What do you think of using chat to tilt your opponent occasionally? Do you use it? Do you talk back to those who do? Does it affect your play? What do you think of someone who does use it? Is there any ethics associated to chat in online poker?

Personally, I'll use it occasionally to try and tilt them further if I think they are getting angry or frustrated. It doesn't really take much usually to tilt the balance. I don't see anything wrong with it but I've definitely seen some people cross the line. (One guy once told me he'd go "get his gun, reload it" and then "shoot my dumbass".)

I'm curious what you guys think about it.

I played a guy the other day and after about 3 hands he just typed "you're an idiot". Nothing had happened. We played a few more hands, he won a big pot, immediatley sat out, typed "idiot" and left. I was so tilted I had to take a walk. (I think the fact he was French didn't help).

Personally, I don't use it. I find it quite useful if villain chats just to get an idea of his psychological state/level of intelligence. Like this one guy who started telling me that he'd looked me up and found that my ROI% was low and that therefore I was a bad player. I explained to him that this was a cash game and we talk about ptbb/100, not ROI%. He went a bit quiet after that. Or this other guy who said that he was hacking into my computer to find my account password, then that he'd found it wand was able to see my cards.

What about when they shove and type "call" or "fold"?


I've got a theory about this, but I haven't tested it yet. Basically, it's that people want to call, they want to see your cards, and they will look for a justifiaction to do so. So you value shove, type in chat "call" or "fold", and it doesn't matter which because they will level themselves into calling either way (assuming they have somekind of hand obviously). So you only use it when you want value.

A scandanavian told me to die, after 3 or 4 attempts at spelling it correctly. I laughed.

I do think some people are tiltable via chat though and it is worthwhile when you can spot them.

Funny I saw this topic just now ,

I was playing only a few hours ago, and my opponent 3bet pf when I had nothing great and then showed T7o and said HAHAAH in chat. I didnt think much of it, later on however he bet at me and I 3bet him with junk and showed and spewed back HAHAAH, immediately the next hand he 3bet and went on a huge bluff with nothing while I hit tptk w/ my AK, I doubt all opponents are this easy to manipulate, but I must say it was interesting, he immediately left when I called his river bet, probably furious.

...but remember to be nice to the fish, we are kind of their employees. no need to tilt them. let them loose money AND loving it.

...but remember to be nice to the fish, we are kind of their employees. no need to tilt them. let them loose money AND loving it.

I try to treat the people who give me action with a level of respect. Stripping the average fish of any dignity or enjoyment they might have doesn't keep them coming back.

Of course many fish are just berating you from the start. I'm more on the fence about this, but I tend to just try to ignore it and be polite regardless. I think you run the risk of getting hit and run when you berate them back---then they're looking for some trophy of victory (your stack) before quitting you forever. I think they're more likely to come back if you didn't provide their ego with that extra satisfaction.

"chatters" used to tilt a lot more than they do today, but in general a "chatter" is more likely to go off for more buyins even today than a mime...i can't remember the last time i played a good chatter