Wondering when to use those Throwables? Here, let’s throw around some ideas.

Fireworks

The fireworks Throwable shoots a rocket in the air that lands with a burst of celebratory sparkles. It is best employed after winning a significant hand, such as a big all-in at a final table. Though typically reserved for special occasions, fireworks aren’t known for nuance. Don’t worry about being delicate here. It’s hard to be subtle doing anything that involves lighting a fuse and making a big “boom-boom.”

The Deck of Cards

With the deck of cards Throwable, we are again in the realm of visual puns. A player gets dealt aces and wins a pot. He then gets kings and wins another. Then with eight-three suited in the big blind he flops two pair and busts the button. He’s getting “hit by the deck,” as they say. Throw a deck of cards across the virtual felt at him to make sure he knows it.

The Ice Bucket

Following on a similar theme, dousing an opponent with an ice bucket might represent a desire to “cool him off” after a hot run of cards.

There is also the connotation of the “cooler,” for which throwing a bucket might be an appropriately sportsmanlike to do. You get all in with eights versus your opponent’s queens and spike an eight on the river to earn an improbable double-up. Send over an ice bucket as a way of acknowledging your opponent getting “cold-decked.”

The Box of Tissues

The tissue box Throwable has been most often associated with drying tears after a particularly bad beat. The “crying call” comes to mind as well as a suitable occasion. Since we’re throwing these Throwables at others, the tissue box can also be a way of wordlessly sending a message to an opponent engaged in a Hellmuthian why-does-this-always-happen-to-me crisis. Or should we say, cry-sis.

The Alarm Clock

The most obvious use of the alarm clock Throwable is when an opponent is overly slow to act, seemingly distracted from the game and taking more time than he or she should. It’s a kind of animated “wake-up call,” as it were. You could be less literal about it, though, throwing an alarm clock as a way of reminding others not to sleep on you, as you’ll soon be coming for their chips.

The Fishing Lure

The fishing lure Throwable is like a mini-movie. A person’s avatar fills with water as though it were a fish bowl. Suddenly a lure with a hook drops down from above, ostensibly attached to a fishing rod. Just like that a fish is pulled from the water, a successful catch.

This one can be used to signify having caught an opponent. It also might be used to “cast” an aspersion by suggesting an opponent’s fishiness. In any case, if someone fires this Throwable at you and you fire one back, that would constitute a perfectly acceptable instance of angler shooting.

The Poo

All of those puns might inspire you to use this Throwable on me. It’s a new one, earned by losing a hand with either pocket aces or pocket kings. Throwing craps usually involves dice, but with this one you throw something less pleasant at an opponent, though thankfully there is toilet paper and rapid cleaning up afterwards. This one seems like it would work when wanting to say something rude after losing a hand, but opting instead for something more silly. Call it pot-ty humor.

The Pile of Cash

Finally, here is another new Throwable earned by cashing in or winning a Stadium Series event. There are variations, actually, starting with a pile of cash dropping down in front of an avatar, earned for making the money in a Stadium Series tournament (shown below).

The others are a bigger pile of cash (for making a final table), and a bigger pile of cash with a gold bar on top (for the Stadium Series winners). This feels like a Throwable to use as a way of saying “you win” to an opponent who has earned a nice pot and/or has moved up high on the leaderboard. A “rich get richer”-type message. Or perhaps when the bubble bursts, throwing this one can serve as a signal that “we’re in the money!”

Remember, if Throwables aren’t your thing, you can always throw them out entirely (Settings → Table Appearance → Animation → Table Emotes → Disable).