Here is a little story of SusieQue and a pro at a table in the WPT event in Aruba. We have about 15 minutes left on the first day of play; it is do-or-die time. After being short stacked much of the day and many all-ins, it is time for me to make a move. <READMORE>

For most of the day, we had had a very pleasant table. Everyone had respect for each other; it was a good group of people to spend 11 hours sitting with. Good conversation....and great poker. That is, until we got a new guy at the table. A pro. (A pro that shall remain nameless at this time, not because he has been to the final table at a few WPT events in the past, not because I am worried about retribution, not because of any silly rules....just because I can’t remember his damn name!) To make a long story short, this guy complained more than an old lady with arthritis! "Move your big chips up front" and "You’re taking too long." He complained so much, the entire table started saying, "Wasn’t this a nice table before HE got here?"

Now comes the big moment. The guy UTG pushes all in. Fold-fold-fold, then as the player to my right ponders what he is going to do, this pro starts complaining again. "You guys all watch too much poker on TV, hurry up!" The guy to my right calls the all-in. Now I have a huge choice to make....and I look down at pocket queens! What do I do? Do I go for it? 3 people in the pot (if I call and everyone else folds), do I make my move? Oh my god, the things that are running through my head. All the while, this guy keeps yelling "Hurry up, hurry up!" I have a tournament ending decision to make. If I call and lose I am out! If I call and win, I triple up! You can imagine the stress! And this guy won’t shut up, going on and on about watching too much poker on TV. So, before I make my decision I politely inform him; "It is MY turn to act, and I would appreciate it if you would shut the F--- up!" Not so polite for a lady, I know.

I decided to push and we all turned our cards up, and I am ahead with my ladies. My QQ vs. 66 and K10. Here we go, flop time, xxK. Noooo! Of all cards, a king! Turn card is a Q! Last card is a blank, I WIN, I tripped up! Now after a whole lot of jumping up and down looking at my stack of somewhere in the area of 36K, he is still complaining!

I spent many months pondering what that guy’s problem was. What was his damn hurry? What was he so angry about? What does he mean we watch too much poker on TV? And very recently I figured it out! After going to live tourneys and playing and observing, then coming home and getting online I see exactly what he means. Online players that have never played live before just don’t get it. They don’t understand what watching too much poker on TV can do to your game!

When you play live poker, it’s no big deal if you walk away from a table (the dealer will just muck your cards) so next time you’re playing online and you go for a refill or to let your dogs out, hit the Sit Out button! When you play, take your time making a decision that could end your tourney, but for gods sake you don’t have to wait till the buzzer is about to time you out every hand! And stop playing ace-rag like it’s the biggest hand in poker, just because you saw Jon Juanda win with it on WPT last night heads up at the final table! It might be a good HU hand, but when 400 people are left in a MTT and your sitting at a full table, Its NOT a good hand! Too many people do not understand what they see on TV is so far from what goes on in a real tournament! The amount of hands played and hours of filming go into showing a 1 or 2 hour program.

I understand we all have our own styles of play. But to all the ace-rag players out there, trust me, it’s not a good hand just cause you saw it played on WPT last night! 400 hands were played and that one made TV for a reason and its not because it is a great hand!

So even though this pro acted rude and ridiculous, what he said did give me something to think about for the last 7 months! It made me a better and more courteous live and online player.
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