The question above seems to be creating a lot of irritation and it is often a bit awkward afterwards when you do ask it.

I'm talking about the poker tables here of course and especially in the cash game format and not in tournaments where the irritation levels are not at all the same as in a cash game where each of your chips have a direct value in real money. For me personally, it is extremely important to know how many chips I play with, and of course also how much each of my opponents has. Normally I have a good overview on it but sometimes, for various reasons, such as the opponent is new to the table or hiding chips from my field of vision etc, I do not know.

And then I usually ask the classic question, "how much do you have left?"

The response is very different. Some react calmly, without any sign of irritation, and makes it possible for me to see the chips or simply tells me how much they have. Other players are actually quite annoyed and are almost getting angry at me. It even happens that other players at the table who are not in the hand gets annoyed. For example, I got a big lecture from an elderly gentleman playing Casino Cosmopol 20/20 SEK a while back who was in the pot with 500 SEK in chips. He told me that he thinks it's rude to ask and that he never in all the years he has played has been asking how much someone has. He said, "it doesn't affect the strength of your hand, does it?" Hmm, yes, it does, and the fact that he hadn't ever asked this question himself probably said more about his game than anything else!

The reactions of those who get annoyed is very often that they want to take "revenge" and make a move on me, either in the same hand or at a later stage. There is no situation where I so often get checkraised than the hands where I ask this question. It's no problem for me since I've realized how psychology is affected by this issue and I've adjusted accordingly. These days I welcome most of the moves made against me since it becomes very easy for me to get paid off or to raise back and force the opponent away.

Anyway, in general, I'm actually a little surprised as to why the reactions are this strong. I have never any problems with the opponent asking me how much I play with, but many other players seems to do.

It has actually gone so far that sometimes I will refrain from asking the question! It happens in situations when I sit with trash and just want to steal the pot or keep a low profile on the table and not attract attention (where I do not want my opponents to start to see myself as a thinking player).

I have previously not been thinking a lot about how to take advantage of this irritation created by some players. These days I ask when I need information or in some cases to see the players reaction (nervous / calm) and try to decipher something from their voice if they choose to open their mouth (my recommendation is to shut up). The purpose of the question has originally not been to be annoying and to make them become angry at me, but simply for information purposes only.

I'm wondering now if I maybe should start taking advantage of the reactions or if it's considered a more "dirty" game. I could for example start asking more frequently (perhaps not in Stockholm if too many players there are reading this) when I want action and induce the opponent to make a move.

My questions are:

• How do you react yourself when asked, and why do you react as you do?
• Do you have the same impression of how different players are affected by this question?
• Is it a "dirty" game to start asking how much your opponent has only to irritate and get your opponent to play worse?
• Are there any of you who commonly ask your opponent how much he has only to get the opponent off balance?

Would be interesting to hear your comments!