Is there such a thing as online poker etiquette?

Marcwantstowin · Jul 18, 2024

Do you believe there is an unspoken etiquette that should be followed at the tables online? What do you think is the right thing to do in the situation below?

You have reached heads-up play in an online tournament, but suddenly your opponent goes into a sit-out mode. Will you wait for them to reconnect and get back in the game or you would try to get an advantage of the situation and win as many chips as possible?

Thanks to @iwont20 for this topic suggestion!

hobojim1247 · Jul 18, 2024

I will continue to play the game when I am prompted. If he does't play when it is his turn, then he suffers the consequences .

martDdart · Jul 18, 2024

I am always friendly and polite but I wont accept bad behaviour. In the headsup situation I would take advantage of the situation reason: I play to win.

MK_ · Jul 18, 2024

I don't think that has anything to do with "online poker etiquette",
We are all subjected to the same risk of disconnection/ technical difficulties online,
maybe they are frozen or disconnected or maybe they had to leave? I have no way of knowing.
I've had all of the above happen and not once did I come back to someone sitting out waiting....

I think Online Poker etiquette to me would be not acting like a tool... mainly showing respect for
players or the game with your words or actions, does that exist.... sometimes😎👍

fundiver199 · Jul 18, 2024

If the game was being streamed, and I was a professional player, then I would wait for image reasons. But apart from that: No. If I am the one sitting out, my opponents dont wait for me, so if I waited, I would put myself at a disadvantage for no reason. All online players know or should know, that they can not sit out during heads-up play, so thats the one situation, where I will make an effort to be back from a break on time and postpone a toilet visit to the next break, if at all possible.

Sunz of Beaches · Jul 18, 2024

I can be very impatient and in general i dont like to wait for people. Especially if i dont know if they will be back or not and when 😅

....so no!!!!!!

In the lightspeed of as second i would click minraise minraise minraise untill my opponent is out 🏆🤠👍

Goggelheimer · Jul 18, 2024

These things a regulated by the online poker room in their ToS.

I will not donate free chips to my HU partner, if he is not able to play.
He will be given time due the ToS of the poker room.
That is enough etiquette.
If he plays in an unfriendly environment like a war area without reliable internet,
or weak power infrastructure, it is not my fault.
These events can hit everyone.
Even today, computers and networks can be knocked out by a lightning strike.

fundiver199 · Jul 18, 2024

MK_ said:
maybe they are frozen or disconnected or maybe they had to leave? I have no way of knowing

On most sites it is shown, when a player has disconnected rather than just timed out. And this then also activate an extra time bank, where the tournament clock is stopped, if only one table is running. So in this particular situation players do actually get some extra time to come back, and on the final table of big MTTs like Sunday Million it can be as much as 2-3 minutes in top of whatever regular timebank they had left.

Pokerpoet2 · Jul 18, 2024

I don't consider taking blinds from someone that sits out, is stealing blinds. In fact you try and steal them at every possibility even if the player is still playing, It is all part of the game, I have had it happen to me, where I have lost connection but there is no point crying over it.
Accept defeat gracefully and move on, but winning a game from a sitter is nothing to be proud of, I prefer to Win against an active opponent.

Ogma · Jul 18, 2024

Get those blinds into your stack folks.

But if I see a 'brb' message in the chat box and someone has to genuinely leave the table for a few minutes and they have a valid explanation and have given you notice then yeah, I can go with that. I'll hold fire for a few minutes. Decent thing to do imo.

MishkaZL · Jul 18, 2024

I will definitely take advantage of the situation and do everything necessary to win. I don't really care about the circumstances that led to my opponent losing the Internet connection. If I play poker, I have only one goal, and that is to win.

fryderyk · Jul 18, 2024

Unfortunately, online etiquette doesn't exist. Years ago, when the fiber optic network was in its early stages of development and local networks often crashed, I had breaks ranging from 1 to 5 minutes, depending on which technician was currently servicing the network. As a result, it looked like this: I'm playing a 6-hour tournament and I have a 3-minute connection loss, I was almost wiped out, and these situations happened sporadically but they did happen. I learned that people get stupid with greed when they're online, and I have no illusions about it. So if a player doesn't return within 1 to 2 minutes, I clean the player out of cash. 1 to 2 minutes because their PC, laptop, etc. might freeze, and since we live in a time when the network works perfectly and everyone has mobile access to the network, this is enough time to log in on another device or reset the PC.

theStarfish · Jul 18, 2024

No, I would not wait for my opponent to come back. If he is sitting out, then I am happy to take his chips. There is nothing wrong with that unless both players agreed to take a break or something like that.

Sebbour · Jul 18, 2024

Yes, I believe that there is unspoken etiquette that should be followed at the tables online but I don't think that if my opponent goes into sit-out mode (either because he had to go somewhere or disconnected) is one of them.

When I look it from my side, if I were disconnected or sit out (for whatever reason) I don't expect (and don't think they should) for anyone to wait for me. For that reason I'd continue playing and wouldn't wait for the opponent.

YLAN · Jul 18, 2024

Its not a norm in online poker to wait longer than necessary for a sit-out player. The norm is auto click on min_raise.

hardongear · Jul 18, 2024

20+ year player. Never seen anyone wait on someone sitting out. Personally nothing changes for me I'm playing normal and at the speed a normally play at. Once in the habit of doing something(specially when it comes to timing tells online) I'm not changing my habits. It could end up to me being called in situation where I don't wanna be called and I'd lose a huge pot.

As for in other situations I'll treat players/villains the way they have shown me they deserve to be treated by their past behavior or actions. Just like real life if I was staring them in the face.

Cheers!!!

Igor G · Jul 18, 2024

Marcwantstowin said:
Do you believe there is an unspoken etiquette that should be followed at the tables online? What do you think is the right thing to do in the situation below?

You have reached heads-up play in an online tournament, but suddenly your opponent goes into a sit-out mode. Will you wait for them to reconnect and get back in the game or you would try to get an advantage of the situation and win as many chips as possible?

Thanks to @iwont20 for this topic suggestion!

I'm not going to wait and give my opponent a chance. It makes no sense. I proceed from the concept that my opponents, if I were in such a situation, would definitely not wait for me to reconnect. Losing connection is a shame, but it's the reality of online gaming, and you have to be prepared for such situations. You should always have alternative options ready that can allow you to continue the game, such as a smartphone.

maronza1 · Jul 18, 2024

Im not going to wait for my opponent to reconnect because thats what he was going to do if it was me. I would take advantage of the situation to try and win as much chips as i can. If a poker room wanted me to wait when my opponent sitout it was gonna pause a tournament until my opponent reconnects.

Tero · Jul 18, 2024

In online poker? No, there's no etiquette.

I agree with fundiver that if it were a high profile situation, then and only then I would wait. Other than that it's a dog eat dog world.

But I've seen players to fold their small blind even when the big blind is sitting out

Argonaut · Jul 18, 2024

In this situation, I don't think there's any issue with etiquette. Continuing to play is the de facto standard in my experience.

pentazepam · Jul 18, 2024

I would insta-click on my mouse and raise his blinds as fast as possible before he has time to reconnect.

It's part of the game online to have one, or preferably several, stable internet connections.

So no gentlemanly behavior for the average opponent.

If I knew that my opponent was some poor or sick individual who really needed the money, I could make an exception depending on the stakes.

The same goes for if the other player is a friend of mine.

But in general, I don't expect them to wait for me, and I don't wait for them.

R.Melnyk77 · Jul 18, 2024

I've been in situations where my opponent lost the connection. I thought that it would be unfair to exploit this, however, after a few minutes of thought and doubt, I decided that I should use this situation to my advantage, and so I did. It may not be fair and it may be considered a conditional breach of etiquette, but I think the vast majority of players in my position would have done the same.

Mortis · Jul 18, 2024

I would play as if there is a sit out. Because there is. You don't know their situation. They could have just gotten up and left. Or maybe they had a power outage and may take awhile to get back on.

Luvepoker · Jul 18, 2024

Is there poker educate online? I dont know if there is to be honest.

As to the situation suggested, It actually happened to me. The event was also be called on holdem radio as this was a winner take all wsop seat from a sub site. Just like CC we were a community after black Friday. I actually did slow down the action only making my play as the timer ran out. I never thought of the consequences of what if i did this and he came back, and I lost. I was just doing the right thing in my opinion; I think i only won 3 hands while he was getting back his connection and I did win my seat. Looking back at that I was a big - EV play but I am glad i did it. The response from the members on this move by me were all very positive.

Would I do this again? I like to think i would. I would if it was a CC game event.

mattiebumpo · Jul 18, 2024

When I have had technical difficulties, people mercilessly took my chips. We don't know if the person had to leave for an appointment or other issue. Time is valuable and I do not see any need to run out the timer. If I personally knew my opponent, I might be more willing to slow down, but most likely, I would just continue to play normally and raise vs a sitter.

Is there such a thing as online poker etiquette?

Marcwantstowin

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