Rules of the Game: Part VI

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. As a public service, this series explains many of the rules that newcomers probably have not encountered.

"Money Plays" - Or Does It?

It's simple online. When you need to reload, you just click the right button, specify an amount, and chips appear in your stack. You can't do this, of course, in the middle of a hand, but you can at any other time. As long as you have funds in your account on the particular poker site you are playing, you can add to your stack at any time between hands.

It's just as simple in most home games. You tell the players how much plays, someone gives you the chips - just as long as you don't have a reputation for reneging on such announcements - and you pull out your wallet, or make an arrangement with a friend to borrow the money, or have your name added to a buy-in list for later repayment. And you can usually put cash on the table, and the cash plays; You can throw cash into a pot in lieu of chips. In fact, some home games are played strictly for cash, although most use chips or a mixture of chips and cash.

It's more complicated in a cardroom. You might think that putting cash on the table clearly signifies your intentions, but you'd often be wrong. In most cardrooms, and that includes all cardrooms in California and many other states, cash on the table does not play. In Nevada, cash usually plays, but it's tricky, because, depending on the game, not all denominations play. Outside of Nevada, most cardrooms require all bets to be made in chips, and money specifically does not play.

If you want to add to your stack between hands, you can get the attention of a chip seller (sometimes called a chip runner), and that person sells you chips for your cash. In some cardrooms, the house dealer sells chips to players. But sometimes a chip runner is not nearby, or no one hears your call for chips. In this case, you can get the attention of a floorperson or the house dealer and say something to the effect of, "I want chips for this money." However, in such a situation, when you ask for chips, make sure that your request is specifically acknowledged by someone and that that someone then says, for example, "One hundred dollars plays." If the next hand is dealt and it comes time for you to put chips in the pot and the chip runner has not yet brought your chips, you can use the cash until the actual chips arrive. But this is generally permitted only if some cardroom official has stated aloud words to the effect of, "Money plays." Without such an announcement, you just might be forced to limit your betting to however many chips are actually in front of you. In a situation like this, perhaps someone else at the table will trade you the appropriate number of chips for your cash, enabling you to play the hand. If so, that person is immediately required ­- or as soon as practicable - to purchase chips with that cash. Part of the reason for this has to do with legislation governing cardrooms. States, counties, or municipalities sometimes have laws that state that chips and not cash must be used in poker games. Another part is to make it harder for players to take money off the table. In table-stakes games, which is what all poker games are in public casinos, players must not remove chips - and that includes chips that have been temporarily converted for convenience into cash ­- from the table unless they are quitting the game. Removing chips from the table is known as ratholing (or "going south"), and it is a practice that's strictly forbidden because it is unfair to the other players, who might not otherwise have a chance to win back money they have lost to the player removing those chips.

In cardrooms that do allow cash on the table, the rules differ on how much of that cash actually plays. For example, in a game played with $100 chips, as, for example, a $400-$800 limit game, only $100 bills might play. The wad of cash on the table in front of you might include twenties, but they would not be allowed in a pot. In such a game, unless you're playing for literally tens of thousands of dollars, and want to keep a few "bricks" like those of High Stakes Poker on the table, it's best to exchange all of the money on the table for chips. So, if you went all in and had four $100 bills plus five twenties, you could add only $400 to the pot. But if you had four $100 chips and five $20 chips, you could put in the entire $500.

Michael Wiesenberg has been a columnist for Card Player since the first issue in 1988. His latest book, The Ultimate Casino Guide, published by Sourcebooks, is available at fine bookstores and at Amazon.com and other online book purveyors. Send offerings, overlaudation, and obloquy to [email protected].