Online tables' Avatars - what do you think about them

It's just a way to add fun for those who like that. Personally, I use to, but not anymore.

What site are we referring to?

Personally I prefer the sites that allow you to upload your own avatar (ie. Pokerstars, Partypoker). I always keep these visible as it doesn't affect my view of what is important to me on the tables (bets/chips, cards).

I like to keep my table looking as clean & slick as possible with as little added distractions as possible... but I prefer to keep avatars in place. My reasoning for this is... my brain tends to associate the player's avatar with their style of play that I've been witnessing over a period of time. I play quite a lot of Z00M(Stars), FastForward(Partypoker), SPEED(iPoker), SNAP(888) tables & typically am 4-tabling them (sometimes 6-tabling if playing micro stakes). It's easier for my brain to recognize the player when I see their name & Avatar.. as opposed to just the name. It actually makes a HUGE difference for me.

There's also a bit of info. that can be extracted from some of them... ie. BBZ, or Pocar, etc. (staking stables). ... or you might see a 'Cardschat' logo and then you know you're in for a really tough challenge

On some of the other sites, I don't care for the avatars as they're just too big & distracting.

iPoker (Titan, WilliamHill, etc.) has made some changes recently, making avatars larger and Cards (villain's unfolded cards) smaller. This just makes it more difficult to see the things that are most important (imo).

WPN (ACR, BlackChip, etc) - avatars are too large & distracting. Never appealed to me either.

888Poker - they don't seem too bad... But I find the tables there are not clean enough in appearance. Maybe it'd improve for me if I played on there more often.

Pokerstars - They've made the unfolded cards smaller while just slightly increasing the size of the avatar. Displayed bets also seem to have gotten a bit smaller. Still one of the best imo but I think I prefer Partypoker's appearance (strange to say this as for years Partypoker was terrible vs. the others).

Partypoker - recent changes have made the avatars Larger on Partypoker tables BUT it's very easy to keep the tables looking very clean (with few distractions) AND they've kept the 'unfolded' cards at a much larger size than most of the other sites. For myself this makes it so much easier if I'm playing many tables as I can quickly see how many players left to act, etc. etc.

I keep the avatars turned on at all sites but I try to turn off any of the extra crap (like throwing a beer at another player). I must admit, I do make Daniel Negreanu make some stupid faces/gestures on the GGPoker tables just because of how ridiculous it is. One I use most often "Running Hot"

Poker Orifice said:

Move up in buyins over $1 and I think you'll start to see less of it.

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Right. Daniel Negreanu uses them all the time. His own no less.

At first I thought that avatars were getting in my way and blocked them. Now I have a different attitude to it. Indeed, an avatar can say a lot about a player. For instance; distinguish aggression from moderation. Very often they coincide with the real style of the player. Now I am not blocking them.)

DS3 said:

Naturally some take is as an opportunity to take things further and they appear to think they can swear and berate other players constantly within chat. It makes for a really unpleasant atmosphere at times.

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I hardly ever see swearing anymore on the sites I play, PS,PP & 888. It was a big problem in the past.

If and when I do see it, especially if it is repetitive or very nasty, I take a screenshot and report them. All poker sites take this seriously , and the offender will certainly at the very least be muted.

As far as avatars, I have no issues with peoples' uploaded avatars, I think these are a great way to personalize things. I use them myself. It's just those dumb standard cartoony things I can't stand.

Uncloggie said:

I hardly ever see swearing anymore on the sites I play, PS,PP & 888. It was a big problem in the past.

If and when I do see it, especially if it is repetitive or very nasty, I take a screenshot and report them. All poker sites take this seriously , and the offender will certainly at the very least be muted.

As far as avatars, I have no issues with peoples' uploaded avatars, I think these are a great way to personalize things. I use them myself. It's just those dumb standard cartoony things I can't stand.

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Agreed, it is GG Poker that seems to have opened that can of worms. I think they like to fancy themselves as controversial and edgy, hence the hiring of Dan Bilzerian as an ambassador.

As noted already. if you give players the ability to flash a large emoji of Daniel Negreanu or Dan Bilzerian to say 'You Suck' what do you expect? People to act in a juvenile manner....which is what they do and sometimes worse.

I rather not accept them. Nyo my xup of tea.

DS3 said:

As noted already. if you give players the ability to flash a large emoji of Daniel Negreanu or Dan Bilzerian to say 'You Suck' what do you expect? People to act in a juvenile manner....which is what they do and sometimes worse.

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Well you know what I think...

Poker Orifice said:

Well you know what I think...

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Funny, didn't you just imply above that the maturity level went up with higher stakes?!

I like them. I think they add a bit of character and fun to the game, especially tournies. And I'm sure they can tilt some opponents lol.

I am kind of bummed one of the main sites I focus on lately doesn't let you upload custom avatars. It's fun to find a cool image, logo, or photo to put up especially if it plays into your username.

I think, avatars can be a bit of a tell, especially when people can upload their own pictures like on PokerStars. For instance if someone has a picture of a hot girl, I tend to think, its a regular, who want to have something nice to look at, because he is playing for many hours every day.

Someone with a picture of an athlete is probably a sports fan. Maybe he is mainly on the site for sports betting, and he will tend to lean more towards the recreational side of the spectrum. Someone with a picture of a fast car is also usually on the recreational side of the spectrum and often the aggressive side as well.

Someone with a picture of a famous poker player is likely someone, who is taking the game serious. Maybe he will try some fancy plays as well, just like his idol. Someone with a picture of their baby is definitely on the recreational side of the spectrum and often the passive side as well.

Someone with a picture of a donkey is probably into mind games and trying to tilt other players. The same can be done with a screenname containing words like "fish" or "donkey". Dont fall for it, since these are often players, who know exactly, what they are doing. Of course I am not suggesting, that avatars alone should lead us to make massive adjustments against someone. But they do give usefull information, and therefore I want to have them displayed, and I also choose my own to not send out any signals, that I dont want to send.

fundiver199 said:

I think, avatars can be a bit of a tell, especially when people can upload their own pictures like on PokerStars. For instance if someone has a picture of a hot girl, I tend to think, its a regular, who want to have something nice to look at, because he is playing for many hours every day.

Someone with a picture of an athlete is probably a sports fan. Maybe he is mainly on the site for sports betting, and he will tend to lean more towards the recreational side of the spectrum. Someone with a picture of a fast car is also usually on the recreational side of the spectrum and often the aggressive side as well.

Someone with a picture of a famous poker player is likely someone, who is taking the game serious. Maybe he will try some fancy plays as well, just like his idol. Someone with a picture of their baby is definitely on the recreational side of the spectrum and often the passive side as well.

Someone with a picture of a donkey is probably into mind games and trying to tilt other players. The same can be done with a screenname containing words like "fish" or "donkey". Dont fall for it, since these are often players, who know exactly, what they are doing. Of course I am not suggesting, that avatars alone should lead us to make massive adjustments against someone. But they do give usefull information, and therefore I want to have them displayed, and I also choose my own to not send out any signals, that I dont want to send.

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Complete explanation. Very good!

When hubby was watching me play poker he was surprised at some of the faux pas ones allowed

I don't care much about avatar .I've put mine maybe 3 years ago and didn't change it till now

An avatar gives you a face and a 'personality' in an otherwise sterile online environment. I'm not rather fond of the practice of only giving you a preset of available avatars you can choose from (like on the site I'm playing right now), people shouldn't be treated like children.

i change a lot of times my avatar during my days, i think is really nice option.

I think that avatars are way kewl and I enjoy them very much

I would agree with it. More profile fotos make the table more "alive" but same time i am myself not using any profil foto. Soon i will do but maybe its also a way to show "digital pokerface" if you dont share any information. Maybe fotos do give information?

Duxflux said:

Maybe fotos do give information?

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I'm a big dumb tree.

SopianaeExtra said:

I'm a big dumb tree.

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Hi tree. How was tree surgery?

Duxflux said:

Hi tree. How was tree surgery?

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To say I was treeted pretty harshly would be an understatement.