In a series of Tweets posted by Tom Dwan (pictured) and Daniel Negreanu and chronicled on CardPlayer, the subject of tanking in poker was analyzed. The latter, a PokerStars sponsored pro, kicked off the conversation by saying, "Poker needs a shot clock of some kind. It's become silly at this point how long each hand takes, often in mundane situations." No matter what the stakes, tanking seems to be all the rage.Enter Dwan, who responded to Negreanu by saying, "Agreed @RealKidPoker, I think something like 5 minutes of 'time bank' a day, dealer counts to 30-45 sec on most decisions." If a player were first to act, Dwan suggested a 15-second window in which to act.
Then, Dwan seemingly took credit for tanking in poker, Tweeting, "O and btw I agree that I sorta caused ppl taking so long (woulda happened anyway but maybe few yrs later). But I think lots now approach it." One respondent chimed in, "People tanking in $1/$3 because they saw you doing it legitimately in HSP games is amusing and frustrating."
Most of the time, Dwan claimed he wasn't tanking in order to posture or save face. Instead, he was legitimately contemplating his action. He posted on Twitter, "When I was tanking, I was legitimately thinking 75% or so of the time n balancing rest. Lots today are 90% hollywood 10% think."
The subject of a shot clock in poker is apparently pretty popular, as Negreanu's (pictured) initial Tweet was re-Tweeted 161 times. According to CardPlayer, Dwan jumped headfirst into the fire because "Doyle Brunson once described [Dwan] as 'one of the slowest players [he] had ever played with.'"While Dwan might play deliberately, he has become a household name thanks to shows like "High Stakes Poker" and "Poker After Dark." He has nearly $800,000 in career World Series of Poker cashes on the strength of five top-10 finishes and was one of the staples of the high-stakes online poker scene at Full Tilt.
Visit Tom Dwan's Twitter feed to respond. How do you handle tanking in poker? Do you use it to posture, or to think? What percentage of the time do you do each? Let us know here or by visiting PocketFives' Facebook page.
