Poker Etiquette - You Know Players Who Need to Read This

How to Act at a Poker Table

Just like eating at Grandma's house, there are rules that you need to obey when at a poker table. Being respectful at a table speaks volumes about you as an individual and as a poker player. Here are a few of our Do's and Don't to help you at a table.

Always pay attention to what’s going on.

When cards are in front of you, quit the chit chat, stop staring at the buffet, and focus on what’s going on the table. Especially when the action comes to you. If you are not paying attention, you will slow down the game play.

Do your best to be polite

Always try to treat other players with respect. Don’t be like Phil Hellmuth and bad-mouth your opponents.  It might seem like harmless fun, but acting this way yourself will mark you out as an dummy. You probably won’t get invited back to whatever game you’re playing!

Make sure that you protect your hand (and chips) at all times.

A lot of people have card protectors to bring a little more fun to the game but the original reason for why they are present is in the name. It protects your cards from being taken from the dealer or anyone else. Your chips, you need to always know how much is in your stacks because if you are playing in a shady game with shady people, when you go the bathroom, your stack might be lower.

It’s best to always verbally announce your action.

This helps everyone because a lot of people don’t do basic math. In addition, no one has to guess did you call the blinds and need change, are you raising the pot, do you even know what’s going on?

Keep your cards, chips, etc... in your own area.

Don’t spread yourself out on the table. What is meant is don’t cross the imaginary boundary line into another players area. Don’t line your chips along the table edge to where it reaches your opponent’s chips. This can cause your opponent to reach for your chips or you grab their chips. Plus it’s annoying.

Leave the table if you have to take/make a phone call.

No one wants to hear your conversation! Get up and leave the table. You disrupt other players and the game play. You are bound to slip and possibly say your hand that you just folded, which really effects the game. Get up, go away from the table, and tell Pookie that you love him/her more…..

Try your best to be modest when you win.

Don’t be a jackass when you win any pot. Be an adult and just smile. If you win a large tournament, you can celebrate but don’t be rude to the losing opponent. 

Make sure you don’t play out of turn.

This goes back to paying attention to what’s going on the table. Playing out of turn can affect players thought process, bets, and/or plays if you play out of turn. If you play out of turn constantly you can bet you will never be welcomed back to any game!

Swearing and other offensive language won’t be tolerated in most places.

Emotions run hot sometimes and a few choice words comes out. Do your best to hold this back because some casinos do not allow this and will have you leave the table. One thing you can take from Phil Hellmuth’s behavior, he walks away from the table sometimes when he needs to vent. If you feel the need to curse up a storm, go away from the table.

Treat the dealer with respect.

The dealers are human just like you. They have absolutely no control of the cards outcome. As much as we’d like to think they cause us to lose all the time, they really don’t. Tip them, and be respectful to your dealers.

Don’t talk about a hand if you’re not in it!

Once you fold, along with a player beside your or across from you, do not talk about your hand at all!!! If you mention what you have and a player who is in the hand has one or two of your card, you’ve just let him know his outs are less. Talk about something else!

Don't splash the pot.

Don’t know why, but people feel the need to splash the pot. If you don’t know what that means, it is when you throw your chips in and they roll or bounce all over the table, mixing with the pot and other players chips. This is just messy and a dealer cannot account for your bet

Don’t slow-roll – ever!

This is one of the rudest and least sporting things to do in poker; letting someone think they have a chance of winning while all along you’re holding the nuts. It’s not big, it’s not funny, and it will probably lead to where someone is waiting for you in the parking lot.

Don't Agree to check a hand out when a third player is all-in.

Even though you see this a lot with online poker, you shouldn’t collude with another player. Play the game normal just as if the all-in player isn’t in the hand.

There are a lot of dos and don'ts when it comes to poker, but they all come down to one point: be respectful. So many people play poker for whatever reason. Don’t bring garbage to these games because some people are playing to feed themselves while others are playing to have fun. No one likes a pompous ass at any point of their day, so why bring that to a poker table.

Hope this was helpful for you. If so, please like, share, and comment. As always, best of luck to you at the tables and in life.