Pokerwiner.com → Games of texas holdem poker

GENERAL CONDUCT

Poker was a fast moving game, and for beginners, it was intimidating to play. Poker had many unspoken norms for behavior, and you would have risked quick ostracism if you had violated them carelessly. If you had been new, you shouldn’t have hesitated to ask questions of the dealer.

Also, most poker players were friendly and would have assisted newcomers with proper conduct.

Don’t pick up your cards:

You should have left your cards face down on the table. You should have looked at them by cupping your hands over them and turned up the corners.

You should have got in the habit of looking at your cards once and leaving them face down. There were many other things you should have observed at the table, so you should have avoided looking at your cards repeatedly

Also, several cardrooms have had rules against taking your cards off the table. Lifting up and holding cards has still been a bad habit to acquire even at places where it has been acceptable. If you were to hold your cards in front of you, it would have been easy for the poker players next to you to see them.

Protect your cards:

If you had won a pot, you should have returned the cards to the dealer after the money was pushed to you.

If you had been sitting next to the dealer, you should have left a chip on top of your cards to prevent the cards from being accidentally scooped up.

Once your cards were gone, you would not have got them back.

Act in turn:

You should not have broadcast your actions before it had been your turn – such as reaching for chips or having given cards back to the dealer. If you had folded before a poker player had had a chance to bet, they wouldn’t have had to worry about a raise from you. If you had bet a good hand before poker player ahead of you had acted, they might have folded, which would have cost you money. Acting out of turn would have given information to the other poker players that they should not have had.

Actions are to fold, check, call, and raise:

While most communication would have been non-verbal, all communications of your intended action, including verbal statements would have been binding. To fold You should have returned your cards to the dealer.

You should not have exposed them to anyone.

To check – You should have tapped the table with your hand.

To bet or call You should have placed the money in front of you.

You should have stated the amount if ambiguous.

To raise You should have placed the money in front of you.

You should have stated the amount if ambiguous, or if the dealer had needed to make the change from the pot.

Don’t splash the pot:

You should have always put your bets in front of you where the dealer could have clearly seen the amount. You should have let the dealer handle the money and make the change if necessary. If you had thrown your money directly into the pot, no one would have been absolutely sure if you had bet the correct amount. The game would have been interrupted while the dealer had counted all the money in the pot, and the other poker players would have been upset with you for having caused the break in the action.

Don’t make string bets:

In Texas Holdem poker, a string bet was where you could have called a bet and then reached back to your pile of chips to raise. You should have placed all the chips for raise at once, or stated your intention to raise out loud. Don’t give information (especially after you’ve folded):

This would have especially angered the other poker players because it could have had a big effect on a hand. If you had thrown away the Ace of diamonds and now there was a diamond flush possible on the board, a person who had been holding a King-high flush would have had the highest possible hand. If you had commented out loud about having thrown away the Ace, the person with the King could have raised to the maximum, now knowing they couldn’t be beat. If the cards had been exposed in any way (which happened occasionally by accident), everyone at the table should have been shown the card. If you had exposed your cards to another poker player, all poker players at the table could have demanded to see your cards.

Don’t delay the game:

You should have paid attention.

You should have acted in a timely fashion when it had been your turn.

Respect the dealer:

If the dealer had made a mistake, you should have been polite. If you had just received pocket Aces for instance, and there had been a misdeal before you had had a chance to play them, you should not have given the dealer a bad time. The cards would not have been yours until everyone had been properly dealt. It would have been a part of the online poker game if the dealer had made a mistake that had negated the deal.