Poker players often say that one of the beauties of the game is that everyone is on equal ground at the poker table. When a cash game begins, everyone has the same opportunity to buy in for an equal amount. In a tournament, everyone is given the same amount of chips.
But are we all "equal?" Better yet, are we all "viewed" as equals at the poker table? I would argue, no.
We all know poker is a game of incomplete information. Putting together the pieces of a poker hand is like solving a jigsaw puzzle: it takes some evaluation, study, and problem solving. But I am not na?�ve enough to believe that people do not bring certain prejudices to the poker table, whether live or online.
I am quite guilty of it myself. If I am in an online game, and someone is displaying a home city with more symbols than letters, I can't help but make certain assumptions about his/her style of play, even when admittedly I could never even attempt to point out that city on a map.
What I have found is the crazier the spelling of the home city, the more wacko symbols and the less vowels it has, the more it means you're dealing with a hyper aggressive player. And it almost never fails. Same goes for Norwegians and Swedes. Spaniards and Italians (and to some degree, Brazilians) have a more deceptive and tricky reputation online, while an American I usually credit for having a relatively straightforward "ABC" style of play until I get proven otherwise.
In live games, as a general rule, older people tend to be tight and passive, and young people tend to be loose and aggressive. I have logged thousands upon thousands of hours in live cash games and cannot remember ONE loose aggressive player who also happened to be elderly. It just doesn't happen. Jamaicans tend to be chatty at the table, and play King-Jack (known to them as Kingston, Jamaica) quite aggressively. And Asians have a very loose and aggressive reputation, going broke with top pairs and chasing flushes and straights no matter the odds. Asian women, though, are some of the tightest players you'll ever see.
So how relevant is all of this information? Not very. It's just one poker player's perspective on some stereotypes I have encountered in my countless hours of playing, both online and live. In poker though, it's always helpful to judge the information you have. And something like the way a person from a particular part of the world tends to play could be helpful in those borderline decisions where no other information is available to you.
But are we all "equal?" Better yet, are we all "viewed" as equals at the poker table? I would argue, no.
We all know poker is a game of incomplete information. Putting together the pieces of a poker hand is like solving a jigsaw puzzle: it takes some evaluation, study, and problem solving. But I am not na?�ve enough to believe that people do not bring certain prejudices to the poker table, whether live or online.
I am quite guilty of it myself. If I am in an online game, and someone is displaying a home city with more symbols than letters, I can't help but make certain assumptions about his/her style of play, even when admittedly I could never even attempt to point out that city on a map.
What I have found is the crazier the spelling of the home city, the more wacko symbols and the less vowels it has, the more it means you're dealing with a hyper aggressive player. And it almost never fails. Same goes for Norwegians and Swedes. Spaniards and Italians (and to some degree, Brazilians) have a more deceptive and tricky reputation online, while an American I usually credit for having a relatively straightforward "ABC" style of play until I get proven otherwise.
In live games, as a general rule, older people tend to be tight and passive, and young people tend to be loose and aggressive. I have logged thousands upon thousands of hours in live cash games and cannot remember ONE loose aggressive player who also happened to be elderly. It just doesn't happen. Jamaicans tend to be chatty at the table, and play King-Jack (known to them as Kingston, Jamaica) quite aggressively. And Asians have a very loose and aggressive reputation, going broke with top pairs and chasing flushes and straights no matter the odds. Asian women, though, are some of the tightest players you'll ever see.
So how relevant is all of this information? Not very. It's just one poker player's perspective on some stereotypes I have encountered in my countless hours of playing, both online and live. In poker though, it's always helpful to judge the information you have. And something like the way a person from a particular part of the world tends to play could be helpful in those borderline decisions where no other information is available to you.
