Poker News

James McKenna, PhD.

Comradery is a big part of playing poker for some. For others it’s an annoyance. However, for those who enjoy comradery, shooting from the lip is part of the game. That means that most of what is said is spoken in poker-eese and needs to be translated. For example, when a young lady entered into the game and was sitting down, several players said something like, “Oh, oh, we’re in for it now!” Translated this meant, “You’ll like this. She loose and I can beat her!” Recently, a player shouted across the room at me and said, “Hey Jim, there’s an opening at this No-Limit game!” What he was saying was, “I’d like some of your money!” because he thought he could beat me. On the same day I heard two other comments directed at other players. As one sat down, another said, “I bribed the floor to get you in this game.” Of course, he was just kidding and he welcomed some easy money. At another table I heard, “Hey, Mike. Come on over. We’ve got ten players, but we’ll make an exception for you and play with eleven.”

Are these “put-downs” or do they really mean it? Often, such competitive camaraderie’s are designed to disarm another player. At times though, it becomes a war of put-downs. For example, a player might say, “I can’t believe you stayed in with that garbage!” To which is replied, “I only played it because you were betting!” Or, when a player makes a hand on the river, he or she might hear, “Runner, Runner!” And hear back, “You have to go to the river to catch the fish!”

Instead of comradery this could also be counter-phobic behavior? By that I mean, a player may actually be afraid of you and instead, places a bet and says, “Callthat if you don’t like money!” Usually, though, negative comments are the way people (mostly men) who like each other show it. You may occasionally hear, “Nice hand. Well played!” from someone not in the hand. This is usually sincere and needs no translation. However, you are more apt to hear, “Better buy a lottery ticket. This is your lucky day!” Often, though, “Nice hand!” coming from the loser means, “Nice hand, you *#$+.”

Even when a player folds, there’s the competitive zing of, “I’m folding this for your sake.” Or, “I’ll let you have it this time!” Loose calls with comments such as, “I’ll just call.” Or, “You can’t win!” Now why would a competitor try to talk you out of calling?

Beware of laments when a player is called, such as, “I’m in trouble now!” That’s poker-eese for, “Please don’t leave me when I bet again.” Another frequent lament is, “I know I’m doing your betting for you.” This can be translated into, “I hope I’m not betting for you.” When a player folds by saying something like, “I didn’t like the way you threw that bet in.” it usually means they were going to fold anyway and didn’t have much.

I mentioned earlier that comradery for some is an annoyance, particularly when it comes from someone you just beat. For example, instead of hearing, “Wow, you made it and all those outs came through for you!” you are more apt to hear, “I can’t believe you made that hand!” When I made such a hand on the river and heard how lucky I was, an astute dealer said, “Yeah, he only had 13 outs and great pot odds!”

Finally, when you leave the table you may hear, “Tell ‘em where you got it!” This can mean, “Send some other fish over here.” Still when you hear, “Nice playing with you.” you’d better check if it’s coming from the one who won most of your chips or from someone who really enjoyed your company.

Have you ever said when you’ve gotten beat, “I knew that!”? So what does that mean?

Filed under: Poker News