Many new players are coming into brick-and-mortar (B&M) cardrooms for the first time. They have played online and in home games, but may not know the rules and conventions of live cardroom play, and might get tripped up.
Playing in Turn
Every cardroom has a rule exhorting players to play in turn, but the details differ in each. Some caution players not to act out of turn. Many specify penalties for acting out of turn, ranging from being forced to follow through on an indicated action, to having the action ignored, to not being allowed to act as indicated.
You can't play out of turn online; the software won't let you (apart from folding in turn when you shouldn't because there has been no bet, but that's a different situation, and was discussed in Part II). You can in home games, but they are often so informal that no one objects; for example, in a hand of seven-card stud, on the river Joe discovers that he has missed yet another flush and disgustedly throws his cards in the muck while four other players have yet to act upon the bet from the player who has a pair of aces on the board.
A newcomer to a cardroom might inadvertently call out of turn, before the player to his right has had a chance to act. What happens to that bet depends on the cardroom. In some cardrooms, the bet must stay, even if the player who has not yet acted now raises. Then, the out-of-turn player would be forced to leave the bet in the pot and have to fold if he does not also call the raise. In others, he would be permitted to remove the bet and fold if he wished, or call the bet and raise. In still others, the action would have no effect and the player would be able to in turn do whatever he liked - fold and withdraw the bet, call, raise, or reraise if it had been raised.
Arising out of this, in some cardrooms, if the player who did not yet have a chance to act because of what the out-of-turn player did now raises, the out-of-turn player would be permitted to withdraw the bet, but not if the in-turn player just calls.
And if the out-of-turn player raised, in some cardrooms the bet and raise must stand, in some the player must only call and cannot raise, and, as in the earlier situation, in some the action has no bearing because it was not in turn.
Situations like these, even if explicitly covered in the rules, often cause arguments, so the best thing is to pay attention and wait your turn to act. If you're not sure that it's your turn, don't do anything and the house dealer will remind you when the action gets to you. But don't make it a habit to wait for that reminder. It annoys the other players (because it slows the game down). Once you get used to cardroom play, you'll always know when it's your turn.
Making Verbal Declarations
Relating to the preceding are verbal declarations of your intentions. Many rulebooks state, "Verbal declarations in turn are binding." Unfortunately, they often do not also say what the status is of verbal declarations made out of turn. And confusion often reigns, because in some, the rule merely reads, "Verbal declarations are binding," but adds no further exegesis.
What this means in practice is that if you say "I raise," and it's your turn, you must raise. If it's not your turn, how this is handled usually follows guidelines similar to the betting-out-of-turn situations just described.
If you say "I raise" (or words to that effect) in a no-limit game, the amount you are permitted to raise is also variously interpreted. Some of this was covered in "String Bets" in Part III. Some cardrooms interpret such a statement, without a specific amount and without your having the total you intend to bet in chips in your hand at the moment of the announcement, to be a raise of the minimum - that is, exactly equal to the previous bet or raise. Others allow you to say the "magic" word ("raise," or some equivalent) and permit you to make multiple trips back to your stack for the raise amount. Some permit only one chip replenishment. Play it safe by announcing an amount ("I raise $100") or pushing into the pot in one motion a stack exactly as large as you want the total bet to be.
Giving Up
Declarations of surrender often lead to arguments. In some cardrooms, if you say "You win," your opponent is permitted to throw his cards away unseen and take the pot. You cannot then show your cards and ask him to produce a better hand. However, any other player can make such a request. Since the winning cards are considered a called hand, they must be shown upon request. (You'll discover that in practice, such a request is rarely made.) In a cardroom with this interpretation of the rules, the dealer would kill your hand (by either touching your cards to some of the discarded cards, or physically discarding your hand), so that even if a winner, your hand would have no claim to the pot. In such a cardroom, make sure that if you say words that indicate surrender, you really mean to concede the pot. In such cardrooms, words of surrender would often include "Take it," "It's yours," "I can't win," and so on. You might utter such a phrase after making what you consider to be a bluff on the river and getting called. If your hand could possibly win, don't surrender unless you're willing to possibly lose a pot that could be yours. You may be convinced that your opponent has called with at least ace high when you're bluffing, but if you have king high, either say so or just turn your hand faceup when called.
In other cardrooms, what you say has no bearing whatsoever on the outcome. Even in those cardrooms, it's best not to verbally surrender unless you really intend to have no future claim to the pot.
Michael Wiesenberg's The Ultimate Casino Guide, published by Sourcebooks, is available at fine bookstores and at Amazon.com and other online book purveyors. The Official Dictionary of Poker should see a new incarnation within a year. Send profferings, praise, and protestations to [email protected].
