'Away' Etiquette...

Slipwater

I have just played a sit 'n' go and got to heads up. The opponent timed out (I assume he was disconnected). Now, I was slightly behind in chips at the point he went away. I folded every hand, asked if he had been disconnected and there was no response, even upon his return a few minutes later. So we had been trading blinds back and forth since.

Then it happened again, and again I waited for a full ten minutes this time, folding and trading blinds. I'm (obviously) still behind at this point, but after ten minutes the guy has not returned. Now, my question is: what is his grace period for disconnection? I can't just fold his big blind all night.

I felt a little bad about it, but I had to finish it off... and by the time I had - about five minutes later - he still had not returned.

Should I have continued to wait? What's the unwritten rule here?

gazza127

TBH you gave more time than i probably would.

HU in the ME id wait longer, but not a SnG.  I'd probably wait about 5-10 minutes in a SnG - enough time to restart a router or a laptop and get back online.  If he was gone longer id assume the problem was more serious and nick some blinds.

Maybe im just mean, but i cant wait forever hoping he returns... especially when in a SnG you are probably quite shallow and blinds increase fast.

Slipwater

...well, the good news is I'm standing at 81.82 roi

Granted, I'm only three games down, but still...

THEROCK573

personal choice, there aint no unwritten rule and if there is im not aware of it, i sit down to make money so id just steal straight away unless i knew them from the forum or chatbox.

Slipwater

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

personal choice, there aint no unwritten rule and if there is im not aware of it, i sit down to make money so id just steal straight away unless i knew them from the forum or chatbox.
Posted by THEROCK573

Nice to know my chips are safe with you, mate

DOHHHHHHH

In years of playing HU sngs I can't remember a random player ever waiting for me when I've been away.

I'd need a reason to wait, and when it's a random there's no reason to wait so steal away asap. They will do it to you.

It evens out.

Matt237

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

personal choice, there aint no unwritten rule and if there is im not aware of it, i sit down to make money so id just steal straight away unless i knew them from the forum or chatbox.
Posted by THEROCK573

This pretty much

THEROCK573

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : Nice to know my chips are safe with you, mate
Posted by Slipwater

your safe mate. JUST :-)

hhyftrftdr

Whilst the promo is on, I'm mashing raise.

Lambert180

If you don't know them insta button mash imo

F_Ivanovic

I had this the first night of the SNG promo on my last match. HU and I hadn't seen this guy before. I decided I was going to limp every BTN and check it down. I think I have an advantage HU so don't just want to let the blinds get too big till there is no skill edge. After a while I just thought if the situation was reversed, this guy is probably just going to steal my blinds so I started stealing. Only lasted 2/3 hands tho and then he came back. Ended up losing as well

hhyftrftdr

Hope you learnt your lesson Ivan. Don't be nice to anyone, ever.




Ever.

mac24

couple of days back my HU opponent was away at the start, and i raised the first hand and took his bb without realising he wasn't there, and then got his sb too. he came back for hand 3 where I raised up the 30 I had took and folded back to him to start the game back off.
 
if he hadn't of come back I would have given him maybe 5 mins before I blinded him out, so I think what you done was more then courteous.

chicknMelt

Regardless of who it is, or the situation, I would wait long enough for a router/ laptop to restart etc. after that I would be weighing up how fast the blinds are compared to stacks etc, but I general would try and wait at least 5 mins, more if stacks are quite deep or the structure is slow etc. I have done exactly this when playing HU for > £1k, and other occasions.

C'mon, put the shoe on the other foot... Treat others how you would like to be treated! I would like someone to wait a reasonable amount of time before mashing the raise button.

I used to be in the same camp as quite a few of you, who would just bet bet bet straight away. I am at the tables to make money after all.

 But after I have been on the receiving end of people waiting for me I changed my mind. It's such a good feeling after being stressed out at a dropped connection wondering if you will even still be in at all, to come back to your full stack. The more people that do it the better IMO. Poker players should be doing all they can to make playing poker a friendly environment. Anything else has to be damaging to the game in the long run??

F_Ivanovic

Contrary to you chicknMelt, I used to be of the same opinion as you are now but I changed my mind and Dohh's post sums up why:

In years of playing HU sngs I can't remember a random player ever waiting for me when I've been away. 

I'd need a reason to wait, and when it's a random there's no reason to wait so steal away asap. They will do it to you. 

It evens out.I had internet problems quite a bit back when I lived with my parents for a short while a couple months back. Twice I made it to HU in the 22 deepy and twice I got dc'ed and my stack obliterated because of it. More often than not if you are facing a random they are just going to mash away and steal your blinds. We're losing a lot of +ev if in these situations we then wait for the other player...

I guess another thing to think about though is how reliable is your own internet. Right now, I very rarely suffer from dc problems. Meaning it's unlikely I'm going to be in a situation where I find myself HU and end up dc'ing. So I don't mind waiting if someone dc's. However if I was getting' dc'ed fairly often I'm just going to bash the steal BTN if the opponent is dc'd!

peter27

Raise raise raise!

The aim of the game is to win within the rules, if the other person leaves/disconnects then that's just unfortunate  on their part really, but I show no mercy

chicknMelt

ok, so I seem to be in the minority with my view that you should wait at least a reasonable amount of time...

what about this scenario:

you are playing on a FT, to be aired live on TV in the near future. You make it to HU.

shortly after the HU match starts, someone comes up to the other HU player, whispers something in his ear. The other player runs off without saying a word with the person that whispered in his ear. It is not scheduled break.

the dealer looks puzzled, then looks at you, and asks you what you want to do... what is your response?

Slykllist

I always wait, dependant on speed of the blinds I'd generally give it one full level, if they're not back after that then mash away.

chicknMelt

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : This scenario sounds like you describing a live game??  So if you are then it`s all on hold till as such time the guy sorts his problems out.
Posted by footsie66

Yes, I'm talking about live.

This is my point, in a live game would you really say to the dealer "play on, its not a break". The dealer would have to deal in the other player and instantly muck his hands because he's not at the table. 

This is to be aired on TV  dont forget.

or would you say to the dealer "lets wait and see if he comes back", or something along those lines.

If you would choose the second "wait" option, why is this different to online?

chicknMelt

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

Online play is in a different stratosphere . So I feel peoples actions are completely different in some aspect I feel This topic been one of them. Live ...face to face values are second to none when  poker play or unforeseen scenarios occur. So I would imagine 99% of the time players will call timeout .
Posted by footsie66

yes, exactly.

online is different, but why? other than you can get away with it without looking like a d!ick in public, and "because most other people do it"

not good enough excuses for me.

F_Ivanovic

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

ok, so I seem to be in the minority with my view that you should wait at least a reasonable amount of time... what about this scenario: you are playing on a FT, to be aired live on TV in the near future. You make it to HU. shortly after the HU match starts, someone comes up to the other HU player, whispers something in his ear. The other player runs off without saying a word with the person that whispered in his ear. It is not scheduled break. the dealer looks puzzled, then looks at you, and asks you what you want to do... what is your response?
Posted by chicknMelt

I doubt the player would run off without at least saying a word to someone? I mean I'd ask the dealer what happens here and say I'm willing to wait a reasonable time for him to come back. 

So you ask what's the difference there to online? Because of the unusual situation I would fully expect the other player to do the same if it had been me that needed to run off. Online I do not expect the other player to wait though unless I know them from the forum/real life.

Slipwater

When Tikay was heads up in the PLO tournament at the UKPC his opponent stood and announced he was going to the toilet. Tikay indicated to the dealer he wasn't going to play on until he had returned, giving them both an unscheduled hiatus for a few minutes. I give credit to Tikay, as I thought this was a very good - and gentlemanly - way to conduct himself as a player.

chicknMelt

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : I doubt the player would run off without at least saying a word to someone? I mean I'd ask the dealer what happens here and say I'm willing to wait a reasonable time for him to come back.  So you ask what's the difference there to online? Because of the unusual situation I would fully expect the other player to do the same if it had been me that needed to run off. Online I do not expect the other player to wait though unless I know them from the forum/real life.
Posted by F_Ivanovic

why would you expect them to wait just becasue it is unusual?

ok, say it wasn't unusual, say they just announced they are going to the toilet?

Slipwater

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : why would you expect them to wait just becasue it is unusual? ok, say it wasn't unusual, say they just announced they are going to the toilet?
Posted by chicknMelt

...as per my comment.

peter27

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

ok, so I seem to be in the minority with my view that you should wait at least a reasonable amount of time... what about this scenario: you are playing on a FT, to be aired live on TV in the near future. You make it to HU. shortly after the HU match starts, someone comes up to the other HU player, whispers something in his ear. The other player runs off without saying a word with the person that whispered in his ear. It is not scheduled break. the dealer looks puzzled, then looks at you, and asks you what you want to do... what is your response?
Posted by chicknMelt

Hard to know what you will do unless actually faced with the situation, but same answer for me as before for me I think, I would continue to raise.

In a game where getting "an edge" on someone is a key principle - it would be silly to not take advantage of a situation like this. I would also expect the same treatment if I was the person who dramatically left the table.

Lambert180

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : why would you expect them to wait just becasue it is unusual? ok, say it wasn't unusual, say they just announced they are going to the toilet?
Posted by chicknMelt

It's very different when communication has taken place though imo.

Brag incoming lol but when I was 3handed on the FT of the 6max at UKPC, it was a while away from the break and one of the guys said he really needed the toilet so of course we all agreed to stop play for him. If however he had just ran off without a word (the equivelant of disconnecting) I don't think it would have been the same.

We'd probably have sat round for 5-10 mins thinking wtf, then have had to play on, and remember 5-10 mins is like 2-3 hands playing live.

If you wanted to wait even just 1 level as some people are suggesting, live that would mean sitting round waiting for 1 whole hour not even knowing if/when he was gonna come back etc.

chicknMelt

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : It's very different when communication has taken place though imo. Brag incoming lol but when I was 3handed on the FT of the 6max at UKPC, it was a while away from the break and one of the guys said he really needed the toilet so of course we all agreed to stop play for him. If however he had just ran off without a word (the equivelant of disconnecting) I don't think it would have been the same. We'd probably have sat round for 5-10 mins thinking wtf, then have had to play on, and remember 5-10 mins is like 2-3 hands playing live. If you wanted to wait even just 1 level as some people are suggesting, live that would mean sitting round waiting for 1 whole hour not even knowing if/when he was gonna come back etc.
Posted by Lambert180

yeah, so you would wait a reasonable amount of time... I dont think anyone would expect you to just wait a full hour live without having any kind of communication, but you'd wait long enough for them to come back if they had run to the toilet or something tihout saying anything (5-10min i guess)

tomgoodun

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : yes, exactly. online is different, but why? other than you can get away with it without looking like a d!ick in public, and "because most other people do it" not good enough excuses for me.
Posted by chicknMelt

I admire your principles,most refreshing to know that courtesy isn't  as dead as the aforementioned dodo.yes poker is a game which is played for money and it seems the majority of folk disregard basic human care of others,just because we are playing online doesn't mean that we forget all decency IMO.i have had phone calls from my daughter in tears mid trny and I have of course just got up and drove to pick her up,now I am not saying everyone on the table should wait for me as the question refers to heads up play,my point is because we play online we do not know the circumstances of the opponent and to say yea just raise and take all their chips leaves a bitter taste to me personally,others are welcome to their opinion of this.i just wanted to say thanks chickenmelt for giving me back a little faith in humanity.

Slipwater

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : I admire your principles,most refreshing to know that courtesy isn't  as dead as the aforementioned dodo.yes poker is a game which is played for money and it seems the majority of folk disregard basic human care of others,just because we are playing online doesn't mean that we forget all decency IMO.i have had phone calls from my daughter in tears mid trny and I have of course just got up and drove to pick her up,now I am not saying everyone on the table should wait for me as the question refers to heads up play,my point is because we play online we do not know the circumstances of the opponent and to say yea just raise and take all their chips leaves a bitter taste to me personally,others are welcome to their opinion of this.i just wanted to say thanks chickenmelt for giving me back a little faith in humanity.
Posted by tomgoodun

Yeah, it's totally different when there are only two players involved, and one of them does a Houdini. It would be extremely difficult to get the other four players at a table on Sky to just pass the blinds around for a few minutes until the guy who has dipped out, returns.

jordz16

if its heads up i will wait 1min in case its just a very temporary problem, but after that then im just going to be hitting raise, its a dog eat dog business and why i think having a bit of class is very important you shouldnt let that blind you from wanting to make money.. 

chicknMelt

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette...:

In Response to Re: 'Away' Etiquette... : I admire your principles,most refreshing to know that courtesy isn't  as dead as the aforementioned dodo.yes poker is a game which is played for money and it seems the majority of folk disregard basic human care of others,just because we are playing online doesn't mean that we forget all decency IMO.i have had phone calls from my daughter in tears mid trny and I have of course just got up and drove to pick her up,now I am not saying everyone on the table should wait for me as the question refers to heads up play,my point is because we play online we do not know the circumstances of the opponent and to say yea just raise and take all their chips leaves a bitter taste to me personally,others are welcome to their opinion of this.i just wanted to say thanks chickenmelt for giving me back a little faith in humanity.
Posted by tomgoodun

Cheers Tom

Yeah, when its anything other than HU, its very difficult - I think you just have to play on as normal unfortunately. Maybe 2/4 way, on a FT you might ask the others to wait, but I'd be suprised to get agreement from all.

On a side note, i always have a backup internet connection - I can connect my laptop to my phone and use its internet (can give intructions if you want help doing this). So in general I'm never away for more than about 5 mins. Unless like the other day, my home interenet went down - so I connected to my phone. fine.  until my phone battery ran out...AAAAHH...it takes 5-10 mins of charging before it will power back on! stupid iPhones!