First-Time Visit to a Brick-and-Mortar Cardroom

At a recent meeting of the Las Vegas Wednesday Poker Discussion Group, David Chanduloy mentioned that he had recently played poker with lots of novice players who were making the transition from online play to live play. He suggested that I write a column to give them some hints about the "do's and don'ts" of playing in a brick-and-mortar cardroom. So, naturally, I told him that if he could write some suggestions based on things he had seen happen with beginning cardroom players, I would be happy to put them in my column.

Later that night, I received the following e-mail from David with some helpful advice for novices:

There are many things you should know when playing live poker in a casino. Live-game players, especially the inexperienced, should be aware of the following procedures:

1. Put a chip or something on top of your cards to protect them from being accidentally mucked by the dealer. This is especially important if you sit in the seat to the immediate left or right of the dealer.

2. Do not throw chips into the pot ("splash the pot") so that they get mixed up with other chips. You should put your bet a few inches in front of you so that the dealer can easily reach it.

3. Do not put your bet too close to another bet. This may cause other players to think there has been a raise.

4. You must show all of your cards to win the pot. You cannot win a pot with just one card.

5. Do not muck your cards before the dealer pushes you the pot.

6. Do not give away your intention to act until it is your turn. This includes not picking up your chips prematurely or not getting ready to muck your cards before it is your turn to act.

7. Play in turn. Do not call, bet, or raise until it is your turn to do so. Acting out of turn may influence others to play differently from their original intention.

8. Do not say "all in" without moving your chips into the pot (at least some of them). Some players may not be able to hear you, and therefore may not know there is an all-in bet at the pot.

9. In a heads-up situation, you can raise and reraise until either you or your opponent is all in.

10. When you want to raise the pot, you must either say raise or bet all the chips you want to raise in one motion. In other words, you cannot go back and forth from your stack to put chips into the pot unless you have stated that you're raising in advance. In no-limit or pot-limit, you should state the amount of your bet, thereby protecting your right to make more than one motion to the pot.

11. Turn your hand up promptly when you have the winning hand. It is not nice to turn your hand up slowly, or to show one card at a time.

12. Do not talk about anything that has meaning to a hand in progress. It is considered poor etiquette to discuss or reveal the content of your hand while action is still pending.

13. If you show your cards to anyone in the game, each player has the right to see your hand. This is known as the "show one, show all" rule.

14. Do not be afraid to let the dealer know that you are new to live poker. After all, we were all new once!

15. Be sure to conceal your cards when you pick them up so that no one else at the table can see them.

16. Don't forget that dealers work for tips. When you win a pot, it is customary to tip the dealer.

David, thanks for the excellent advice for newcomers. And for veteran players reading this, don't forget to make new players feel welcome.

Change of subject: My website, www.cardplayercruises.com, was recently out of operation for several days due to technical difficulties. During that time, our office staff was unable to receive e-mails, so if you sent in an e-mail and did not get a response, please send it to us again. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Now, let's play poker!

Linda is available to host poker events and promotions.