Sorting Through the Railbirds

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Railbirds at the World Series of Poker
At least they have some restrictions
Photo credit: Flipchip at LasVegasVegas.com

You would think that someone who writes on a blog called “Poker From the Rail” would enjoy some of his time spent railing the big tournaments and cash games to get the inside information. That is not always true. While I’ve been spending my weekends it’s been increasing difficult to brush off some of the craziness that goes along on “the rail”, the chat box portal which allows anyone to type in random messages throughout the tournaments. It gets worse as the tables are broken and we get closer to the final table. Player pool shrinks as well as the opportunity for those outside the event to add their two cents. Put a red letter pro near the final table and you are pretty much guaranteed a constant stream of banter which is impossible to follow.

Imagine being in my shoes attempting to track the tables during 4 tournaments, nearly 14,000 players over 14 hours from start to finish. The railbirds can generally be placed in different categories. After the jump I’ll break down the six main types of railbirds I see on a regular basis.

Panhandlers – We’ve all seen them. We’re all annoyed by them. “PLZ SND ME $5 PLZ. WILL PAY BACK DOUBLE” or “STAKE ME $5 FOR A SNG. JUST TOOK BADBEAT” or some such other non-sense. At first it was fun to mess with them by telling them to come clean my house first or my laundry needed completing. Now I find that they just be ignored and hopefully caught by our powers that be and taken out. These railbirds are far less annoying at the lower buyin tournaments but can be way out of line in the bigger weekend events. Scam artists one and all, and not very good ones at that.

Knocked out whiner – Bad beats happen. It’s not very often you get all the chips in with one players drawing dead. That means you will on occasion take a horrid beat when old Mother Variance decides to knock you down a peg or two. Some players just can’t take it very well and decide to spend the rest of the tournament following their nemesis around taking a piece out of them at every chance. These players are amongst the most annoying for all players at the table. Also the first rail bird to offer the classic challenge “I’LL PLAY YOU HU FOR ANY AMOUNT. RIGHT NOW!” Just about the most idiotic response possible.

The “Doyle Brunson / Phil Hellmuth / Phil Ivey” wannabe – These guys are easy to catch. Get down to 3 or 4 tables in a big event and they’ll be willing to offer their expert opinion on each and every play. Make a good move, they’ll let you know that was how they would have played it. Make a bad move, they’ll tell the entire world what you did wrong and why you have no business playing the game. They are also easy to identify by the fact that they are railing the game but rarely seen on the list of entrants. I’m sure they’re just waiting to build up their bankroll after someone “ships them $5 plz!”.

ANGRY MOB – I never have any idea what these chuckleheads are talking about because every single comment is posted IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Anyone who’s spent any decent time online will instantly discount and ignore what anyone has to say if they are unable to locate the caps lock on their keyboard. They may be angry or they may be clueless, either way you should pay no attention.

Well Wishers – For the most part, these are the proper rail birds who are there to cheer along while their friend makes a run deep in a tournament. Usually post encouraging comments and the occasional BOOOM when their player takes down a big pot. There is always the other side of the coin when you get well-wishers who turn into whiners when their horse finds themselves on the wrong end of a beat. Most players on a deep run appreciate the support, just try not to get out of hand.

Red Letter Pro Stalkers – One of the main draws on Full Tilt Poker is the easy access to the pros in tournaments and cash games. But that also leaves the big guys open to catching their undue amount of chatter whenever they are on the tables. It’s becoming rare to find the bigger names that have their observer chat turned on and if you spend just 5 minutes watching the table you would understand why. The weird and wild chat comes fast and furious, nearly impossible to track as the screen continues to roll.

I’m certain I’m missing quite a few types but I become annoyed with them just from writing about them. Do you think I missed something or have something to add? Hit the comment below and tell me where I’m right and wrong.

Have at it, the floor is yours.

Popularity: 4% [?]

No Related Posts

Rate this Post: