I wanted to write a quick reply blog to Neil Channing's blog in which he raises some interesting issues about attitude, respect and humility in the poker world. The blog centres around some instances of rude, disrespectful, exclusionary, and arrogant behaviour encountered during this year's WSOP, clearly written with an air of despair at an all too commonly witnessed attitude. I can't help but feel that the cliquey players mentioned talking over and excluding some of the recreational players would likely be the first to cry foul at someone slowrolling as a sign of bad etiquette without feeling for one second any sense of hypocrisy. I agree with a lot of what Neil says and anyone that has played poker for any length of time will have witnessed this kind of behaviour many times. I agree that it is bad for the game for players to act this way, and that these players are biting the hand that feeds them but I really see that as only a tertiary factor in why it is wrong. People should want to be nice, and engaging, and respectful for it's own sake, and certainly not for some sake of improving their poker EV. It does make it all the more mystifying.
Personally, I don't tend to chat a whole lot at the table and would generally prefer to sit there quietly taking things in than making small talk. I do see the importance of engaging with people, I believe in being polite, and I would probably stupidly trade a slightly tougher table with good company and occasional stimulating conversation for one that is softer and full of inane chatter or arrogant self congratulatory behavior. That's probably not true, I'd choose the softer table but in reality the truly good players are probably more likely to be good company and offer stimulating conversation while the boastful, demeaning bluster is surely a sign of someone with more ego than is helpful and a lack of awareness to see the fault in their own behaviour.
The players that I personally admire are people like Chip Reese, Erik Seidel, Allen Cunningham, Daniel Alaei, younger players like Andrew Lichtenberger and Phil Galfond, or closer to home, people like JP Kelly and Eoghan O'Dea. Most of these people I don't know personally but I perceive them to be models of consistency, humility, respect, and perhaps crucially, I view them to have outside lives to some degree and a perspective outside of purely the poker world, while still of course being dedicated to the game and being great players. They are what I aspire to be as a poker player.
Some people seek an edge through their demeanor at the poker table by having a brash attitude, tilting people in the chat box or table talk, by intimidating, or making themselves a target at the table. If there is an edge to be gained there then I don't want it, it just isn't congruent with how I see myself as a person, which is ultimately far more important to me than how I fare playing poker. The funny thing is that the people that Neil describes probably aren't even doing this, they simply lack the awareness to see that their behaviour is distasteful and disrespectful. As it happens, nice guys don't finish last as the aforementioned players illustrate. Julian Thew, Sam Holden, Nick Abou Risk are all people that I admire and consider friends, and are great players in their own right that have deservedly had success in poker. I have been very lucky to make a lot of good friends in poker, and have met some of the most interesting, funny, intelligent people that I could ever hope to meet, and that I likely wouldn't have had the chance to meet in other walks of life.
I'd also like to send my best wishes to Kevin 'Phwap' Boudreau, and to all of his friends and family. I don't know Kevin, and have never met him but have been really saddened by his health problems and moved by the very genuine love and affection displayed by his friends in the poker community. I spent some time yesterday watching Kevin's youtube channel and I was struck by his positivity, determination and good humour. If anyone can afford to contribute to the fund that his family have set up to help cover his medical expenses then I think it is a worthy cause. There are clearly a lot of good, caring, generous and respectful people in poker and I wouldn't want that to be forgotten.
Personally, I don't tend to chat a whole lot at the table and would generally prefer to sit there quietly taking things in than making small talk. I do see the importance of engaging with people, I believe in being polite, and I would probably stupidly trade a slightly tougher table with good company and occasional stimulating conversation for one that is softer and full of inane chatter or arrogant self congratulatory behavior. That's probably not true, I'd choose the softer table but in reality the truly good players are probably more likely to be good company and offer stimulating conversation while the boastful, demeaning bluster is surely a sign of someone with more ego than is helpful and a lack of awareness to see the fault in their own behaviour.
The players that I personally admire are people like Chip Reese, Erik Seidel, Allen Cunningham, Daniel Alaei, younger players like Andrew Lichtenberger and Phil Galfond, or closer to home, people like JP Kelly and Eoghan O'Dea. Most of these people I don't know personally but I perceive them to be models of consistency, humility, respect, and perhaps crucially, I view them to have outside lives to some degree and a perspective outside of purely the poker world, while still of course being dedicated to the game and being great players. They are what I aspire to be as a poker player.
Some people seek an edge through their demeanor at the poker table by having a brash attitude, tilting people in the chat box or table talk, by intimidating, or making themselves a target at the table. If there is an edge to be gained there then I don't want it, it just isn't congruent with how I see myself as a person, which is ultimately far more important to me than how I fare playing poker. The funny thing is that the people that Neil describes probably aren't even doing this, they simply lack the awareness to see that their behaviour is distasteful and disrespectful. As it happens, nice guys don't finish last as the aforementioned players illustrate. Julian Thew, Sam Holden, Nick Abou Risk are all people that I admire and consider friends, and are great players in their own right that have deservedly had success in poker. I have been very lucky to make a lot of good friends in poker, and have met some of the most interesting, funny, intelligent people that I could ever hope to meet, and that I likely wouldn't have had the chance to meet in other walks of life.
I'd also like to send my best wishes to Kevin 'Phwap' Boudreau, and to all of his friends and family. I don't know Kevin, and have never met him but have been really saddened by his health problems and moved by the very genuine love and affection displayed by his friends in the poker community. I spent some time yesterday watching Kevin's youtube channel and I was struck by his positivity, determination and good humour. If anyone can afford to contribute to the fund that his family have set up to help cover his medical expenses then I think it is a worthy cause. There are clearly a lot of good, caring, generous and respectful people in poker and I wouldn't want that to be forgotten.
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