'Live' Poker Game Distractions and Online Poker Distractions
Watch out for these common and not-so-common methods of distracting you from your poker game in 'live' or social poker games and during online poker games...
'LIVE' GAME DISTRACTIONS A pal of mine who plays poker professionally in Macau was regaling a poker party the other night about the exploits of a wealthy Chinese player who has a bowl of milk at his social games. Apparently the Oriental gentleman in question occasionally uses short straws to snort the milk in through his nostrils and then is able to blow it out in a fine spray through the tear ducts in his eyes into another handy bowl. This, as one might imagine is quite a distraction, and tends to put his fellow guest gamblers off their stroke as well as their drinks. That of course is the purpose of his ludicrous stunt. I don’t recommend any one of you attempt to learn this particular skill but distraction does work well in poker games. I’ve dealt in the past with the effect knuckle-juggling chips has on phasing opponents. Learning how to shuffle and cut cards at speed is also time well spent on train journeys etc as again it causes opponents to pose the internal question: If he’s cool enough to do that he must be quite a player. Suddenly your bluffs will be in with a better chance when you apply them.
ONLINE POKER DISTRACTIONS Online poker distractions require the intelligent use of the chat box to perhaps indicate an in-depth awareness of site software (easy to actually read up on). Once again opponents are going to assume any kind of specialist knowledge indicates a professional player. You don’t actually have to be a pro’ in order to set up an environment of respect. Just credible. The occasional dropping of a professional name or big tournament. You get the picture. It has to be weaved into general chat with care. If anyone asks a tricky question you can always clam up with a line like, “I really need to focus. I chat too much.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTIONS Q: I know what a Showdown is but what is a “Shoot-out”? A: A "shoot-out" is an organised event where players go up against each other in parallel ten-player tournaments where the winners of each round then go up against another ten-player group until one winner prevails.
Q: What is meant by the term “coffee-housing”? A:"Coffee-housing" is using the chat option while a game is in progress with the intentional strategy of planting misinformation in an opponent’s mind as outlined in the “online distractions” above. Professional players will often do this in a subtle manner if they spot a newbie at a table. All this gives poker a dimension other cards game can’t match.
