The Rules Guy: How To Conduct Yourself at the Poker Table

Most players learn poker’s explicit rules pretty quickly: the “one-chip rule,” for example, or “verbal declarations are binding.” But not everyone seems to have digested the game’s vast book of unwritten rules, admonitions like “don’t berate other players (particularly bad ones)” or “say ‘nice hand’ even when you mean something entirely different.”

Enter “The Rules Guy.” TRG believes that civility and sportsmanship are never wrong, and that bad behavior (even when you’re simply trying to get an edge) is bad for the game. Have you got a question about how to conduct yourself at the poker table? Email TRG at [email protected].

Props to the Tournament Directors Association

One of the most popular tournament directors (TDs) in the poker world, Matt Savage has come in for his deserved share of praise in this column over the past couple of years. But has The Rules Guy ever bestowed a figurative slap on the back to the Tournament Directors Association (TDA)? The TDA, which Matt co-founded with David Lamb, Linda Johnson, and Jan Fisher, serves as the voice of reason and regularity in the poker world.

Yes, the rules are essentially codified, but still differ from card room to card room, from venue to venue, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The TDA does great work, and TRG urges you to urge your card room to adopt TDA rules (which are, of course, designed for tournament play, not cash game play), and check out the latest rules at the TDA website.

One of the things TRG likes best about the TDA is that it has a special section titled “Etiquette & Penalties,” which is worth a read for every player. Tournaments and cash games alike would be much improved for everyone if every player would take to heart “Rule 65: Etiquette Violations”:

Examples include, but are not limited to: persistent delay of the game, unnecessarily touching other players’ cards or chips, repeatedly acting out of turn, betting out of reach of the dealer, abusive conduct, and excessive chatter.

Waiting for Dodo

Dear The Rules Guy:

Weekly $100 tournament at local card room. Seat 1 gets asked to speed up play by the Seat 5. Next hand, Seat 1 who has a more than 50 big blind stack with blinds at 100-200 tanks on the blinds which have not been called. After two minutes, Seat 5 calls the clock. The floor takes about five minutes to come to the table and Seat 1 takes 58 of the 60 seconds to fold. A couple of hands later, Seat 1 folds and Seat 4 shoves all in. Seat 5 asks for a count. While the dealer is counting, Seat 1 calls clock, and it so happens that the floor was close to the table and starts the clock. After the count is finished, Seat 5 has about ten seconds to decide on a hand for about 80 percent of his chips. I feel that the floor was wrong and should not have started the clock until after the count (at the earliest). Am I wrong or was the floor wrong?

— Peter

You’re both right: It’s a candy mint and a breath mint.

Crap, The Rules Guy knows he isn’t going to get away with that kind of flip answer. So, let’s parse this situation and see where we net out:

Are you sure Seat 1 is old enough to play live poker? Because he acted like a five-year-old by milking the called clock; there can be little doubt that his slowness was a form of retaliation against Seat 5.

TRG doesn’t even need to speculate on whether Seat 1 is an asshat. If his first non-action (see point A) suggested retaliation, then his second action, calling the clock when his nemesis has an actual decision to make, confirmed his desire to retaliate and making it clear, if clarity was required, then he was an asshat.

Five minutes is an eternity in any poker situation (particularly when you’re not in a hand), but of course TDs and floor people have a lot of fish to fry, so some slowness is understandable. But TRG is compelled to ask: Do we even need a floor person to execute a called clock? If you accept the fact that “any player in the event may request a clock” (TDA, Rule 27), and the procedure for implementing the clock is clear (“a player has up to 50 seconds to act. If action is not taken before time expires, there will be a ten-second count” [TDA, Rule 27]), then is it possible the dealer could handle this and avoid the wait for the floor person? (There may be good reasons why this can’t be implemented, and TRG would like to know about them.)

Seat 1 acted very precipitously by calling the clock on Seat 5 while the count was being conducted. Seat 5 cannot legitimately be expected to make a decision without knowing, as his right, what the count of the all-in player’s stack is. This isn’t explicitly stated, but look at TDA Rule 27 again: “A clock will be approved only after reasonable time passes.” “Reasonable,” obviously, is subject to interpretation, but two minutes seems to be a reasonable amount of time for someone who has not been abusing the time privilege. Regardless, it’s unreasonable to call the clock while Seat 4’s stack is being counted, which leads TRG to Part E of this saga:

The floor was wrong to approve the clock during the count. In fact, given the perpetrator (Seat 1), he could legitimately ignore the request for a clock and let Seat 5 take his time (if he took too long, another player could call the clock on him). And the floor was wrong to begin the count while the count was taking place.

Ergo, Peter, TRG agrees with you: The floor was wrong, and should not have started the clock until the count was finished. Which makes sense: A player has the right to information before making a decision, in this case, the most basic information: How much is the bet?

TRG is quick to point out that floor people generally deserve the benefit of the doubt. They should be granted a lot of latitude in the interests of enforcing the rules and creating a positive playing experience for everyone—and discretion helps them address rules angle-shooters like Seat 1. (Side note: TRG thinks the floor could have penalized Seat 1 and, at the very least, given him a warning.)

On the whole, tanking does seem to be becoming less and less of a problem, in general, with peer pressure and public shaming (thank you, Daniel Negreanu!) doing the job. All players should know they have the right to call the clock, but realize that the clock must be approved, which is at the discretion of the floor.

A final note and a final nod to the TDA: Calling the clock is not just a player’s right, but a player’s responsibility. Rule 2 of the latest TDA Rules: “Players should…call for a clock when warranted.” TRG likes Negreanu’s philosophy on this one: A player gets a pass the first time he or she appears to be slowing down play, but after that, the clock gets called. There’s no point in sitting around, waiting for Dodo, when there’s poker to be played. ♠