The Third Pillar

Within the next year, several new cardrooms will be opening in Southern California. Naturally, their prospects for success are heavily dependent upon the professionalism of the staffs assembled to run them.

When we speak of professionalism in a poker room, we generally refer to the twin pillars of personnel and management. Management shapes a philosophy, establishes procedures consistent with that philosophy, and supervises their implementation. The dealers – those hardworking folks in the trenches – are responsible for the execution of those procedures in actual day-to-day practice. When attempting to refine and improve the process, what can be done? Well, there's the obvious, of course: careful review of procedures, more thorough training, and closer supervision. But what about the third pillar needed for the solid frame of a poker room? "What third pillar?" you ask. I'm talking about the players.

Let's face it – the players are the game. Poker is of the players, by the players, and for the players. The game's integrity and civility are crucially dependent upon the way the players choose to comport themselves at the tables. Yet, when it comes to the players, it would be silly to speak in terms of improving their training, for the simple reason that there isn't any such training to begin with. I mean, there isn't any at all – none, zip, nada.

Think about that. Would anyone assume that a person with absolutely no experience or training could be handed a deck of cards, pointed toward a poker table, and expected instantly to perform the duties of a dealer? Would you expect that someone unversed in the rules and procedures of poker could discharge the duties of a floor supervisor? Of course you wouldn't, because you know that such assumptions contradict a fundamental truth about human beings: We must learn in order to know. Our knowledge is not innate; it must be acquired. This fundamental premise is acknowledged when we provide training for our poker dealers and supervisors. So, is it realistic to think that players are somehow exempt from this principle regarding their role?

Admittedly, some of what we call poker etiquette is nothing more than the common crossover etiquette that is exercised wherever people gather and interact. But some of it is not; like many spheres of activity, the poker world has its own specialized etiquette, its own prescriptions of appropriate, acceptable behavior that apply to poker-specific situations. Just as knowledge of proper workplace etiquette won't help you when it comes to etiquette on the golf course (that is, knowing to avoid stepping in the line of a putt, and knowing to replace your divots in the fairway and repair your ball marks on the green), neither will a generic sense of propriety automatically translate into appropriate behavior at the poker table.

Indeed, some precepts of poker etiquette are counterintuitive – for example, refraining from helping a player who has overlooked his hand. To someone who has drifted over to the poker room from the blackjack section, the poker maxim "one player to a hand" could seem foreign, or even at odds with a basic sense of goodwill. If he wishes to be at home in the poker world, he will need to become acquainted with the principle that the reading of one's own hand is each player's individual responsibility, and that someone who is "helping" one player is actually doing so at the expense of others. Again, there's nothing innate about such knowledge.

The question then arises: From where is such education supposed to originate? Does it make sense to assume that players without any formal orientation regarding these situations will automatically behave properly? Why should folks who haven't been instructed in poker protocol be expected to exhibit such understanding?

I have a suggestion for addressing this. In a typical cardroom, you'll see a sign on the wall that reads: "Poker Rules." Usually, what follows is a list of 10. You know the ones – you must have a full buy-in when entering the game, check-raising is permitted, string raises are not permitted, no passing chips at the table, cards speak, and so on. That's all fine, but it does nothing to address the fact that most players begin their poker careers innocently ignorant of poker's code of courtesy and decorum. Instead of assuming that their education will be provided by elves, or merely leaving them to observe and imitate players whose own bad habits were likewise acquired from spotty training in poker manners, I submit that cardrooms should make it standard policy to post a second sign – one dealing specifically with poker etiquette.

Here are some things that I believe should be included. I welcome additional suggestions from readers.

Poker Etiquette

1. One player to a hand. Players should never coach other players, or help them read their hands.

2. Players who are not involved in a hand should refrain from making comments about the board's possibilities, as well as comments that could alert other players to something they might have overlooked ("Anybody got a low?"). It is each player's individual responsibility to read his own hand correctly.

3. Players should act in turn, and not until the action of the player in front of them is complete.

4. Indicating action out of turn has the same effect as actually acting out of turn.

5. Please do not fold if there is no bet to you. If there is no bet, your options are to check or bet. If there is a bet, your options are to call, raise, or fold. Since poker is a positional game, "checking out" when there is no bet is rude – it unfairly provides some players information before they're supposed to have it.

6. In stud, please fold your hand by turning your upcards facedown and then mucking them, not by picking up your downcards and using them to slide your upcards together before mucking. That exposes your downcards to players on one side of you, which isn't fair to the players on your other side.

I'm aware that some rooms have a section on etiquette in their rulebooks; alas, too few people ever get around to reading the rulebook – in fact, copies are often not even available. A sign like this sends a much stronger message. Besides conveying the sense that management takes the matter of etiquette seriously, such a sign helps a room to police itself. Peer pressure, after all, is a powerful social force, but one, unfortunately, that sometimes leans toward a slackening of standards. A placard prominently displayed can tend to direct that pressure in the better direction – toward a diligent respect for proper etiquette. And I think this approach would be especially useful to a cardroom that's newly open for business. Good habits, formed early, contribute enormously to a pleasant poker atmosphere; bad habits, on the other hand, become much harder to break once they've become ingrained.

New players may be confused by some of the above, and undoubtedly will have plenty of questions. Frankly, that's terrific, for questions inevitably lead to discussion – and from such discussions, their knowledge of etiquette will become that much more extensive and refined.

Please send questions or comments to [email protected].