Poker table banter and cross talk: Viable strategy, or unacceptable behavior?

[Saul2025]

I think this is the part of “theater”.

Perceiving as annoying or not is so individual.

Maybe it would be nice to treat it as another opportunity to read our opponent?

There’s a lot of indicators of stress, domination, compliance, fear, relax in voice. Another area to raise our skills though.

 

[elchonga]

Everything that is not prohibited is allowed
Therefore, it does not seem like a trap to me to use verbal tactics.
The game of poker often involves deception or lying about your cards, which is why verbal tactics help a lot in that sense.
There is always a limit but it is very difficult to know what it is.

 

[khancerberos]

I think it's unacceptable behavior, there should be rules for that kind of behavior, not all people put up with that kind of attitude.

 

[ToNy70929]

A comfortable microclimate that has developed between players at the same table is one of the components of a poker game. Let’s not all sit sullen and silent. But empty chatter, without wit, affecting the personalities of the players, does not paint a chatterbox and a joker. Respect comes first. Of course, I haven’t sat at real poker tables, but there are plenty of players online who behave like complete idiots, making unflattering remarks at others

 

[BillyR23]

IMO using verbal tactics to get an edge over your opponents is a viable strategy and it should be allowed, still what William Kassouf did was too much and there should be a line you shouldn't cross even if there isn't a rule about it* like you don't wait every hand until last second to make your preflop decision even tho it's 'allowed'... you don't want to make the experience at the tables terrible especially for recreational poker players as this way, because of your poor behavior, you actually made in theory weaker poker players quit the game* and who knows how many other potential new recreational players that watched the stream(nowadays pretty much all this 'big' games are streamed live), that don't want to be in this kind of uncomfortable situations...

So, I'm not against people applying similar tactics as Kassouf, Kabrhel or even a friendly and lovable DNegs, but just don't go too far... GLGL all at the tables

 

[Anna Brito]

I think that everything that takes attention away from the main focus, which is the game, is not valid. Poket is pure concentration. I “know” someone who plays Avera and when she plays, she locks herself in her room and doesn't want to be disturbed until the end of her games. It's pure concentration.

 

[Tadi]

Polite jokes during the game I find acceptable, e now where the limit is on decency, it's a little harder to answer. Players cannot be forbidden to talk in any case, but this should be in accordance with etiquette. Jokes that should not offend other players are acceptable.

 

[mssmotilda]

I think that with such behavior, you need to clearly understand the boundaries and not resort to insults. And those people who cross these boundaries should simply not be allowed at the tables.

 

[yogo9]

lol 9 Hight like a boss, its mental games, good for tv but is it good for the game? I don't think so ,i dont consider that a cheating but its unacceptable behavior
Having all players pissed at him was exactly what he was trying to accomplish, he was trying to tilt them and seemed to be pretty successful at it

 

[vitas_top]

This is certainly not very ethical, but it's part of the game and you need to be prepared for it.

 

[gabryyyel31]

Even if they are not always 'full of elegance', verbal tactics can be quite a useful tool at the poker table along with non-verbal language. Indeed, some players exceed a certain limit, but from a psychological point of view, they can obtain certain advantages.

 

[Andyreas]

I think table talk or banter until some limit is totally fine.

What I don't think is good sportsmanship or shouldn't be allowed is to excessively try to manipulate other players and influence their play.

Poker involves many strategies and skills, I don't think manipulation should be one of them.

There's several other ways on how to be a winning player.

 

[kley126]

In particular, I would not like a table where they are joking all the time. I think that you have to have respect for the other players while they are thinking about playing a hand or not, trying to concentrate while others are just joking at the table. For me, it is unacceptable.

 

[VVi10]

I think it can happen, and each player must know how to behave when faced with jokes and provocations from opponents at the tables.

 

[Atararo14]

I think it's acceptable to joke and chat at a poker table, on the one hand it helps avoid boredom and on the other hand you can't forbid players from talking and force them not to not express yourself.

 

[john_entony]

Absolutely not. It's a very smart strategy! I won a freeroll at a poker club this way a long time ago. I just talked to the players, told them I had pocket aces. The first two times I lied, but the third time (when there were 20 players out of 300) I really had AAs, but nobody believed me, of course, and two players went all-in against me. As a result, I became the chip leader in the tournament. I like this kind of strategy in poker.

 

[spectralwave]

You use the resources you have to disable your rivals at the tables, without being offensive, the rest is fair game.

 

[mervin88]

It should be allowed because poker is a competition anything that will give you advantage to win a game of poker. It is up to the opponent on how to react.

 

[Balou1982]

oh man this is again a tricky question/topic but very interresting to read what CC community is thinking about this!
in my opinion table banter and cross talk cant be banned from poker table because if everybody is playing without making any noise then live poker would have a very boring reflection to people in public, i think nobody would like to see poker on tv/stream.
It is normal that 8-9 villains on table will have a cross talk during a long session, there are always things that have a high potential to be discussed on table during a game but it should be in a way that not disturbing players on table who aren´t involved to table banter/cross talk.

this example in the video would be a situation where i wouldn´t feel pleasant anymore, so his behaviour is out of the question and tournament managment was reacting. maybe i would have act a little bit earlier than them because as a player i dont like his behaviour @table - there was no respect when he was talking to his/her villain.

 

[maronza1]

William Kassouf rose to notoriety during the 2016 WSOP Main Event for his use of verbal tactics to throw his opponents off balance and constant pushing of rules and boundaries. What is your opinion - is this type of play a valid strategy in live poker, or was Kassouf's behavior just way out of line and bordering on cheating?

What Kassouf did is very annoying, and done to throw the opponent focus and concentration, mainly to deceive the opponent into taking the wrong decision as what happened. This is not a valid strategy but annoying, and should be punished for doing that because he repeatedly done funny gestures even after he was warned, its not funny at all. It can also be considered as cheating, because to some extent, you are altering the strategy of your opponent, its just deception strategy. This kind of players should not be allowed to speak during a hand.

 

[tagece]

Sometimes you need to think a lot before a decision and he obviously is trying to distract her. I don't know the championship rules, but it's kind of an unethical tactic. This should not be allowed in any professional game.

 

[aurora1207]

I don't see any problem with joke and chat at a poker table, rather it's beneficial for players to have fun and de-stress.

 

[KrazyKoo]

Legendary clip !

I think this was fine and part of his strategy. I think this would only cross the limit if he would give hint what his actual hand physically was. "I want you to call" is just taunting and thrash talk to put her off her game.

 

[hjuosh]

What a disgusting player. Is evident the non respec at all. Of course I think that the player must be penalized for that bad attitude and the manager it seems to think the same.
From the beginning the dealer told him the rules and the guy just ignore it. Unfortunately that kind of players always will exist. So. Maybe just maybe that situations are part of the game.

 

[PupsikCat]

I think that you can’t allow yourself a lot and you definitely need to have a limit to what is permitted. I think it depends on the person's upbringing. The fact that talking and joking during a hand makes it very difficult to concentrate and calculate your steps and those of your opponent, and calculate all the bet sizes and analyze the situation. But how many times have I encountered a more terrible attitude towards cash dealers. Unfortunately, there will always be players who can throw cards in the dealer’s face or speak very rudely. Even in online poker, this strategy often works against players who are easily irritable.