I don't hate poker. I love to play it. It is entertaining. It is challenging. However, it also makes me want to punch something.......at times. I am trying to control that urge. I know it is just a game. BUT...........here are the things I hate:

The fake chatter. The pretend platitudes. The constant, annoying, repetitive acronyms. You know,,,,,,gg, ty, gh,,,,,,I mean, come on. Some people do it AFTER EVERY HAND. It is just like everyone getting a ribbon for participation. IT MEANS NOTHING after awhile. Sure, you are trying to be nice, which is fine. But NOT.......EVERY.......HAND. And I will do it too. I just find myself getting more and more annoyed at seeing it. If you have to say something, mix it up. Talk about the weather or something, sheesh.

The pompous person. We all know at least one player like that. They play like an idiot, get lucky, and then think they are something special. I would be ok to lose if they would admit their idiocy. To quote Dean Wormer in Animal House...."Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son". The fat and drunk part is assumed by me.

Now me, I will try things. New ways to bet, just to see how players react. I don't, however, think I am a great player. I don't like the analytics and percentages. Makes poker too much like work. Or math. I bet by instinct....and feel.

The donkey. Now, a disclaimer on the donkey thing. There are many types of players. And many styles of playing. One persons donkey is another person's genius. And this is a fun league, so there are inexperienced players. However, if you want to win, you chances of doing that go up markedly if you try to improve each day.

Don't keep doing the same things.....like, instead of checking, you bet say,,,,,,um,,,50 chips when the pot is already 2000. What are you trying to accomplish with that bet? It is usually one of the following: (a) a weak hand, (b) a drawing hand (c) a strong hand or (d) you don't know how to play. Have a clue here.

You can accomplish the same thing by checking to the next player, thereby saving your chips for later hands. That weak 50 bet is a losing play. You will NEVER find winning poker players playing that way. You may get lucky occasionally, but overall a bad play.

If I was playing in a big money tournament, I would love for people to play like that. Gives me a chance to improve my hand cheaply. However, in these games for chips and tokens, (with their low monetary value) I will raise sometimes just to see what will happen. That is not something I would normally do in a tourney where I have to pay my own money to enter.

These chips and tokens you win should be invested back into the poker site by donating or by sponsoring more poker tourneys. Winning should not be your goal. It should be somewhere to play poker with people you enjoy playing with. Give til it hurts ;)

So, do yourselves a favor. Don't be a phony, pompous donkey. It doesn't make you friends or chips. It just makes you a time waster. (Not that there is anything wrong with that).

The object was not to offend, but to get you to improve as a poker player and a person. I, however, am an old f**k. And I will not change. So let me have it in the remarks.... I can take it.

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