You Can Make Poker Less Painful (or--a Pain In The Arse Can Be
By Susan J. Mazor, Sat Dec 10th

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

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

Playing will expose you to players that consistentlybelieve that their feelings at the table are more important thananyone else’s feelings. They will behave as teenagers,consistently cursing, chide other players for the way they playtheir cards and money, or are downright rude (toward the femaleplayer these "teenage players" will actually make sexualadvances via chat).

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

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

1. Notify the 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 room from your computer.

When you open your account with a particular room, Isuggest that you explore what options you have if/when you comeup against such offensive behavior.

What do you need to provide to "support"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BRICK AND MORTAR ROOMS

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

Now if you are in a brick and mortar room, the dealer atyour table has the authority to

stop any of this behavior. Ifhe/she does nothing, you may want to bring the behavior tohis/her attention. If he/she still does nothing, you should callthe room manager over and explain the situation.

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

Just because a tourist or regular player has been drinking, doesnot give them license to ruin everyone else’s playtime, noteven, as stated above, in Vegas.

I believe that it is up to all players to show theseabusive people that they are not the only ones that like to havea good time. We should stand up for what is right -- abusive andoffensive behavior at the table is not!

About the author:Webmaster BeginnersOnline Guide Dream it! Believe it! Achieve it!