show these abusive people that they are not the only ones that like to have a good time. We should stand up for what is right -- abusive and offensive behavior at the poker table is not!