Hellmuth, Masks, and Live Tells

Based on your outlook, I'd posit that those nits are doing you a favor and saving you time by "announcing" that they are nits. You should be in favor of them wearing masks so you know to move on.

He's mentioned that a reason he wears the mask is to protect his wife.

Lmao@ thinking the young guy who always wears a mask would be an anti vaxxer.

Just because someone chooses to wear a mask and get vaccinated doesn't necessarily mean they support the idea of the WSOP requiring vaccine cards to play.

well that should end the discussion

Also if a casino bans players from being able to wear an n95 mask that will open them up to a load of lawsuits.

Poker, the people who play it, and the way it’s played today all seem to make you really, really angry. From your posts in various threads, you see scammers, scumbags, and douchebags everywhere you look in the game. It’s enough to make a reasonable person wonder why you don’t find something else to do with your time, something that will make you happier and less miserable. There is some irony, by the way, in your furious denunciations of people like Ike who ruin the experience for everyone else.

Any player who thinks masks are giving Ike an edge sufficient to account for his recent success should go ahead and join him in wearing one. It is completely within the rules of the game to wear a mask. Stop whining if you think it provides an edge and simply get one for yourself.

It’s all ridiculous, of course. Ike the competent tournament player has been one of the best poker players in the world for a very long time. He plays against the very best and he wins. Few from his generation have been able to remain at the top of the game.

Yep, shouldn't *have* to have someone in your life that you are protecting to be "excused", because young and healthy people are still getting destroyed by this **** every day. But I think everyone should just assume that is the case, and give the benefit of the doubt.

Hellmouth immediately jumping to the conclusion that it's all being done for some sort of angle says way more about him than it says about Ike. It's all projection. But we already knew that.

there may be an edge hiding stress responses around the mouth/face that one can't really control, but Ike isn't wearing a mask specifically or even primarily for that reason. He likely just wants to stay safe, and there's nothing wrong with that

You are right I see scammers and scumbags everywhere ruining poker. Poker is a great game when you play with social people who dont treat it as a job. People like Ike ruin poker and I have no interest in playing with people like him. I play plenty of poker without having to deal with douchebags eeking every little edge out of the game fortunately. Just cant help myself from voicing my distaste even though it doesnt affect my personal life.

In one sense they are.

So a table of people I don't know on tablets and headphones are at least letting me know that table is trash in advance but it's absolutely toxic for poker overall.

I agree. It's not 100 percent.

But there is a huge overlap between someone, especially someone young wearing a mask in 2024 and being super pro vaccine.

I mean this is a poker site. If I could bet someone at even money to be pro vaccine who wears a mask in 2024 id do it all day long.

A mask "ruining the experience" is quite the hyperbole.

In the room I frequent, all small stakes, 20% of the patrons mask up and it is business as usual.

I haven't seen it anywhere near 20 percent.

An entire table of people masked up absolutely would ruin the experience for almost anyone.
It's not hyperbole.

That's probably true for those who have never played before.

It's true for almost anyone.

If a poker player gets called for a seat in a random casino and the floor points to 2 tables and says"each one has one seat you can take your pick" almost nobody is sitting at a table where everyone is wearing a mask over the table where nobody is.

In fact the opposite of what you say is true. Someone playing for the first time might shrug his shoulders and not really care much. Anyone who has actually played before knows which table is better.

I played about 1000 hours live in each of the last 2 years when most people have stopped wearing masks/face coverings. Id say these days it's probably down to around 10 percent and 2 years ago it was probably 20-25. I can count on one hand how many people wearing them id actually want to play with. To be clear many of them are perfectly nice people but just super nitty.

But hey if you'd want to go running to a table with everyone masked up have at it.

All I can do is play the percentages.

I can barely remember the last time I played with someone wearing a mask (I play at the Borgata). It must have been over six months ago. And the last guy that did wasn't a nit, probably a bad reg, and easy to get a read on. While that's anecdotal, you admit you haven't seen it anywhere near 20 percent. So how is it a problem? I can't remember the last time I played against someone wearing a hoodie and only once recently against someone wearing headphones. I don't know where you play, but it seems like you're making a mountain out of a mole hill.

And for the record, I'd rather play against players who don't wear them, and don't wear one myself. But I don't let it bother me and recognize that some may be wearing them for medical reasons, real, imagined or fabricated. I don't understand how a seasoned player like yourself would let it bother you.

It was absurdly obvious to me that he meant after the tournament. It sounds like you are the one lacking basic empathy, and the one in need of help.

I don't think I've ever met a masked person who was even remotely a pleasure to be around. I'm pretty sure they've been trained to be rude to anyone unless they're a proven box-checked member of their cult. They have some kind of misguided notion that their cruelty towards everyone else in this world will somehow return some kind of kindness to them.

???

lol

"On the spot" means several hours later? I don't think so. I thought he probably meant a cash game but called him on what he said. If you read his other posts in this thread and others, he resorts to assigning the worst motives to others, name calling, etc. But you missed the point of my post, which is he'd say anything without putting much thought to it if he thinks it helps his argument (or makes him feel better about himself). It's not an empathy issue, it's a personality issue. Everyone makes mistakes. Even you and me.

I'm beyond help, but thanks for your concern.

Reading you next post (#96) suggests you might be cut from the same cloth as him.

I've played with plenty of pleasant nits over the years. Some of them today wear masks.

Lol. Some f’d up perspectives in this thread.