Online Railbirds
It can be interesting sometimes to go watch pros play at Full Tilt or wherever. I used to keep a table open with, say, Gus Hansen or John Juanda or Eric Seidel while I was playing my own tables, just to have something to watch while I waited between hands. I guess you could think of it like a private broadcast of pro poker, and maybe for a little study of how the pros play online as opposed to on TV. Made for some interesting pass the time time.
Sometimes almost as entertaining were the ‘online railbirds,’ dudes who have nothing better to do than sit around the table writing in the chat box and trying to get one of the pros respond to their needling or their fawning. I’ve seen some pretty aggressive crap-talk go on just begging for a response, and for the most part no one ever answers.
The only time I think I ever saw a pro respond was one night I noticed there was a $.50/$1 game highlighted red on Full Tilt. I’d never seen a pro seated at a table for that low stakes. I went to look and it was Clonie Gowen, who for a poker player ain’t so bad looking:
Anyway, several guys in the chat box were just talking all kinds of crap at her. “Why is a hotshot pro like you playing such low stakes? Can’t you win the big game? I knew you sucked” etc etc etc.
The funny thing was, she was actually trying to plead her case to them. She spent more time trying to argue back against every other comment about how sometimes she liked to play just for fun, and got kicks out of lower limits, and haven’t you seen her play on this show and win this prize, and so on. I felt kind of bad for her, that she actually fell into their trap.
I wonder who these guys are, who go to the rooms and practically beg Allen Cunningham to answer their questions, to say what’s up. I assume they’re all 15 or something, but I guess you can never overunderestimate a poker player’s potential maturity.
Tags: clonie gowen, poker chat roomsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: online poker
1 opinion for Online Railbirds
Jereme
Feb 5, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I would think that most pros would go to the chat options and filter out the railbirds.
i think Clonie wanted the attention but was thinking it would be more positive then negative.
She should not underestimate the internet tough guy rhetoric.
No way would these guys be talking to her like that in person at a table or from the rail.
At a live game the railbirds would be escorted out. Just another difference between live and online.
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