Re: [ba-poker] Is being obnoxious a tell?

[Brian Goetz <brian(deleted the rest)>]

I think that the comments a player makes during play can often give
you insight into how s/he things about the game.  

For example, some players are "whiners."  They bitch about every bad
beat, tell players how lucky they are, etc.  Such players can often be
put on tilt, either by putting a few beats on them, or needling them
at the right time.  

> There are some players who sling insults at players who make loose
> calls, even when they themselves were not on the receiving end of a
> bad beat.  That's who I'm talking about. They are making an
> affirmative effort to type in stuff intended to make other players
> feel bad, even when it is against their own long-term self-interest
> and they are not emotionally involved in the hand.

So now you know something about these players -- they are not playing
to maximize their EV, they want to feel smarter/better than the other
players, and have an emotional stake in the result of the hand.  They
are probably also more vulnerable to tilt as you suggest.

Especially in limit poker, I think tells are overrated.  Its very cool
when you pick up a tell, but for the most part, you get more value
from understanding your opponents play characteristics.  (And we all
proobably have stories where we have picked up a tell which is
accurate, only to find the player has misread his hand and therefore
effectively fooled you by fooling himself.)  However, the comments you
pick up in chat do give you insight into your opponent's character,
and I do make such notes in the player notes for these players
("whiner", "insulter", etc) because I think it is valuable information
to keep around.