The Poker Room: Making Friends & Having Fun

One of my favorite things about playing online poker is the great friends I have made throughout the years. Playing a game of poker with people that you are familiar with (and like) makes it all the more interesting and fun. Along with making friends on your poker site of choice, you may make some enemies as well. . . or perhaps just players that you can't stand to play with.

Poker players are especially competitive people, and it is nice to have friends you can compete with (and with whom you have no hard feelings about taking their money at the end of the day).

Chatting While Playing Poker Online

The reason I like to chat so much while playing online poker is because it is a time waster - something to do in between hands. If you tend to get bored while waiting for hands to play, like I do, chatting is the cure. Even if no one I know is in the room playing with me or observing me, I usually start conversations with people whom I don't even know. I am not a shy person and have made a ton of friends by just saying "what's up" to random people at the table. "What's up" can turn into a lifelong friendship. If you are the shy type, try to let it go and just talk to the people you are playing with - I promise you will have a good time!

Online Poker Room Fights

I have to say, I LOVE AN ONLINE POKER ROOM FIGHT! If some sort of fight breaks out at a table I am playing at, you bet I am right in the middle of it. There are a ton of reasons people start fighting at an online poker table, whether they got rivered out of a hand or beat continuously, sometimes a player just snaps and starts talking smack to everyone at the table. I like when men start with me; I have a comeback for everything. My favorite things to call a man that is fighting with me are Cupcake, Princess or Sunshine. Boy, they really don't like it!

You have to be careful while in an online poker room fight so that you don't get your chat privilege taken away. I am on my 3rd chat warning with Poker Stars - one more slip up and I get my chat taken for 6 months - EEEKKK! Rousing or coffee housing (table antics, trying to put someone on tilt with mildly offensive comments) is allowed at the tables if you do it right. Stay away from using vulgar language and personally attacking (making comments about some ones looks) other players.

Privacy at your Poker Room

One important thing about chatting at online poker tables is, keep your private information just that - PRIVATE. Don't give your email and instant message address to just anyone. I have had instances of where I have had to go as far as to change my ISP and instant message name to finally be rid of crazy people. This goes double for women - you don't want an Internet stalker on your hands.

One time a player somehow got my husband's full name and paid for a private investigator search. Then this player posted my husband's full name, social security number, phone number and home address on the main lobby of an online poker room. Luckily nothing bad came from it, but horrible things could have happened with someone having that oh-so-personal information to do whatever they wanted with. BE CAREFUL!

Online poker can be as social as it is competitive and that's one of the reasons why I love it so much. Make friends when you can, join a good fight when you must - it's all good! I have even been part of a poker room trip, where we had a handful of players all meet here in Las Vegas for a 4 day trip, and it was a blast. If you open up a little bit you may find good friends where you least expect it.

♣ Back to the index of articles about online poker games.