Trash talk — you love it or you hate it. Some people think that it’s an inevitable part of every game and that it has the power to demoralize your opponents. This is also applied to poker, as some players really enjoy doing this sort of thing to other players. Naturally, there’s always a line that you shouldn’t go over when you engage in such activity.

Yet, it seems that the rules are simply different in online poker, and trash-talking seems to be more frequent and way over the line.

Online Poker Trash Talkers

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The sheer fact that other players are far away from you can seem like a good opportunity to practice trash talk. However, it seems that some people simply have no control when they open the chat window.

It is truly going to suck to be without my weekly fix of you wonderful trash-talking friends (oh, and poker too). But social distancing is critically important at this time, and it won’t be as. Trash talk — you love it or you hate it. Some people think that it’s an inevitable part of every game and that it has the power to demoralize your opponents. This is also applied to poker, as some players really enjoy doing this sort of thing to other players.

They would often curse and use some really offensive words. That cannot always be considered trash talk. It’s often plain insults that you’re seeing.

Therefore, it’s very important to make a distinction between players who trash talk as part of their strategy from players who are just tilting and want to insult you. You don’t want to be the latter. However, if you want to consider using trash talk as your strategy, you need to be rather careful.

When you trash talk, even in online poker, you have to do it in style, so that the other player gets a bit more discouraged, especially if it’s an important hand.

Yet, you cannot see their reaction to your trash talk, nor can you analyze what exactly you need to say. You often don’t have an idea whether the other player is a male or female, old or young, and more.

Therefore, the best scenario is just to avoid any kind of trash talk if possible when you play online. You never know what kind of effect it may have on other players, as you don’t know whether they are really motivated or have no motivation at all.

Simply put, you don’t have any feedback on their emotional state, and trash talk can have different effects than you expected.

Live Poker Trash Talk

Trash talk is not really common in live poker, although it exists from time to time, and only some players use it. It’s still very important not to cross the line. Simply put, if you do, you can receive an answer to your talks that can be rather physical in nature, and you definitely don’t want to start a fight at a poker table.

Still, using this strategy from time to time is effective if you see that other players can be somewhat discouraged by it. Once again, make sure not insult, but stick to playful negging that will make your opponents think twice.

In other words, you want to be Tony G in his playful table banter mood rather than Phil Hellmuth when he tilts and starts yelling at other players.

Conclusion: Is Trash Talk Really Necessary?

Trash talk isn’t necessary for poker at all, but it’s not forbidden to use it from time to time as part of your strategy. However, many players consider this type of behavior bad etiquette and will simply not like you as a player if you do this kind of thing all the time.

The bottom line is, use it rarely and only in specific situations. Moreover, use it only against the players that you think might get discouraged by your trash talk and make a wrong decision. Above all, make sure to keep it light and have fun along the way.

The “good ol’ days” when poker games were mostly quiet and played by people with the proverbial “poker faces”seems to be gone, with the influx of “trash talking” both in online and in live poker games.

The question being asked by many players is whether trash talking works or not.

The Emergence of Trash Talking

Trash talking is a natural part of poker, mainly because it is a game which involves equal parts psychology and bluff: rattling your opponents is always a good thing, especially if it pushes them into making mistakes. The activity is kept under control during live games, however, because it is not unheard of for fights to break out between players or, as in many Westerns or gangster movies, for people to start shooting over a bad hand or an uncalled for remark.

Trash talking appears to be a commonplace event in today’s casinos and poker rooms. Some observers attribute it to the popularity of online poker – of which many players “graduate” to live games, carrying their internet playing habits with them. Online poker players are used to playing alone or with themselves so they usually pace around and talk to themselves. Moreover, people who are quite verbose in online games (players online converse through chat boards in the online casino) have a hard time getting out of the habit of using “talk” to distract their opponents.

Trash Talk Online Poker Games

Whereas online, other opponents can merely tune out such talk (by closing the chat window), it’s harder to tune out talk during live games.

The other culprit they point to is television coverage of poker games, such as the World Series of Poker with some players actually playing to the camera. They note that the objective remains the same – to rattle the other players into making mistakes – but the camera picks this up and makes it seem that it is all right to do so, which gets the practice perpetuated.

But Does It Work as Part of Your Poker Strategy?

Experts are divided on the matter, usually saying that it depends on the players at the game – and whether you’re playing online or live.

In general, experts believe that trash talking online doesn’t really work – mainly because it is an anonymous game played over the internet, and ‘trash talk’ is limited to online text messages that are easy to ignore. More importantly, the action goes swiftly at online poker games – cards are dealt swiftly, people raise or fold just as fast, and hands are over and done with in minutes – leaving little time or opportunity for all-out trash talking.

Focus is important in online games. This is the main reason why most attempts at trash talk or rattling your opponents with words seldom works.

Live games, on the other hand, are another matter. Some people are definitely affected by trash talkers to the point of losing their focus on the game. Nevertheless, experts note that the more experienced or top caliber players are not easily sidetracked.

Poker Trash Talk

Veteran poker players cannot easily get rattled because they’ve “been there, done that” and they’ve learned their lessons early on. If and when they lose in a game with a trash talker, bad cards, rather that the trash talk is generally the reason.

In the end, most experts advise caution when trash talking at a live poker game as a poker strategy. At best, you’ll weed out the ‘weak’ players but you’ll end up playing with those who are not affected by your antics who may just be tempted to make you lose your stack and to make you eat your cards to shut you up.