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The very worst thing in online poker right now is the "professor". That fool that tells everyone around him how bad they play, and teaches all the fish what they are doing wrong. He costs us all money every day, and his attitude stinks. We all know the old arguments about tapping the glass and scaring away the fish, but most people don't realize how important those arguments are and how they all work together. I know it's hard not to tell a fish how wrong his play was when he scoops that big pot that should have been yours, but let me tell you why it's the very worst move in poker.

First of all one of the easiest way to change behavior in humans is shame. If you actually get your point across, and the fish feels bad about what they did, they will begin to alter that behavior. You are literally using one of the most powerful teaching methods available to educate your opponents and teach them how to play correctly. That not only costs you money, it costs me money, and you can feel free to cut it out any time. If poker makes you so angry that you cannot control your fingers on the keyboard then you really shouldn't be playing in the first place.

Next let's consider what your behavior tells your other opponents. I personally love to play hands against a professor, because their play is predictable. If it's a terrible thing to play trash hands then I know they aren't playing trash, and certainly won't expect me to do so. I mention a few things that convince them that I am a solid player, and proceed to bluff them until I flop a monster with one of my junk hands and I can take their whole stack. You aren't just educating the fish, you're educating the solid players as to your playing style, and they will try as hard as possible to break you so that you don't chase the fish away. Hopefully between the fish and me we can put you so far on tilt that you blow your bankroll and can't scare the fish away until you redeposit.

The evolution of online poker in general, as well as at your chosen site, is something else to consider. The fish count at a given site, and online in general is a partially exponential equation, and is easily thrown out of whack. Each fish that disappears lowers the fish count, and the lower the fish count is the faster fish get broken. It's a downward spiral. At a table with only one fish and 9 pros you are going to lose the fish very quickly, but if you reverse the situation the fish are just going to bleed money slowly to the pro and many of them will survive the day.

In a situation like an online poker room you almost have an ecosystem, and if you throw off the balance the fish may mostly die and you're stuck playing with a bunch of other sharks. There's no money in that.

Finally when you shame a player at the table for playing badly you discourage not just that player, but the whole table. Suddenly no one wants to be yelled at, and only the confident and solid players are playing hands. No one is having fun and laughing it up, and no one is playing any hands. You have converted the fish into rocks, hurt your own profit, hurt my profit, and made the game less fun for everyone. When the game becomes less fun you also discourage the weaker players from playing at all. I play for a living, I can't leave because it isn't fun, but the fish certainly will.

Let's add this up now. You have made the fish play better, let the whole table know how you play, killed the action at the table, and discouraged the recreational players from playing at all. You have also convinced me that I need to break you ASAP, and you have given some information about how to do it, and no matter how brilliant you think you are a pro who has information about you, and has you convinced that he's playing differently than he really is, isn't going to be profitable to play against.

If the fish really incenses you and you can't control yourself you probably aren't playing well anyway. Go read my blog here - http://www.pocketfives.com/31D3ADE8-1BE0-4C2A-A174-F09F3F963F60.aspx and write one of your own, but don't say it at the table.

I'll see you at the final table,
Fox