09-28-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Calling On The River
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Answer: I haven't read that article so I'm not sure what they are referring to. I'm racking my brain right now trying to come up with a time in poker when you do something that breaches ethics. If anything is legal in poker and you can use it to your advantage, then by all means use it. It is a game with rules and if you are within the rules then you should exploit weakness where ever it may be. If what they say is true, then I should call...
Let me explain, if I can hurt every other person's chance of winning the tournament with one move, then lucky me! I'm calling all day! The bottom line is that I'm trying to win, not give everyone else a chance to beat me.
Someone also wrote an email a while back question whether check-raising a person in poker is ethical and how in some home games where they play it isn't allowed. My reply to that was similar to this one. Poker is a game of set rules. There is a degree of randomness to the game which adds a bit of luck but there are no secrets. No one is privy to information that another person isn't. There is a fair playing ground. Taking away some moves from the game, like check raising, because it is tricky or deceptive removes a lot of the strategy from the game.
Also, on the topic of poker and ethics a person could make the argument that poker could take advantage of compulsive gamblers. While that may happen every now and then I would guess that statement is made from a person who knows very little about gambling or poker (aka some genius like Jerry Falwell). Poker has only small attractions for someone who is addicted. Poker is not the choice for hardcore gamblers, just like pot wouldn't be the choice for a junkie. Poker involves too much strategy and patience to be on the same level as other forms of gambling.
Response 9/30/04 I was contacted by someone from Casino Player Magazine and was told that they are printing a correction in their next issue. The quote was edited incorrectly and was supposed to be: "If you have the nuts and you just call somebody on the river rather than raising them, you hurt all other players in the tournament. It¹s not ethical poker; don¹t do it."
Just thought you'd like to know.
- John
Answer 9/30/04 Maybe I'm missing something but that still doesn't make sense to me. For example, if I have the nuts and one person goes all-in ahead of me and there are people who could potentially call his bet behind me, I would just call too. I can't make any more money from the all-in player so I'll try to smooth call and get more money from the people in back. That isn't unethical, it is smart. I'm not convinced there is anything unethical in poker unless you cheat -- and that would be against the holdem rules so you aren't sticking to poker anyway.
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