Loose Lips Sink Ships

Why do people feel the need to bitch at others who are playing badly at a poker table?

You know what I'm talking about - some random fish draws out to an inside straight or something after making a ridiculous call, beats another guy's two pair or trips or whatever it may be, and then the guy who suffered the bad beat immediately goes off on a tirade about how the fish has no idea how to play and should go back to the playchips tables or something.

It's just beyond me as to why anybody would do that. I mean, yeah, I understand that they're pissed off that they got a bad beat and they're taking it out on the person who's to blame, but it's just a dumb move. The fact that the other player is making bad calls without the correct pot odds is a good thing. This will make you money. Thus, you want every single person making plays like that.

So, when you get what you should want and have other players making bad plays, why would you alert them to their error? Why would you tell them that they just made a bad move? What if they actually listen and start playing more carefully? You just ruined a bit of a +EV factor for yourself, because you couldn't handle someone else getting one bad beat on you!

Also, though this doesn't tend to happen, what if they actually decide to leave? I mean, it's unlikely, but if it were to occur, you'd be the fish. Getting a bad player to go away is possibly one of the dumbest things you can do in a ring game.

As for me, if I see this sort of situation unfold, I always side with the fish. You should too. It has two benefits:

It makes the pissed off guy very likely to go on tilt if he isn't already. I mean, he gets bad beat by some guy with four or less outs, calls him out on it, and now some other dumbass is defending the play? How can he possibly not see the error in that move? What right does this guy have to call him the fish?! Incidentally, he may start to play way too aggressive against you after you "call him out" on insulting a "normal play", because now he's out for blood.

It also tends to give the real fish more confidence in his bad plays. It's a bit underhanded to encourage somebody to play badly by telling them their bad moves are good, but such is the nature of internet poker. I wouldn't do it to a friend in a live game, but if it's somebody I don't know, I'm going to try to extract every cent I can from them. This means commending their bad plays that end luckily, and also means sympathizing when they get hit with the big losses they deserve. Anything to keep them in the game and keep their money headed in my direction.

In poker, it's all about maximizing the profitability of the situation you're in. This goes beyond the cards you play. Encourage bad play by others, seize the opportunity to put an angry player on tilt, do what you must. In situations like these, I see a huge opportunity and I don't see why anybody would choose to be on the losing end of it - by being the one that tells off the fish for bad plays. Let it be, and take the money.