Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1276
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
So, I'm interested in some stuff regarding poker playing at a professional level. I know there has been poker threads around here somewhere, but I'm more interested in stuff around the actual hands. So if anyone would like or has the ability to answer a few out-of-the-way-questions I would be most grateful! Of perhaps point me to somewhere that answers odd poker questions. Oh well.
1. While watching professional poker on TV I've noticed there's a line on the poker table roughle 2 decimeters or so from the edge. I figured that this line marks the chips in play. So chips beyond the line from the player point of view should be in play. Is this a correct assumption? And, does anyone know the exact distance of this line? Is there a standard?
2. The chips, what are they made of? How much do they generally weigh? From googling a bit I found that most chips used at homes are made from some sort of cheramic stuff and weighs around 15 grams or somewhere along those lines. Ive heard though that more professional chips are made from glass fibers with a metallic core. Is this correct? Are there any standard for those more luxuary chips regarding weight or size?
3. From watching poker at TV I've also noticed lots of players likes to chew chewing gum. I can think of two reasons for this. It might be relaxing and it might help the player to not show tells such as swallowing. Could there be more reasons for this frequent chewing gum.. chewing?
4. Assume there was a tournament with 10.000 players. How long would that be? I'm having a hard time myself to estimate it. Just comparing myself with poker nights with friends where a full game can take everything between 30 minutes to 3 hours. I know it's unpossible to say, but out of curiosity I'd like to know what people estimate that time to.
Well, that's the questions I had in mind for now. Thanks for your help in advance!
1. Pretty much yeah. Basically, let's say you're contemplating calling a bet. If your chips move past the line, you've called. Don't know about standards and stuff, I guess wiki'ing "poker table" will help out or something.
2. Don't know about this. I thought they were like clay or something, never been to a casino so can't comment on those.
3. Well, like, you know, chewing gum is neat. Why does anyone ever chew gum? I don't think there'a a particular poker reason for it to be honest.
4. If it's a fairly normal tournament structure, I'm going to go with 150 playing hours. This is mostly based on the WSOP main event with like half that number of players taking like 9 days or something, so they probably play 110 hours let's say, and doubling the amount of players would have a sizable, but not huge, impact on playing time for the individual player. If anyone knows the actual number of days/hours per day/etc, feel free to adjust. I don't follow tournament poker so I don't really know, but yeah I think it's that ballpark.
Hope this helps.
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
Walker Boh wrote:
4. Assume there was a tournament with 10.000 players. How long would that be? I'm having a hard time myself to estimate it. Just comparing myself with poker nights with friends where a full game can take everything between 30 minutes to 3 hours. I know it's unpossible to say, but out of curiosity I'd like to know what people estimate that time to.
The number of players is not so much the deciding factor, as is the structure of the tournament. Longer times between blind levels will increase the total time invested dramatically. A high initial stack to starting blind ratio will also create a larger time investment. Specials like add-ons or rebuys will add a moderate amount of time to an average tourney, but it has the added bonus of sweetening the final payouts. So, without knowing anything besides 10k players, I'd say Fabian isn't too far off, but there are large outliers.
I wanna say that a lot of players chew gum as a way of reducing any facial movement that might be considered a tell. A lot easier to chew gum than keep a straight face on 100% of the time.
I wasn't exactly aware that chewing gum was common. I guess it's more to do with coping with stress. if anything it gives off more tells. Personally, I prefer to drink tea as it's good for staying relaxed and calm.
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1276
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
When I saw the gum chewing on TV it was a bigger tournanemt, WPT or similiar. Anyway, it struck me ass odd since 4-5 out of 6 players around that table chewed gum. But as Adman says, I also think it's a way to keep a pokerface without having a stone face.
In any case, thanks a bunch for the answers so far! If you got more ideas keep em coming!
The chewing gum may also be a good stress reliever. I've used this from time to time when speed running. I'm sure I'm not doing it to keep a straight face!
I guess it depends on the individual. Some might give off more tells when chewing gum, others less. Sunglasses and cappies seem to work for some players too.
Mixing up faked tells with real ones seems to be quite reliable to prevent others from reading you like an open book too. Because then attempting to do so can be dangerous for them. But to pull that off you must be aware of the tells you give off unconsciously.
If you develop certain theories like thinking you win more games if you chew gum, you should always do that. It recalls the positive emotions from back then, enhancing your brain activity. That's probably also a reason for them to chew gum.
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
The advent of televised poker has only reinforced the perception that most of the decision making process that goes into a play is based on tells, when in reality, much more is based on math, probability, and betting patterns. One only has to look at the success that has been had by many of the online players in live games to show that the idea of a tell will make up 10% or less of the final decision to call, fold, or raise.
