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].

When Calls Go Against The Visiting Team

Dear The Rules Guy:

I was visiting Las Vegas on vacation and played some poker. The poker action was kind of in the muck, so I was excited when an action player sat down. He dusted off a few racks in the first 30 minutes. But then this happened: He answered his phone while he was in a hand. The dealer said “Okay, your hand is dead.” Action player protested, because Seat 1, clearly a regular, had been on her phone for 20 minutes and played four or five hands to showdown with a different dealer. The action player was told the rule is the rule and his hand was dead. He promptly got up and left. Why, oh why, is there one set of rules for regulars and a different set of rules for visiting players?

— Silly Rules in Sin City

Dear SRSC:

Why indeed! That situation is almost unfathomable in almost any other industry. But anyone who plays in a room with a large “regular” clientele will know of what you speak. Regulars treat the place like their own private club; all too often, the staff sides with them.

Regular are good customers, and pay a lot of rake. If they get the odd favor or benefit of the doubt, that’s fine by The Rules Guy. But there should never, ever, not even once, be different rules for different players. If it’s okay for Seat 1 to stay on the phone while playing a hand, it’s okay for the action player. (Note: No one should be on his or her phone during a hand. The rule is fine; it’s the enforcement we’re talking about here.)

Dealers and floor people must be consistent. And for the little ones, like talking on the phone, give a warning once and kill the hand the next time—to everyone at the table.
Players, especially new players or action players, are to be prized and welcomed. The sure-fire way not to do that is to selectively enforce the rules. That guy was right to leave the card room, and he has no reason to come back. The room probably lost a customer for life.

Actions Do Speak Louder Than Words

Dear The Rules Guy:

I have been playing poker professionally for many years, and felt I did nothing wrong in the following situation, but I would like your opinion. At my casino, it’s okay to talk and show cards when heads-up. Talking people into folding when they should call — or calling when they should fold — is a big part of my game.

The game is $1-$2, the stacks are about even at $300, and I am in Seat 4. A player in the Seat 3 (call him Bananas) raises frequently to $13 or $31, and after I fold, Bananas shows me hands like pocket threes or eight-high, five-high, or A-10. After about an hour of play, he raises to $31, and I look at pocket nines — usually a monster to his raising range, so I reraise to $100. He says he has a big pair, and I respond by saying I have a bigger pair. He shows me pocket jacks, and asks me if I have a bigger pair than these, and here’s where the controversy comes in.

I told him he was beat (the only way I could win). He asked if he called could we check it down? I said if he called I was all-in on the flop, and to do whatever he wanted. He said, “Do you really have a bigger pair than these?” and I said yes. He asked if he folded would I show? I said, “I never know how to answer that question.” He said, “Come on, we play together all the time,” so I said okay, I would show him this time. He folded, and I showed him the nines. Of course, he exploded, said that was dirty, and left the game.

Several players I respect said what I did was very poor etiquette, and was indeed very dirty. They said I either shouldn’t have said anything when he showed me the jacks, or just told him my money was already in and to do whatever he wanted. In other words I shouldn’t have lied. What is your opinion?

— The Dragon

Dear Dragon,

First, The Rules Guy appreciates the fact that you wrote in, particularly when your behavior is the subject at hand. That shows a certain strength of character and respect for the game, and TRG salutes that.

But that doesn’t change the fact that you acted badly here. It wasn’t against the rules, maybe, but it’s against the spirit of the rules. And you didn’t behave with grace or sportsmanship either.

Let’s accept your stipulation that table talk and showing hands when heads-up is acceptable. It’s not, but different clubs have different informal rules. (And note: For tournament players, this is a definite no-no. Under Tournament Directors Association rules, you can’t “disclose contents of live or folded hands”, and you’re subject to penalties for exposing cards with action pending or for miscalling your hand at showdown in an effort to get someone to fold. Basically, nothing you or your opponent did could be done at the WSOP with impunity. TRG is just sayin’.)

But a culture that allows you to do something is not necessarily a culture that compels you to do something. And TRG thinks you crossed a line, in a couple of ways.

Yes, you’re within your rights to lie about your hand. A little bit of verbal posturing may go a long way to selling your bluff, though few people do this well. TRG thinks the best course of action was to say nothing; let your actions tell the story.

You also make it sound as if your agreement to show your hand if he folds is a key part of your sales pitch. Perhaps. But TRG wonders if your willingness to show was, in some small way, a desire to rub his face in your bluff in a public way. Some players do like to use aggression and in-your-face behavior to induce tilt; in the view of TRG, aggression is good, in-your-face behavior is bad.

To TRG’s way of thinking, your action was super-strong. Your villain was looking for a reason to fold. You didn’t need to verbally spar with him. Would he have folded if you’d been playing mum poker? Who knows? What you do know is that he left the table, and you got zero benefit from humiliating or angering him. You won the pot, but what did you lose? TRG is reminded of the old adage about winning the battle but losing the war.

All of this is avoided when people adhere to the basic rules (whether enforced or not). Table talk is enjoyable and a central part of the pleasures of live poker… right up until it isn’t. ♠