Quote:
Originally Posted by hardinthepaint
It sounds like this might be your first live poker experience. If so, you want to keep in mind that you are going to face stressors that are independent of how to play your hand. Keeping track of the action, handling your chips, handling your card, etc. are all going to be a fairly new experience. If you've played home games you're probably OK with most of it, but you still need to be aware of and follow the more formal rules applied in a poker room. People will also engage you in conversations other than chat tilt. It's a lot of fun compared to online, so try to just roll with it and have a good time.
That is a good point. Also make sure you know the rules of live play. As an example, there is a single oversized chip rule which basically says that if you put out one chip larger than the current bet size without saying anything, it is a call. If you are playing 1/2 and you are first to act and put out a $5 chip, you have called. If you want to raise to $5 in that situation you must verbally announce “raise $5”. In fact, while many players for whatever reason do not like to verbalize action, I would recommend it to you as a beginner if there is any doubt or ambiguity. You will always get your intended action if you do so, while you may be forced to make an unintended action in some cases if you do not.