First, Happy New Year. (Insert cheap paper horn noise here).

I was going to write about some cool A-K hands I played, but I just noticed this and it annoyed me. What better place to vent than to you fine folks who take the time to visit my site (thank you).

I was visiting the Card Player website when I saw this poll:

What do you do when a player disparagingly accuses you of playing tight?
Tell him to mind his own business
Deny it
Attack, accusing her of playing just as tight
Leave the game
Tell the dealer to ask the person to quit criticizing you
Call a floorperson over and request the criticism stop
Get up from the table and quietly tell a floorperson you object to being criticized
Get up from the table and tell only the shift manager you object to being criticized
Ignore it, or change the subject

I was shocked. Is it really so awful to play tight that if someone “accuses” you of it that you need to find a response? 71 percent said “ignore it” but that still implies there is something bad about playing tight.

Accusations of not sinning go way back to peer pressure in high school (maybe earlier these days). Being “accused” of being a virgin, of not being cool and smoking, even of being sober, seem to require apologies and explanations.

I was hoping when people became adults, that they could put this being somehow guilty for not being stupid behind them. But here is this poll, where the assumption is that someone telling you that you play tight is disparaging and you need to react. (17 percent said they tell the accuser to mind her own business.)

I know this is only a question, but the assumption behind the question is what annoyed me. To me it sounds like the following: “You are eating in a restaurant. One of your fellow diners disparagingly observes you are eating a balanced nutritious meal and avoiding the huge desserts. How do you respond?” Does this make sense?

Playing tight is winning poker. Being accused of winning and playing well is not disparaging, even if all of the cool kids are gambling.

And a reasonable response is to smile at the “accuser” and say something like, “Well, I’m just not as adventurous as you. I really admire how you play nearly every hand, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.”