[Cat]

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if someone berates my play, i try to put my ego aside. occasionally i find they are correct in their assessment in how i played the hand, and their feedback helps me improve. other times, i find that their feedback points out some lack of understanding in their understanding of the game or in their understanding of how i play, which is potentially exploitable later. in either case, i can make appropriate adjustments based on their perception of my play. the result is that i tend to profit more. so, i see no reason to get upset at an opponent for needling me - especially since they just made me more money in the long run.

please note that i don't condone aaron's behavior either.

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Very well said. I used to play in a regular live cash game where one of the players would constantly berate everyone's play. When I was new to the game I actually learnt some stuff from his rants. (Cue more rants when I took his money [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )

However - and this is a very important point which I think is lost on a lot of internet/ learned from tv/ tournament-only players - the game broke up for several months just because no one wanted to play with this obnoxious guy. He created such an unpleasant atmosphere that he scared all the fish away.

I think people who think trash talking is ok have obviously never played in a regular live game, where the aim is to keep the atmosphere light so fish will have fun, stay and lose their money.

And sadly, I think a lot of people just seem to think being rude is somehow ok generally - when it's just douchey.

End sermon [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]