When I have a choice between a silent table and one where the players are chatting with one another, I will choose the talkative table every time.
The truth is I hate quiet tables. They are bad for my composure and my wallet.
You can find these quiet tables in every poker room. They are usually occupied by players who stare grimly at their cards and rarely look at each other. They have mountains of chips stacked in front of them. Sometimes the chips are stacked so high you can't even see the face of the player behind them.
A poker table where players don't utter a word to each other is generally bad news for the average poker player. The games are unpleasant even for the dealers. When you are in such a game, you often find yourself wanting to be someplace else.
I have sat down at tables where the players are grim and where they don't say anything except 'Raise' or ask the dealer to call for service. But I have news for you. When I sit down, the table doesn't stay that way for very long.
I am a communicator. A couple of my poker-playing friends claim I talk too much and they are probably correct. But I will start up a conversation with the dealer or one of the other players. I might make a remark about the way he played a hand. Or I will comment about politics or a baseball or basketball game on the television monitors that fill almost every poker room.
If my first remark fails to get a response, I try again until I get one of the players talking. That always results in bringing another player or two into the conversation. Before you know it, all the players have relaxed and are contributing to the chatter.
There is a reason most poker players don't talk. They believe they will give away their hand and that the other players will somehow have x-ray vision into their mind to determine what they are holding.
I don't give much credibility to that fear. When you come right down to it, poker is a social game. Civil conversation should always be welcome in a poker game.
I like to talk to the other poker players because I am genuinely interested in what they have to say. Conversation lessens the tensions at a poker table and makes the game more fun.
I am convinced it is good poker to know who you are playing against and you find that out through conversation. Nobody enjoys losing but it is more fun to lose at a friendly poker table than at one where everybody looks and acts like a mummy.
To my way of thinking, a perfect poker table is one where all the players act respectfully toward one another. It also helps if they have a sense of humor whether they are winning or losing.
Some players, of course, disagree with me. They don't appreciate it when the players are talking. I have had players try to intimidate me into stopping my chatter. One frowned at me and said, 'Are we here to talk about politics or to play poker?'
I smiled.
'I don't know about you,' I said, 'but I'm here to do both.'
He wouldn't respond. After a while, he picked up his chips and went to another table.
A female player said, 'You drove him away.'
'Yes,' I said. 'Isn't it wonderful?'
Make your poker playing experiences pleasant. It's part of the human existence to communicate with each other and that includes when you are playing poker. Let the game begin and let's talk about life.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to [email protected] ).
