Whatever happened to manners?

[lakedweller]

It seems that only a small fraction of online players are willing/able to display even the most basic manners. I talking about things as simple as responding to chat, saying "gg" at the completion of a game, etc.

Since these things are too much to ask, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the general trend toward online bullying. I mean, you are going to lose hands/games. It is part of poker. There is no reason to go off on a tirade abusing the other player.

What do you think? Is this more prevalent online or is it just a sign of an overall drop in civility in society?

[Vito_Nuccio]

While society is losing basic manners, online is worse.

It is due to the fact you can not call someone out online. There is no threat of retaliation. Without the threat of being jacked in the mouth people get very brave and out of line on the internet, the new wild west. Trust me if they were in a crowded room, their antics would be different. Some would be the same, but those are the ones you would see with a blackened face the next day.

If the lingo is threatening or racist, please contact your poker room. There should be no tolerance for that garbage. If not and they are just a MF, disable the chat for the jerk and continue to play poker.

Sometimes the loud mouths are inviting enough to mess with them. These are the players you show bluffs to or respond to their tirade to put them on tilt.

There will always be the loud mouths and persons who can not take a loss. In the online world the weak become strong behind the shield of a monitor and keyboard. Exploit their obvious lack of self control, turn it into an advantage and take their chips.

Later,

[Dirtwedge]

Everyone is tougher online...lol. But it's probably more of a drop in society, unfortunately.

[liladypokerpro]

When I have chat turned on, I always respond with a "gg", "nh" "vnh" or "ty" but many times I have the chat turned off in tourneys.

So I'm sure I'm not the only one who turns off the chat sometimes. Can't always assume they're being disrespectful or rude, they may just simply not see the comments.

[lakedweller]

Thanks Lady. I do try to keep that in mind, especially with players who may not speak English.

[gamer4life27]

I know from personal experience, that if someone is getting a bad run of cards online, they can start to lose there mind and do things out of the ordinary. I used to be out of control because of teh levels I was playing at. At the time, I thought that all the levels I played at was true poker. So I couldn't believe the antics, cards being shown, people calling me with crap just because. I started to lose it, and my chips as well.

After a while, I just got used to the antics, and got used to being super mad whenever I played online because I would expect to get beat by 7 2 off all the time with my Aces, or something along those lines. So i would banter at other people about there plays, calling them explicit names because thats what I was used to when I first started playing online.

Now, I know better, and try to control it better whenever I can. I still get a little bit out of hand, but not much. I know that it's not the right thing to do, and I just don't say anything at all, or type 'gg' and leave, even though I don't mean it.

But the reason I think people would treat other people like that online is because they had the same mentality as I did when i got like that. When you are playing, you don't expect to run into donkeys left and right, but as i know now, it's expected at the lower limits.

I know for a fact that if people started out treating me nicely, or at leasted acted like they were sorry when they gave me a bad beat when I was first starting to play online, then I would probably not have been so negative towards people in the first place. It's something that catches on like a virus because online, you have total control over what you can freely and openly say. You can speak your mind 24/7 to whoever is there online with you.

When you are online, you don't have to worrie about looks, or manners, or anything like that. All you have to worrie about is typing, typing, and more typing. I could put on a persona of a total loser who doesn't know how to play a hand of poker, and people would buy it because thats all they have to go on. They don't know if I'm lying, or anything of that sort. All they know is what I type. And that manipulation would get people hooked online for hours, making people feed into there alternate personalitys that they have been wanting to display for so long.

[BUILDMO]

it's hard enough to play multiple tables and chat at the same time.
(unless some of the avatars truely represent the look) lol

Leave the chatter home, we know if the game is down to 2, GG & GL are nice.

Chat sometimes stalls the game.
I try to be courtious if someone else is to me, but don't let it bother you that others do not communicate or anwser back..

[iceveins0901]

sometimes I chat, most times my chat is off.

I find it easy to make a funny comment about a bad beat that just happened to me, and if I get a decent response from someone, I will start up a conversation about beats or how to get over them, and I quickly actually get over it.

[kevinfromhb]

I agree. It seems that people are so rude in on-line poker games. If they treated people in casinos that way, they'd either get ejected or smashed on. In the Los Angeles area, there are quite a few card rooms, and if people get rude, the one offended may just wait for you in the parking lot and "handle it like a man." I think that people just think they are untouchable and what does it matter anyway. But I personally feel that being fair polite and decent still count for something. Just my opinion.

[powrdragn]

I computer screen is like alcohol. With alcohol you can develop "beer muscles" which give you the courage to do anything. Online, you get "internet muscles" because the other player can't do anything to you. I just report a problem player to the poker room and I'm done with it. I've heard of various places giving out suspensions or blocking the problem player's chat priviledges. So the system does work. You have to report them though. The more that do it, the better.

I personally don't have an issue with player bad mouthing me. When they make a scene though, it possibly turns new players (and relatively easy money) away from the game and that sucks.