- several of the players talk a lot. And their table talk can, after a time, be a little tedious. Especially if they have a desire to commentate on their own, or others, play. Rather than being irritated by the talk I choose to try to move away
- several of the players are unpleasant AND talk a lot. No more explanation needed
- several of the players are unpleasant, talk a lot AND commentate on the play AND berate players who, in their opinion, have played badly and given them a bad beat.
A couple of days ago I was seated at a table with a player in the last category. Normally I would put in a transfer request as soon as I landed at the table. But this time I decided to see whether I could sit at the table and retain my equanimity. Being prepared to utulize the assistance of noise-cancelling headphones and one of Spotify's suggested daily mixes should I find that it would be better for me to tune out the noise of the table chatter. And I'm glad I did.
There was an old guy who was at the table to have fun. And he was on the right of the chatterbox. The first scenario that amused me unfolded as follows:
- Old guy limps
- Chatterbox raises to $20
- Small blind and Old Guy call
- Flop JsTs7d
- Small Blind and Old Guy check. Chatterbox bets $20. Small blind and Old Guy call
- Turn Jd
- Small Blind and Old Guy check. Chatterbox bets $45. Old guy calls, Small blind calls
- River 5h
- Checks around. Old guy takes it down with 6c7c
Chatterbox goes on tilt with a rant along the lines of "This has been happening to me all week. I'm losing to people who just shouldn't be in the hand!. What did you think calling the preflop raise? What did you think calling the flop bet. What about the Turn bet?. That is just such poor play." And on he went.
The Old guy smiles and winks at me out of his right eye.
The second scenario unfolded a short time later. In an unremarkable hand the Chatterbox lost another pot. The Old Guy then asked him "Why do you play poker? You don't seem to be enjoying yourself. You seem to be pretty angry". The Chatterbox looks at him and says "The best thing you could do is to shut up. But you are they type that has to have the last word don't you". (He repeats himself several time emphasizing that the Old Guy has to have the last word. The old guy has a smile on his face and winks at me again. The irony of the Chatterbox accusing someone else of having to have the last word all the time was delicious. If you were scripting the exchange for a comedy sitcom you couldn't have scripted it better.
