Stop talking at the table

Poker is a social game and interacting with your opponents has its own benefits. Chatting at the table though – whether in a live game or an online one – may not be such a good idea, especially for beginners. The same way he doesn’t know that rakeback deals like the Full Tilt rakeback and the NoiQ Poker rakeback will offer him an edge the usefulness of which is hard to match through actual strategy, the rookie will enjoy talking to his/her opponents and will feel appreciated while he’ll unmistakable cough up valuable clues for his opponents.

Poker is a game of partial information. The player who has the most information on his/her opponents has a huge edge. Giving away any sort of information to your opponents – especially for free – is not just a mistake, it’s plain stupid.

Most professional players like to chat with their rookie opponents, because they basically fish for information. They don’t really care about what the conversion is about, as long as they can get you to talk. They’ll simply ask you whether you want them to call you, whether you’ll show if they fold or not and other such apparently unimportant knick-knacks.

The key to fishing for information this way is that you don’t actually give the information away through what you tell them, but rather through the way you tell things to them.

Remember that these guys are adept at reading human behavior, and that’s the skill they love to use at the table.
You have the right to remain silent and not to answer any such questions at the table. Of course, you don’t have to be a grouch either – you can talk to your opponents as long as you want to when you’re away from the table and the conversation is not about poker. At the table however, you needn’t answer any of the probing questions coming your way.

In conclusion: If you reckon you’re a good enough player to use table chatter for acquiring information, go ahead. If you’re a beginner though, you are much better off not talking to your opponents at all.