Rules of Texas Hold em         

Rules of Poker Etiquette

Here is our guide to poker etiquette, everyone dreams about being a professional player, someone who can keep their cool and remain impassive whether they win or lose.

Follows these simple rules and you will earn the respect if not the chips of other players. Stick to the poker etiquette rules and you’ll be a player others want to play again. Even if you win.

• Don’t cheat.

 No one likes a cheater, there is no better way to being evicted from a poker game than being caught cheating. You may think you’re being subtle but remember poker is a game that is all about watching your opponent so you’re going to be spotted sooner or later and if you’re playing in a big casino you’ll be on camera too.

• Don’t be a loud mouth.

 Ok, so it’s fun to watch players like poker brat Phil Hellmuth on televised WSOP games blow their top when they lose and blame it on their opponents bad poker skills but I bet it’s not much fun to be him after the game and know you’ve lost it in front of so many people.  This kind of behaviour will get you ‘on tilt’ so fast, you’d have to be a pretty seasoned poker player to play calmly immediately after a blowout.  Aim to be a gracious poker winner and loser.  Stay calm and you’ll be showing respect for other players and yourself.
 

• Watch your drinking

If you are playing for fun then, a casual drink is ok and adds to the atmosphere at the table. Watch how much you have though, bad behaviour and bad poker play go hand in hand with too much alcohol.  If you’re serious about winning, then ditch the alcohol altogether. Winning poker and alcohol don’t mix

• Cut the chit chat whilst others are playing.

 When you’ve folded your hand and others are still playing holdem, keep it quiet. This is especially important if your folded hand would have turned into a winner. Don’t tell others what you had, you could spoil a good bluff or give someone else an unfair advantage.  You’d hate it if your hand was spoiled in this way.

• Chip etiquette

 Ok, maybe this is just a personal gripe, as many players are guilty of this but if you can avoid playing with your chips then do so. There’s nothing worse than sitting at the poker table unable to hear yourself think because everyone around you is playing with their chips. So you can do ‘chip tricks’ like the pros, big deal!

Keep your chips in an orderly pile and don’t throw them into the middle of the poker table when you’re making a bet. It’s harder to work out how many chips you’ve added to the pot if you throw them in and some players might accuse you (rightly or wrongly) of being light on the bet.

• Don’t play out of turn.

 Stay alert, don’t get so excited or dishearted by the flop that you bet or fold before your turn. Playing out of turn is a very common amateur mistake. It will let others know what kind of hand you have and mark you as a newbie that can be taken advantage of later.

• Don’t play too slow.

 Playing slow on the odd poker hand is okay. Playing slow on every hand is a big no-no.  It will put other players off and unless they’re in a tournament, will get up and leave for a faster moving table.