You should NEVER encourage bad play by saying nh when someone plays poorly and donks out on someone.
It only encourages them more to play bad. Its telling them its ok to play bad.
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PART 1 Me on the tables
So… I’m a chatty cathy. I find the most chat at ring games where friends regularly gather, less in MTTs, and almost none at the SnGs…
I use:
‘nice chip up’ for monster pots
wd,wp, wtg for well done, well played, way to go for good plays
g1 for the nice pots that do not have a show down
nh for average hands, especially with players who are new to replay,
as a way to welcome & encourage them as they learn.
'bb" for obvious bad beats
‘next time’ or ‘soon’ when a ;player is bummed out by a bad beat
If my chatter is bothersome. just let me know! I can self-mute!! Thankfully, there are buttons to eliminate unwanted chat, and sometimes I use the 'mute table" at the top right so I can concentrate…
PART 2 So, what did I say to Rocky?
My dog nudged my hand when I was playing real $$$ in 2001.
Put me in with 2,7… ARGHHHH
then flopped the 7/2s boat!
Won $75.00!!!
I said:
GOOD BOY!
and bought him an extra-nice steak!!!
he understood that… but never nudged my hand again! LOL
Morals of the story:
all creatures need encouragement
always feed the hand that pays ya
even a dog can win $$$ at online poker
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Ok here’s a question: would you still say GOOD BOY to your dog if he did his business on the floor of your living room? Because that’s the topic of our discussion; encouraging where encouragement is due.
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Really? The topic title is “Nice Hand?”
I simply offered alternatives to ‘nice hand’ , responding the ‘?’ part of the title… Perhaps we need to enlarge our chat lexicons to cover more types of responses… positive compliments, condolences, and negative side remarks that are not snarky or demeaning.
Then I gave a real-world example of real animal (not a new poker player called a donk) that won $$$ with the lowest rated hole-cards - the most improbable hand possible.
And, in my book, the folks who need the most encouragement are sometimes the folks who deserve it the least… some of our handicapped players come to mind… or even a beginner who suddenly makes a brilliant play entirely outside their range!
So is the issue really ‘encouragement’, or is it insincere, bland, mechanical or habitual abbreviated insincere compliments with no meaning at all? In fact, I keep an open text file to record new ones…
Just this week I saw:
'ge’ – good enough, by a fairly good player who got a gift river!!
“4tr” – for the record by a player who shut out the hand with a post-flop all in and showed the set
“twd” – that will do (spoken by a fan of the movie 'Babe")
“we” – whatever, by a bad beat victim… (also wevr)
If meaningless chat is the issue, then let’s get creative, find better ones, or come up with some new ones…
A Replay Reader!!! lol
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I’ll usually only say “nice hand,” “nh,” “vnh,” or one of its variants if I think the hand was well played by the winner. If a donk happens to land a miracle river, if I say anything, it’ll be something on the order of “Nice catch.”
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So you’re saying it’s ok to encourage those who don’t deserve it?
Who said disabled people don’t deserve encouragement? That’s not a great example!
Yes of course, when they play nicely, not when they get lucky with bad play unworthy of encouragement.
Also, I would like to ask you and all those who keep mentioning encouraging “beginners”; how do you know someone is a beginner? As far as I know, there is no way of telling, unless you actually ask them and they confirm they are beginners. Even then they could be bluffing or lying. And even if you look at someone’s profile and you see they are new to the site, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are beginners. They could be poker pros, but just new to Replay website. Also worth asking; how many beginners do you encounter every day? How long do they remain “beginners”.
I really think that whether beginners or pros, everyone deserves praise when it’s a nice well played hand, and nobody deserves it when it’s not.
Meaningless chat and banter is never the issue. It’s always fun to chat and be creative. Also, any other variants to nh, vnh, etc… are cool and fun to use. No doubt about that. But the same rule applies: praise when praise is due. That’s my opinion 
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Completely agree with the OP. This is an annoyance at best. I rarely use a nh on the basis that its illogical - the player had no control over the cards dealt. A more appropriate wp (well played) should be used if they have managed to get paid appropriately for the hand they have been dealt. Too many players over bet and scare everybody else off or end up raking the blinds only, with a full house or straight flush.
Another topic might be pre-flop play - in a similar vein I am often left astounded by the player that has called a pre-flop raise of 3 or more times the BB, out of position, holding 8 2 off or something similar. Inevitably they end up winning the hand with a straight, a wheel, two pair or a full house and are rewarded for stupid play - not just with chips but the inevitable NH !
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The question mark in my title was intentional. I asked the Forums readers for their opinion about two points: Is every winning hand a nice hand? Doesn’t an expression of praise lose most of its meaning if made as a repetitive, mechanical gesture?
Some see in undeserved compliments an encouragement of bad play. With justice, in my opinion.
Your alternatives for compliments are funny and creative!
Once to somebody who said to me: “nh”, I replied jokingly “chbb”, could have been better, so all amused themselves in creating new formulas to define winning hands. I wish I remembered them.
Hmmm… I don’t agree with you on this point. I know some handicapped people - a couple of them are poker players - who wouldn’t be very happy if they realised you feel compelled to encourage or praise them, even when undeserved, only because of their handicap. They would much prefer to be called “donks”. Well, I suppose nobody likes to be called “donk”, but let’s say they would choose that alternative to an attitude they might consider patronising, even if meant kindly.
Be glad you can only be accused of being too chatty! LOL
Very rarely, I talk with other players in my two “mother tongues”, Italian and German. Either for the pleasure of it, or to translate the chat for someone who is not fluent in English.
Once, after exchanging a couple of very banal sentences in Italian with a player, my countryman and I had to bear ugly attacks for 10 minutes not only by a particularly loud gentleman, but even by some of his friends outside the table. We were accused of illicit behaviour, of collusion, of rudeness etc.
When I pointed out that to talk foreign language at the tables was officially allowed, the same loud gentleman, that epitome of politeness, concluded: “Miri, Miri on the wall, who is the ugliest of all?”. Thank goodness, I am intelligent enough to laugh about human absurdity.
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I have been following this topic with great interest, hoping someone would mention my greatest dislike. This is the people who use all the nh, wd, gg, only to people on the table who are their “friends”, even if they have won the pot with just A high, or a lucky 2 7 off. They greet a really great and well thought out hand with a stony silence, and in my book this is selective sportsmanship. It used to really bother me but I have matured as a poker player now and am able to ignore it, however I hate to see it on a table where there are players new to the site and I can almost feel the intimidation. Perhaps no one else will agree with me, but I would welcome your thoughts.
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I’m with grapevine on this. I also think ANY quads or straight flush–no matter how poorly played–is a truly “nice hand,” regardless of how much respect the catcher of that unlikely hand otherwise deserves. You’re welcome to your own opinion and comments in chat, but that’s mine.
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@grapevine I do agree with you! Selective sportsmanship is very bad and unfair. I still find it very annoying. It actually falls under the category of undeserved praise as well. And I’m sure many others agree with you as well.
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So Alan in my example where the flop was A-K-5 of hearts and I had the best flush with Q-9 of hearts, and my all in was called by a player who had 5-2 off, and who miraculously hit quads when turn and river were also fives, you still think that player deserves praise and encouragement because ANY quads is a nice hand?
Nobody is arguing that quads and straight flushes are nice, even great hands. But the question is, would you still express how nice that hand was if it was very poorly played, especially if the player who lost took a very bad beat? Because in the end, when you say nice hand, you’re saying it to the player, not just describing the hand itself!
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By expressing the sentiment “nh” you imply the player had something to do with selecting or picking it. This clearly isn’t the case. How about ignoring the hand and praising the use of the hand dealt instead - the player either made the most of the opportunity offered in which case “wp” or they failed to capitalise on the opportunity and blew a great chance to earn chips = “Donk”. (not that I would ever express this sentiment - however I do admonish myself and groan at others that really do get a gift and then squander it !) nh means nothing.
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I certainly agree with you, Grapevine.
If I don’t compliment some people even when they win with “monster hands”, and fairly achieved, it is mostly because I know they never answer! Being ignored isn’t pleasant.
Obviously, I am much more inclined to compliment players I like – friends or not friends – than people I dislike, either for their attitude at the tables or for their style of playing. When some of the latters win, I already feel a heroine of sportsmanship for not uttering: “Darn!” Kidding, of course.
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I wanted to add that I also conform myself to the table. Sometimes, at night, I play some hold’em tourneys, and all players are absolutely silent. No reaction whatsoever to anything. So I am silent, too.
I abhor cliques, everywhere. At a poker table, they can easily intimidate other players, and make them feel unwelcome.
I mentioned a disagreeable episode in my previous post. At the same tourney, or maybe the following one, I forgot, I won heads-up against that gentleman. The comments of his many supporters “from the off” were not congratulatory to me, the winner, but were addressed to him, “How could you?” “Shame on you!” or such.Yes, shame on him for losing to a foreigner and a woman! LOL
Can you blame me for ignoring such people? I wouldn’t pay a compliment to them even under torture, as we say in Italian.
Nice catch - one of my favorites- with an exclamation point!!
Hi Maya-!!
I was wondering if I am using the correct terms,or if there is a difference in our language backgrounds… that’s why I wanted to see your profile. I had a hard time finding it because maya needed a “-” at the end, and I see you are from my only bucket-list country, Israel. I certainly hope to visit there soon. I hear that the Israeli people have turned a wasteland into a paradise in a few short years, and I’d love to see it!
I believe that we have used compliment and encouragement interchangeably in this thread, although most of us want to truly separate the two. We in general seem to want to compliment with chat when a player truly deserves it… and a few want to encourage in our chat when a player needs it… Is that an accurate statement?
If so, then compliments are made when merited, and encouragement when needed… So, yes, I do encourage when not deserved, but needed.
I believe it is a perfect example, because encouragement has nothing at all to do with merit, nor with the cards, or how the hand was played. When I think of the disabled players I know, just being at the table and participating is an triumph.
When I first join a table, I try to check all profiles, to see who is new to Replay, read the profiles, and gauge my competition. When I see someone has joined within the past 2-3 months, I usually say, “Welcome to Replay! I hope you like it here…” Sometimes they will reply, adding how long they have been playing. other times, their profile will tell their poker story. So, yes, I usually either read it, draw it our in conversation or simply ask.
Many fewer now… I used to be a regular daily player, but have scaled back considerably due to personal/family issues. For the year Sep 16 - Sep 17, I’d estimate I met a new player almost every day.
Ah - a question for the sages!!! Until we no longer play as beginners?!? Till winning the WSOP?!? LOL
Absolutely - and encourage as needed too! As i stated in my original post, I personally use
I do not use it often, or repetitively.,choosing instead to use many other forms of compliments as deserved, and encouragement as needed.
Maya - I believe we are really saying about the same thing… What’s your take on it,?
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Love it! – Going on my list…
Probably not by these folks - a couple with dyslexia who strain to follow hands,and a couple physically handicapped for whom sitting thru an MTT is like a marathon! I know them, they know my style. I am not likely to say “you disabled dyslexic donk, that was terrible play even though you won some chips!!!”, so instead I say nh… Its between us… the rest of the table need not know unless the player chooses to disclose to them.
Was it a creative insult? I do hope you reported such outbursts. I do so regret that you were subject to that Miri (having payed with you several times) and I apologize for such rude behaviour. Players here may not realize that other than English is allowed, even encouraged, and making a report will insure that the policy spreads…
Hear hear!!!
I tend to agree, but I also see no bad intent in it. In my opinion, it’s just their way of being polite, even when they say it to a donk that had no business chasing a ridiculous suck out. I doubt they mean harm to the loser, although it can be irritating.
You can always just hit the “x” in the balloon, muting the table, then you wont see any of it.
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