'As Seen on TV'

No, this is not an infomercial. Although televised poker has brought poker to a level never thought imaginable, it also has changed the way the game is viewed when it comes to its rules. Millions of people are walking into poker rooms around the world after having "learned the game" while watching it on TV. Those people are expecting to find "that TV game," and are surprised to learn that poker isn't all about final tables and moving all in! Of course, the game they see on TV is actually nothing close to the cash games being played in poker rooms.

Walk into any poker room, and you will find players in small-limit cash games who are taking extended periods of time to make calls for small amounts of money, going "into the tank" while making their decisions. Players are standing up and walking around the table while they ponder a decision (often for small amounts). The number of sunglasses, caps, and iPods has increased, too. (I wear all three!) All of this is a result of the influence of televised poker.

Televised final-table action has also brought some confusion in the rules. There is a distinct difference between the rules in cash games and tournaments. Tournaments are events in which the actions of each player could potentially have an impact on every other player. Cash games are player against player, and the table next-door isn't going to be impacted by a decision that is made in a different game.

In addition, cash games are not being broadcast around the world for all to see. Thus, there is no reason to create excitement at the expense of the game.

There are two rules in particular that new players think apply to all poker games:

Rule No. 1 - All cards will be turned faceup once a player is all in and all of the action is complete.

Rule No. 2 - A penalty may be invoked if a player exposes any card with action pending.

These are both tournament rules that became standard within the last 10 years. Neither of these rules was intended to be used in cash games. Rule No. 1 was put into place in tournaments for two reasons: to add excitement to televised final tables and to prevent collusion (although it doesn't really achieve that).

For the same reason that it doesn't prevent collusion in tournaments, it also will not do so in cash games. Adding excitement to cash games is not worth giving up the ability to conceal all of your secrets.

Rule No. 2 was put into place because, in a tournament, the actions that a player takes could have an impact on other players in the tournament. If a player exposes his hand to get another player to fold, he may have helped that player last longer in the tournament.

Poker player John Ridge wrote to me recently with a situation he experienced in a no-limit hold'em home cash game that was using what everyone agreed are "casino rules."

On the turn, a player made an all-in bet, at which point the only other player left in the hand went into the tank taking an inordinate amount of time. At that point, the player who bet asked him why he was taking so long, to which the player considering his decision responded, "I think I'm ahead. I have a pair and flush draw." He then exposed his hand.

John explained what happened next: "The host of the game declared that the exposed hand was dead because he exposed it during live play. He awarded all of the chips to the other player without allowing the player with the exposed hand to act."

Obviously, this was a terrible ruling. This being a cash game, the player should have been able to play the hand out however he wanted. Killing an exposed hand is never the right decision here.

Michael O'Malley is the poker room manager forwww.Partygaming.com, and can be reached at [email protected]. His website is updated regularly at www.rzitup.com.