Table Talk

I’m going to look at one of the hottest topics in UK poker right now: table talk. While I don’t intend to discuss what is and isn’t permitted within the rules (as this varies so widely from venue to venue), I am going to look at how you can best use table talk to your advantage when playing live poker.

The term table talk basically refers to anything you say during a poker hand in an attempt to engage your opponent. In some card rooms table talk is virtually prohibited (the Bellagio in Las Vegas springs to mind) and you may not say anything to induce or discourage action from another player. In other places you are allowed to say pretty much anything, other than to state your exact holding (to avoid any intentional collusion). Clearly you must be aware of the rules of the card room you are playing in if you intend to use table talk as a big part of your game.

Do you need the chat?

Is a mastery of table talk important if you want to succeed at poker? No. Just ask Phil Ivey or Allen Cunningham – though don’t expect much in the way of an answer. But though it isn’t crucial to have the gift of the gab, it is important to understand and interpret what other people might be saying. Table talk links directly with your table image. Some people are ultra-talkative while others choose to stay silent.

Personally I try not to engage in too much conversation when I am making the positive action during a hand, or with other players at the table when I am not involved in a hand. This clinical approach projects an image of someone who is focused on the game and not to be messed with lightly. Obviously this sort of demeanour becomes more difficult to maintain the more people you get to know in the game, and poker can be a very social game in the right setting.

Often when someone is talking to you in an attempt to extract information you can learn just as much from him as he is trying to learn from you. Observe how the person talks when in a hand with others and try to see if you can pick up a pattern. Just as betting patterns can reveal clues about your opponents’ hands, so can speech patterns.

Does a talkative player suddenly clam up when the flop is dealt? When you ask him if he has a good hand, does he usually answer right away but this time hesitates? If you do choose to talk, make sure it’s on your terms and be selective about what you say. You should talk with a specific purpose in mind and above all don’t say anything that could potentially harm you or reveal your state of mind. Here are some tips that may help you at the table…

Do Ask Questions

One of the main purposes of speech play is to gain information and the simplest way to do that is by asking. Try asking leading questions like ‘It’s a bit early to bluff, isn’t it?’ Some players may respond, others may try not to react at all. Either way you should gain some sort of information, and be able to put your opponent under some uncomfortable pressure.

Early on in my poker career a respected pro told me that I talked much more when I was holding a strong hand. This is something I’ve attempted to cover up in my own game, but it is something to look out for. While it is a generalisation to say that players are more likely to respond if they have a big hand, at the intermediate level it is often a good indicator.

The first time you are in a pot with a player, don’t use this as a watertight read. But be on the lookout for situations in which a player’s hands go to showdown and you can begin to piece together what he may say in different scenarios.

Do create a false image

Some of the loudest players I know are also some of the tightest. I could name three or four from the UK circuit who fit this description exactly. They are using a projected image to convince you they are wild players and help generate action when they have a big hand. In reality, if you scrutinise their play closely, they are playing very tight.

This is not an approach to use when on a table full of good players, as the whole exercise will be pretty pointless and if anything you will only give information away. However, on a table with several inexperienced players this strategy can be highly effective. Some players like to pepper their speech with phrases such as ‘I’m not afraid to gamble’, especially when showing down bluffs in small pots. Rest assured, most of these players will have a strong hand when they choose to play a big pot.

Don’t give away your thought processes

One of the pitfalls of TV poker is that it persuades viewers that the edited footage they see is a good guide on which to base their own game. Daniel Negreanu is undoubtedly one of the best proponents of speech play. One of the things you will see him do quite frequently is talk out loud when faced with a decision. I have seen several people try to imitate that at the poker table, and without exception all they have done is reveal how they think about the game.

You should never give away crucial information that gives other players at the table a significant advantage. Rattling off lines like, ‘I know you’d have re-raised pre-flop with a big Ace, you just checked and called with the flush draw on the flop, and you are betting big now the board has paired so that must mean…’ does not make you look good. Negreanu may impress people with his hand reading skills, but your job at the poker table should be to show people how good you are by making good decisions. It’s not your job to start educating players on how you think.

Don’t alert people to your intentions

One of the common mistakes I see people make with speech play is to try to make verbal stands against aggressive players. ‘Raising my blind again? You can’t always have a hand. Next time you raise, I’m coming after you.’ While these players assume their verbal will have an effect on their opponents, it will only serve to alert any decent opponent to their growing frustration. Now these players are forced to wait for a hand to play back with for fear of getting looked up light. If they’d remained impassive in the face of their opponent’s aggression, they’d have been given a lot more respect when they chose to draw a line and come back over the top.

Don’t give lessons

We all know that by giving out good advice you are making your opponents better, so why do so many people do it at the table. It’s usually something players do while moaning about a bad beat.

Why would you want to do that? By educating an opponent at the table, you are also serving to teach the rest of your opponents how to beat you by giving them an insight into how you play.

Sometimes someone will actively seek your opinion on a hand they just played, even if you weren’t involved. Again you should defuse this as politely as possible by either agreeing with them (even if you don’t) or generally just being very ambiguous. When a similar scenario comes up where you are involved, you don’t want to help your opponents spot which of your betting patterns is likely to signify certain holdings.

Conclusion

The thing to remember is that while table talk can be a useful tool, above all it’s more important to listen than it is to talk. Take careful note when people comment on your play, either to you or to others at the table. They are essentially giving you an insight into how they perceive your play and handing you a playbook on how to play against them. Whether you choose to talk a lot or not at all, be sure anything you do say has a purpose and cannot be used against you by your opponents.