Believe it or not there are poker table rules for how to behave. They might not rule you out of the game, but this is a game of hours of play and being comfortable with your peers is essential to having a great time. Some of these you can get away with but others are just plain right disrespectful. These are some of the biggest poker etiquette fails normal y seen online and in casinos.
Stalling
This is the worst nightmare for an online poker player. Online poker tables allow players a full minute to take a decision. Some players abuse this time to go get some food, chat on the phone or just get disconnected from the internet. It is extremely annoying when it happens all around the table.
Sometimes players don’t take online poker seriously enough. Please, do whatever you have to do during your folds.
Smelly at the casino
This is something that tends to happen around casinos, specially in Vegas were all the weirdos of the world seem to gather and gamble. Casino addicts have this tendency to go on for days without showering or changing their clothes. It so happens poker players some times lose track of time and can spent an entire 24 hours inside a casino playing and drinking, unaware that the turned into smelly zombies hours ago.
Ordering food at the poker table… this is OK, but make sure you don’t splatter sauce all over the place. Clean your hairy beard and stop scratching!
If you are a talker take into consideration the amount of spit that is showering all over the place.
Smokers please keep it outside during breaks or away from the table at least. Those puffy sweaters tend to absorb the smoke for days.
Asking to see their hand
Keep your decisions to your own cards. What a player decides to do with their own cards is entirely up to them. Yes, there are rules that allow other player to see a called hand on the river. That doesn’t mean it is a good practice to request. The purpose of the rule is to avoid cheating by collaborating. It means that if you demand it, you are questioning the integrity of your rival. So make sure to use it when appropriate.
Misrepresenting your hand in action
This happens when you say you have a strong hand when all action has occurred, when you actually have a weak hand.
This is done to cause your rivals to fold prematurely, thinking they are defeated. This is actually against the rules in most poker rooms, and it is also a poor etiquette behavior.
Yes, off course working the psychology of other players with your words and mouth play is common known tactic some pro poker players have used in the past, and it works. It can get in the nerves of other players making them take poor decisions. It may be allowed to a certain extent, but surely you are not making any friends at the table. No, this is not a game just for the money, it is a social game first and foremost. The first objective is to enjoy yourself playing.
One Of the most notorious poker players to trick his opponents misrepresenting his hands was Puggy Pearson. He would slide a stack of chips across the line inside his fist without letting go, making his unwary opponent think he was just called, and would turn over his hand.
If Puggy was beat, he’d take away his chips swearing he wasn’t thinking of calling.
It is common for players to begin fights and discussions when one of them appeared to have checked with a misleading action. Please do not do this. It disrupts the entire game moving forward.
Slow rolling
Slow playing is fine. Slow rolling is something very different.
When you say or do something to make another player believe they have the hand won, when in fact it is you that has the best hand to win. This is slow rolling. People have been shot for doing this, as it is the greatest insult to a player.
Think twice before you trick others into reaching heaven to muck them soon after.
There is more to online poker etiquette that you might think. Here are 30 poker etiquette rules every player should follow online or at the casino.
