Acknowledgements

Although many of the CotW have been individual efforts, for this one I reached out to some of the better posters in the B&M forum for their insights. Therefore, I thank (in alphabetical order) bav, Dealer-Guy, pfapfap and RR for responding with their ideas and comments. Much of what is good in this post is due to them and any mistakes or deficiencies are mine alone.


Introduction

This CotW is written mainly with playing at a B&M poker room or casino in mind. Home game etiquette can vary considerably and presumably you know how to behave at a friend’s house. However a home game would run much smoother if everyone followed what was written below.

Many people misunderstand what the term “etiquette” means. It has the association of being snooty or acting too good for others. The reality is that etiquette means “conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion.” In our context, it means simply acting the way live poker players would expect you to act.

Etiquette is important because fills the gap between rules and anarchy to insure a society runs smoothly. Rules are good, but they are rigid. They can often end up causing decisions that many agree aren’t fair. They tie things up in judgments and appeals that can take forever to resolve. They can’t take a situation into account. By using etiquette, a society can run more smoothly and fairly.

One example of a rule being in place because people couldn’t use proper etiquette is the F-Bomb rule at the WSOP (Rule 36). Virtually everyone agrees that swearing at a dealer or another player is bad and should be punished (ok, maybe not the tournament directors at the WSOP if a name player is involved or Phil Helmuth). However, this rule had to be written such that a player that says, “**** me” after making a bad play is subject to punishment as well, even though most would find that situation to be excusable if it doesn’t happen often. Therefore, rather than being restrictive, using etiquette actually gives you more freedom and prevents life nits from taking freedom away from you.

To keep this post at a reasonable length, I’m going to focus on those etiquette issues that are unique to live play. By now you should know that yelling at the fish, talking about strategy, etc. is bad etiquette in any format. You should be following the rules. While each room has different rules, most of them are similar to Robert’s Rules of Poker http://www.pokercoach.us/RobsPkrRules11.mht.


Why Make Live Play Even Slower?

When moving from on-line to live, you’ll notice immediately that the pace is slower. You’ll wish play would go faster. The thing is that most of the live players wish it would go faster, too. Much of live etiquette revolves around simply not slowing the game down. The correct way to act is to do what you should do to keep the game moving. When in doubt, your thought process should be, “If I wanted to keep the game moving quickly and somebody else was doing this, would it be OK with me?” Here are some examples.

I Want To See That Hand
One of the biggest complaints of dealers is the abuse of this rule. Going far back in time, it was required that anyone going to show down had to show their hand, no matter what it was. In relatively recent times, it has evolved to allowing a person to muck their hand without showing. For a good, technical player, this is a considerable advantage because the worse player doesn’t have to have the embarrassment of showing how bad a play he made. That encourages light calls.

However, players use this rule to either embarrass another player or “gain an edge” in seeing what they called with. This slows a game down because the dealer has to deal with the objections from the losing player, then find the cards, show everyone all for the purpose of finding out the player made a reasonable call, but caught to top end of your range. Don’t do it. If he keeps calling rivers and mucking, you’ll know he’s calling light.

Oh, and occasionally I’ve seen an idiot invoke this after tabling their hand, and find out the other person had the winning hand. The look on their face as the pot is pushed to their opponent is priceless.

At the same time, if someone asks your hand to be shown, just show them and move on.

Listening to Music/Reading a Magazine
I personally think this is –EV for a micro player who is new to live. There are lots of things you should be paying attention to that you are used to having the computer do for you. Some rooms prohibit it anyway, although most allow you to at least listen to music. However, the first time a dealer has to go, “the action is to you sir (or madam)”, it is time to put the the iPod or magazine away. While you didn’t notice, everyone else was waiting on you to do something. Don’t force the dealer to keep reminding you.

Wearing Sunglasses/Hat
If you have to stop the action because you can’t see the board, it is time to take them off.

Eating at the Table
This goes with the above situations. If you slow the game down while you try to clear your mouth to say, “Raise, ” you shouldn't do it.

While the sandwich was invented because the Earl of Sandwich was such a gambling degen that he couldn’t stop for dinner so he ordered a slice of beef to be placed between two slices of bread, it is just really bad to eat finger food. You’ll get food stuck on the cards (one dealer told me that he had seen a player wipe their mouth with his cards before mucking them). In addition, keep in mind that many people don’t wash their hands after taking a ****. Poker players don’t seem to me to be the types that are more likely to do so. They are handling the same cards and chips you are. Buon Appetito.

Splashing Chips for a Bet
Sure it is cool to throw your chips out. However, the chips can bounce all over the place, forcing the dealer to stop play as he tries to gather them. He’s got to show the camera in the sky that he didn’t palm any of the money if it goes in the rack or call the floor over. Place your chips in front of you in even stacks within easy reaching distance for the dealer. If you bet 25, place the five reds stacked up. If it is more than that amount, make two smaller stacks. If it is an uneven number of chips, make two piles and place the odd chip on top. You’ll notice that when someone just throws chips out, the dealer will end up doing this for them.

Stack your Chips
Stack your chips in sets of 20 (or a multiple of that) of the same denomination to make it easier to count for everyone else. The largest denomination chips should be out front, not hidden in the back. Stack them so that the dealer can see whether you have cards and be able to get them to you.

At some point, someone is going to ask you for a count (some like to copy Phil Helmuth to try to get a read). If you have neat stacks, this is a quick process. However, if it is a mess, you’ll have to take time to count it all out (or have the dealer do it).

Show Your Hand
In many rooms, whoever makes the last bet/raise (not call) is supposed to show first when the betting is done. If you were that person, show your hand immediately when the action is done.

You’ll see people play games and just wait, hoping that you’ll show first. You have the right to wait them out. If you have the probable winning hand, just show it without wasting time. He’s playing games and while the dealer will eventually force them to show, it isn’t worth the wait. I really don’t have mention not to slow roll, do I? Only bad players slow roll.

Taking Time
If you are going to need more than 5 seconds to make a decision, ask the dealer for time. This allows them to know you are paying attention and will let everyone else know that you aren’t watching the TV.

You aren’t on TV, though. Don’t take time to just to make a play. Beyond slowing the game, you are giving a massive tell to the good players at the table. Live players may not be as strong technically as on-line players on average, but they are light years ahead of on-line players in terms of physical tells. You’re giving everyone time to look at you and you aren’t that good an actor.

Run It Twice
You’ve seen it on TV and are tempted to do it in a poker room. Poker rooms generally have rules about this, but most will not do this for a 1/2 table because the stakes are too small. Definitely ask the management before going to the table if you feel the urge that you might want to do so. Keep in mind that it brings the table to a halt as you negotiate with the villain.


Misc. Other Etiquette Issues

Angle Shooting
This could be a CotW all by itself. In essence, this is the idea of pushing the boundaries of the rules to the limit. One recent example was a player who was facing a river shove, said, “You got it,” while showing his TP card. His opponent showed relief that her bluff worked and then he called. After a long time, he finally got a reduced size pot as a compromise.

Another is deliberately mucking a hand out of turn. Some like to do this to encourage a call and then sneak behind a ruling that actions out of turn aren’t binding.

From an etiquette point of view, a victim of an angle shoot is going to complain. The dealer has to resolve it. Since they’re angry, the floor will get involve. All of this slows the game down. Every other player will see you as an angle shooter. While some won’t mind, everyone is going to take more time with you after this and up their game. The victim will often leave. Since they weren’t usually good to begin with, you’re letting money leave the table. Yes, name players do it. Annie Duke is reported to look at others card’s and been caught actually picking up mucked cards to see what the person had. Just play your cards without it.

Tipping
The dealers and waitstaff at a casino are doing well if they make minimum wage as their salary. A great deal of their income comes from tips. At a bare minimum, it is expected that you’ll tip $1 to the dealer for any hand that sees betting on the flop that you win and a $1 to anyone who brings you something to drink. Beyond that is personal preference, although if the pot is fairly big, I bump it up. If you are playing for laughs and want rapid drink service, tipping $5 the first time will make sure the waitstaff will have your drink ready for you before you finished the last one.

If the dealer is exceptional over time (more hands that average, keeps the game moving fast by knowing the rules), I’ll also tip them $1 when they get up and leave. Fast, accurate dealers are +EV to a winning player and you want to keep them in their jobs.

Table Talk
Just like on line, you shouldn't discuss a hand while it is going on. Nor should you provide free coaching sessions at the table. This is harder live because people are friendly and everyone has an interest in poker in common. Find anything else to talk about. However, don't be a life nit. If someone wants to let you know their state of knowledge, let them. If asked an opinion, I just shrug and say nothing.

PROTECT YOUR HAND
This is not strictly an etiquette issue, but everyone brought it up, so I’ll mention it as well. Place a chip protector on your cards. Keep the cards away from the dealer until you have folded or the dealer has finished pushing the pot to you. The B&M forum is littered with threads about people mucking hands into their hands, dealers taking their cards and mucking them, etc. In one case, a player went all in, the dealer mucked the cards, the player’s hand was ruled dead, but his money had to stay in the pot.

The dealer and floor aren’t necessarily going to protect you. There was a recent thread where a player didn’t like the player next to him. While that player and dealer weren’t looking after he raised pf, he switched cards with him and mucked the first player’s hand. At the end, the player went, “WTF, I thought I had a set.” The dealer actually posted he felt the player had it coming to him and the floor management just laughed and agreed. This brings up another point.

Mistakes
Unless you play on UB, you’re used to having the computer make the correct decision every time. In live play, dealers make mistakes, because they’re human and are working at high speed. They’ll deal to players who just sat down and didn’t post a blind, they’ll flip cards, they’ll send the pot to the wrong person and more.

As a player, you’re obligated to point at an error, even if you aren’t in the hand. The thing is that you need to say something immediately before further action takes place. Once there is substantial action, the ruling is often going to be it is too late to change.

Be aware that calling the floor slows the game down further and is unlikely to change the dealer’s ruling. In many cases, the “floor” is actually a dealer who is taking a management role for the night. Therefore, you want to be polite if you have to call the floor. They could have reversed roles tomorrow or be best friends. They are certainly co-workers. Telling the floor that the dealer is an ******* only makes sure the decision goes against you.

Personal Hygiene
While playing for 30 hours straight not leaving the table makes you think of yourself as a true poker degen, you end up smelling like one, too. Don’t play 18 hours, sleep 4 hours in your car and come back for another 18 hour session. Brush your teeth, bring a washcloth to clean yourself up and use deodorant at least. You aren’t playing a tournament, everyone can get up and leave. If you’re driving players away, the management could ask you to leave.

Chopping the Blinds
If everyone folds to the blinds, one player can ask the other if he wants to chop the blinds, which means the SB and BB just pull back their respective blinds. Chopping is a personal decision. However, the protocol is that you once you decide one way or another, you do that every time after that with that player, no matter what the cards are. I just simply don’t look at my cards in the blinds until there is action elsewhere.

Clear Verbal Signals
When you are verbalizing your action, they should be one or two word: “Fold,” “Bet,” “Call,” “Raise,” or “All-In.” Unlike on-line, there are numerous mistakes and misunderstandings when playing live. The harsh reality is that if the dealer rules a certain way and the other players aren’t vocal to support you, you’ll lose the argument. Saying, “I’m calling” sounds like “I’m all-in” in lots of parts of the US. That could be costly, especially since your argument about it would tell the other person you don’t have a monster. If you say, “Raise 80,” it could be interpreted as a raise to 80 or a raise of 80.

Mucking Your Cards
If you sessions go like mine, you’ll mainly get dealt premium hands like 72o, J4o, etc. Rather than abuse the table with such a bounty, you want to fold once in a while to give the others a chance. Push or gently throw your cards towards the muck. Deliberately throwing the cards somewhere else is a breach.

Watch Your Hands
When a deal is going on, keep your hands off the table. Cards can use your hands as a ramp to take off and flip over. If a card comes near you and it was meant for your neighbor, let him reach for it and get it. Don’t ever touch your neighbors cards. Don’t touch the chips until the dealer pushes them to you.

Celebrations
To paraphrase Paul “Bear” Bryant, when you win a big pot, act like you’ve done it before. Acknowledge the congratulations with a smile and move on. Don’t fist pump, jump up and down, do a lap around the table, etc. The person you took the pot from is right in front of you and isn’t happy. He’s less happy if you show a monster bluff. Hopefully he’s a decent person and will calm down, but he could decide to wait for you as you go to your car to teach you a lesson as well.


Conclusions

One can go on with lots of different scenarios. The main thing is to act like an adult and keep the game moving. For the tl,dr crowd, here’s a summary quote, which is a belief that is nearly universal and part of many belief systems such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism.

“And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” – Jesus of Nazareth

First!! Very nice post.

Nice post Venice. After playing a ton live recently, I've noticed so many people that have no clue about how to conduct themselves at a live table. It is a lot like golf, in that there are a lot of things that one should or shouldn't do that just isn't in a rule book.

There is a learning curve to the rules. I often had trouble with betting. When I first started, I would make my action without saying it, so my intended raises would just end up as calls. Also, I'm not accustomed to counting out chips, so I would slow down the table with that. The dealer told me that I could just announce how much I wanted to raise and then count it out so that the play could continue.

This needs to be stickied at the top of B&M. Well done! Glad you could take something out of my ramblings and rantings.

I just returned from 5-6 months playing low stakes NL in Las Vegas and have two quick notes -

Most low stakes NL games in Las Vegas (1/2, 1/3) you don't have to post or wait for the blinds, you can just sit in and get a hand the next deal. If you sit down in the BB many places will ask if you want a hand or want to wait for the blinds to pass and come in free in the CO (you won't get the button without paying the blinds). An aside to this is if you miss your BB for whatever reason after you've been playing (smoke or bathroom break, etc.), you can "buy the button" by posting both blinds from the small blind position with the SB part being dead (In a 1/2 you post 3, but others only have to call 2 and if it is raised to 4 you have to call 2). Otherwise you will need to post both blinds from the CO or wait an orbit for the blinds to hit you again.

The other thing was in pointing out a mistake by the dealer. It was actually considered bad etiquette to point out a dealer mistake unless you were in the hand. If someone in the hand spoke up then it was fine to confirm it. Their thinking was probably the one player per hand and protect your own hand rules.

I played in a number of casinos, Harrahs, MGM, Golden Nugget, Ceasars, Bill's, Hooters, Bellagio, etc. and all of them for their low stakes NL games played as above. No idea about the 2/5 NL and higher limits nor about their limit games.

Garon

agreed

How does it work when you have to get up for a break (bathroom or w/e)? Do you just tell the table you're taking a break and leave your chip stack?

Smokers: Exhale completely before coming back to the table please. you're skanky breath and cig smoke - still peeling off your clothes as you rush back to the table - for the next hand before you're dealt out, is the reason smoking has been banned in most poker rooms.

And please, at least crunch up a breath mint or two?

I love watching the smoker who is leaning back in trying to watch the action, while holding his cig away with an outstretched arm, then snub it out and tuck it in his shirt pocket for the "break" between the next two hands! LOL

nice job OP!

In the cardrooms I've played, the dealer will toss a missed blind button in front of your seat, and if you're taking a quick meal, anywhere from 20-45 minutes is usually allowed before someone complains and the floor removes your chips from the table.

I've seen 3-5 gone at the same time and it kills a game. mentioning something to the dealer and table if you;re going to be gone longer than a hand or two, would be good "etiquette".

Thanks EN09. Also, when you see an empty seat, just sit down and put your buy-in on the table? I'll hopefully be in a casino soon and I don't want to look like a tool

if you;re on a waiting list to play, the brush will send you to the table with an open seat... if you happen to walk in and find one or two tables with an open seat - no waiting lists displayed - you'll have your choice of which seats to sit at... i normally will buy chips after getting seated... just get your cash out and a runner will take it and bring back your racks... the dealers where i play live at will "loan" you a stack or two if you decide to get involved playing prior to the chip runner returning.

ShadowInq - Yes just leave your chip stack and go to the restroom/smoke whatever. I usually go when it's my BB turn and take my time and miss an orbit, or you can rush and only miss a few hands and go when you're in MP and get back in time for the BB.

When you first get there don't just sit and put your buy-in on the table, go to the floorman and ask to be seated. Sometimes there is a list and sometimes there is an open seat. But see the floorman either way, don't just sit down! In most places they will take your money and bring your chips, in which case you tell the dealer "I've got 200 behind" or whatever you are buying in for as you sit down.

Word of warning - Binions Horseshoe will regularly seat locals ahead of you EVEN if you are first on the wait list. None of the other places I played did. I politely pointed out I was first on the list and the floor told me ... Oh I know and saw you sitting there, we'll get you in next (after seating two others first). I told him "I'll just go play somewhere where they want my money in play" and left and never played there. I asked other players around town and learned that is their normal routine.

It depends on the type of break. If it is going to be just a couple of hands (pee break with a toilet nearby), just get up and leave with your chips there. Note though that the casino is not responsible for your chips and if somebody takes some, you're out of luck. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often.

If you are taking a dinner break, every room has different rules. They'll hold your seat for a some amount of time. Some rooms are putting in rules that prevent more than 2 people leaving at a time, because of the table ruining effect of having 5 people sitting out. Ask first. As mentioned above, you don't have time for a leisurely meal. At most, you'll get about 1 hr (2 downs for the dealers).

Where I play, it is never a long wait for a seat even on weekends, so when I want to go to dinner, I just pick up my chips and leave. However, I know there are locations where if you got up, you could have an hour+ wait to get reseated, so I understand holding your seat.

As for seating, I usually go to the desk and ask for a table. Most rooms try to balance their tables, so even if there are lots of seats open, they want you to go the table with the greatest need for a player. However, if you want to play at the same table as a friend, where I play they'll let you.

I usually have a wary eye on friends seating together. If they are donks, I'm happy. If not and there are several of them, I ask for a table change.

Thanks for all the help guys. A good CoTW for us mouse-clickers looking to start in live play.

Nice post:
The original rule for showing your hand had to do with if you thought two people were colluding. If you really think someone is colluding, quietly go to the floor on your way to bathroom/break/drink and ask them to watch for a little bit, and ask for a table change.

About Chopping:
If the table is chopping, as the SB you should ask the BB before you look at your cards, and as the BB you should agree before looking at your cards. Once the BB and I were chopping the whole time, then one time it comes around, I ask "Chop", He responded "No, I have a big hand and I want to play it". I looked down at bullets and took his $400...karma.

That's insane. I think of all the hundreds of live hands I've played, the table folded to the blinds like twice.

its definetly a feast or famine thing. If the table is folding, it folds around a lot, if not there is a lot of limping. Usually I see it fold around when the table all of a sudden becomes short...like the donator just left along with the table captain....or its 2AM and the grinders are waiting for the drunkards to show up.

Where I play, it's ridiculously hard to get people to fold preflop. It seems like anything below $15 at a 1-2 game is akin to limping. That works out, though, since people are itching to muck their cards when they invariably miss.

In NL, it is far less useful to "collude." If you don't want someone calling or want to build a pot, you just bet what you want. Two players raising a pot simply makes calling or shoving more attractive to the third player. Colluding is more of a limit problem where two players can build a pot by raising each other with a third person in the middle. It is so unlikely to happen to a micro nl player playing his first couple of sessions live that I wouldn't even worry about it. There's an exception to every rule, but you'd have to be certain that there was colluding going on before you'd need to invoke the IWTSTH.

It is more likely to see soft playing, where couples or two friends check down a hand where one shows the nuts on the river. At 1/2, the people involved don't know there is anything wrong with it and most of the other players at the table aren't going to have a clue what's wrong with it. Since 1/2 is mainly a social game (your win rate really can't make you much of a living), the casino floor is going to look the other way much of the time, since if there is $40-$50 in the pot they've already made as much money as they will make in the hand and don't want to chase away customers.

I agree that it is best to not look at your hand in the blinds until there is action, but I also almost never see anyone else doing it at 1/2. I've read your story before and actually used it to convince people to chop even after they saw their hand. That's why I only hinted at doing it, rather than saying it is bad. If everyone does it and no one objects, it really isn't bad poker etiquette, however much I wish it would be.

The only "collusion" you might find at a table is when two friends or relatives are sitting next to each other and one is in the hand while the other coaches him whispering "call him" or "bet it" or "you know what he has" (usually indicating he thinks you have top pair). Mainly comes from them playing online a little and helping them learn the game where online they always helped or asked what to do or what you think he has. Gently reminding them, or the dealer to let them know it is only one player per hand usually suffices as they sometimes don't know it's actually wrong. It's rare though since 1/2 is a social game in a casino as venice said, though it might happen. I'd say in the 5-6 months I played in Las Vegas recently it may have happened 10-15 times. And I played almost every night.

Garon

My point wasn't that there is rampant collusion, my point was that was the reason the rule "I want to see the hand" was put in place. I only suspected of collusion once, but was able to exploit it (i friend would signal to the other that she was going to limp/3bet and squeeze an aggressive player in the middle..I had the opportunity to lay a tarp, then got sucked out on..sigh).

Never ever ever ever - make sexist/racist remarks at the table.
Women at the table - whether they are good or bad - are good for the table. The better looking they are the better - bad players will play for longer with women at the table. Good players can become bad players with a woman at the table but particularly in the pot.

So treat women with respect whilst at the table - if not for just common courtesy then do it for EV.

Racist comments - that should be self-explanatory. You are being a douche.

Avoid talking about politics, sex or religion.

excellent post OP, thanks a lot for this. i have only played home games and one 18+ casino game and it was very different. will be awesome to refer back to this when i turn 21 in a few months.

One more thing - in a 1/2 when you wish to raise it to 5 PF (you should be raising more of course, but this is an example) do not just toss in a red chip silently, this will be considered only a CALL. Anytime there is a bet and you silently toss out a single larger denomination chip that will be considered a call and not a raise. To avoid this either say "Raise" in a loudish (not yelling) clear voice, or add a white chip to the other chip. I prefer saying "Raise" for the intimidation factor, plus it's more fun!

Along these same lines, string bets are not allowed. That is when you put some chips out to bet/raise, then go back to your stack for more because you didn't have enough in your hand at first. The extra chips will not be allowed. To avoid this you may either say "Make it 25" or "Raise to 25" ... Or as I prefer to do say "Raise" as soon as it's your turn then figure out how much you want to make it, then count your chips out and put them in all at once. When counting out your raise either do it while they are still in your hand, or do it next to your chip stack ... not in front of your cards. Some places have a line and once any chips are placed in front of that line your bet is completed. Count out your raise behind the line.

Garon