Poker Personality

What is the stereotypical poker player?

Wild Bill Hickock ? Doyle Brunson ? Mynxee ? Ricdic ?

Truth is, there are a lot of characteristics that go into what common culture deems the stereotype of a poker player. And those characteristics change over time.

Everyone plays poker. Most of us do it with cards and chips; flushes, straights and overpairs…some of us do it with long range scanners, gate camps and blockade runners.
Others prefer senate confirmation hearings, EBay auctions, or school report deadlines.
But we all play.

I want to speak briefly about one of the personality traits common to real poker players that I have not only had the privilege to witness but read about countless times in poker literature. Trustworthiness.

There are innumerable accounts of players giving one another staggering sums of cash, credit or favor with the express understanding that such would be repaid in due course and at the soonest opportunity. I find it ironic to note that, in light of the recent world credit crunch, the largest economic powerhouses on the planet don’t trust one another enough to extend financial faith when it is in everyone’s best interest – yet poker players do so as a matter of course and with much less leverage.

I needed a link or two as well documented examples to regale you fine readers with….alas I am unable to reach them at the moment (trust me, I’m a poker player).

But I will attest to the event I saw just last evening while docked up in a Black Rise station. I was recovering after my Hilton Sisters (QQ) were promptly snapped off by Sergiiy {I do hope my memory is correct here; hand history is not my forte} with Q6off when the flop brought a 6 and the turn another. The 28million Isk buy in, 6 player double-thru table finished just as bankers and dealers were changing out in the EVE Online Hold’Em chat channel.

There was obviously a bit of confusion about the buy in and pay outs as Antron, the new banker, assumed this was a 54million Isk game. It became apparent that Levka ( an upstanding member of Black Nova Corporation and one of the top 3 finishers) got paid more than the expected sum. Chat looked something like this:

Antron: Levka, are you there?

Antron: Levka?

Diametrix: uh oh. I think Levka got overpaid and may have left the building…

Diametrix: ‘beullar? beullar?’

Levka: I’m here. Wait, I need to send more.

Levka: Ok…that does it.

Antron: Thanks.

And just like that I realized poker in EVE is no different than poker on Earth. It doesn’t matter if he’s a pirate, miner or trade mogul – he’s a poker player and that comes first.

Your name and reputation are only as good as your actions and your quality and value as a player are dependent to a degree on that reputation.

I’m very happy to have found this community in New Eden and look forward to trading pots and thoughts with all of you.