The majority of Holdem poker rooms today include a chat feature allowing players to communicate with one another by typing text into a corner or along the bottom of the screen. This feature can add fun to the game and let players become friends.



There are some very positive aspects of chat in poker rooms, but there are some very negative aspects as well. Let's look at the pros and cons of the chat feature:









First, we will look at the favorable facts about chat. The benefits are attributes which add to the fun of the overall gaming experience when playing Holdem or any other poker variation.



Meeting new people, making new friends: Communicating with other people who have interests similar to yours is one reason to chat in Holdem rooms. After all, you already know the people playing enjoy Holdem, otherwise they wouldn't be involved in the game. You may learn you have many other things in common and become friends outside the Holdem poker rooms. You may begin a long-term friendship whether it remains virtually-based or becomes face-to-face.



Asking questions: When are you unclear about a rule, chat is a great way to ask other players for assistance about the way to place a bet, what a term means, or get another question answered without a long search through the help section of the website.



References to other great websites with Holdem poker online: Other players know about other poker rooms with great Holdem games and good bonus programs; they are usually very happy to refer you to rooms they have enjoyed just for the asking.



These are the main benefits of chat; besides the fact that chatting can be lots of fun.



Some of the main reasons to avoid chat, or at least seriously limit your participation in the chat feature are:



Distractions: It is easy to become caught up in the conversations in the chat room and place a poorly thought out wager or miss a crucial piece of information about the play and lose your wager as a result. The main reason to play Holdem is to concentrate on the play first and chat only in truly spare time.



Chatterboxes: Some people just continue to send message, seemingly on an endless basis. These chatterboxes don't send one message and await a response; they tend to send you their whole life story in repeat messages that can be boring and unwelcome. Getting these chatterboxes to stop messaging you is difficult and often they are insulted by the suggestion that they are sending too many messages. But you have to concentrate on your game and the cards others are betting as well as the community cars in order to have any hopes of winning the pot. A simple message of congratulations upon winning a pot or a "too bad" upon losing a pot is the sort of chat you can expect and welcome.



Too many people chatting: If too many people are chatting with you at one time, you will not only be distracted from your game, you will be confused about who is saying what to you. This is detrimental to your play. Limit your chat to only one, never more than two people with whom you chat with in any single game. Never rush your responses resulting in inattention to the game play.



Beware of these pros and cons o chatting while playing Holdem and you will see your result improve. Do not allow other players to make you feel obligated to chat with them. A simple statement of "I'm sorry, I am too busy to chat" should sufficient to stop the distraction.

By: P Drew Laughlin

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PD Laughlin is a successful professional poker player and publisher of Win-at-Holdem.com. He provides free information on Poker Skills, Strategies and Systems on his website Win-at-Holdem.com.