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Poker Etiquette
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Whenever people are gathered around a common activity, some rules and manners must be agreed upon in order to ensure the flow and success of that activity. Poker is no different, and comes complete with a set of clear and well defined rules that apply to the game itself. While these rules deal with the technical aspects of each poker variant, including number of players, player actions, betting structure, hand ranking and subsequently determine the winners and losers of each game, the rules completely overlook the manner in which the game is played. The orderly maintenance and flow of the game relies on each and every player's good will and etiquette.
Since there is no common code of conduct that can be applied at every poker table, each player is free to act however they see fit. There are, however, some general rules for good poker behavior, and following these rules will allow you to keep your mind off the social aspect of the game, and concentrate on what's most important - the game itself. The following rules of etiquette all stem from one basic rule: ‘Do unto opponents as you would have them do unto you'.
The Ten Commandments of Poker Table Etiquette
1. Be polite.
There is no need to explain this rule, as it holds true both at the poker table and away from it.
2. Don't act out of turn.This is a mistake that inexperienced players often make. Try not to. It gives the players that act before you vital information about your hand, information that they don't deserve. This information can change the course of the hand. For example, if you are going to fold, and you state this before it is your turn to act, the player to your right knows about your intention before his turn, and he may decide to stay in the hand and try to steal the blinds. Sometimes, experienced players will deliberately act out of turn, or fake their actions before their proper time, in an attempt to influence other player's decisions.
3. Don't talk about your cards even after you've folded them.Talking about your cards while the hand is in play and after you've folded them might give someone at the table an undeserved and unfair advantage. For example, if you let the world know that you threw away a king, then someone representing a set of kings will have a harder time bluffing. On the other hand, someone waiting on a king to complete his draw may decide to fold, knowing that you threw away a king, therefore leaving him with slim chances of drawing another.
4. Don't take too much time to decide your next move.Remember that other players are at the table. If calculating your odds and outs every hand means that the hands you play take twice as long as the hands you fold, maybe you should practice at home and not at the expense of other player's poker time.
5. Leave your chips in plain view at all times.Players make decisions based not only on their stack size, but also on the sizes of their opponents' stacks. When called to do so during a tournament, you must let the other players at the table know how many chips you're holding, so it's good practice to have your chips visible at all times.
6. Leave your cards in plain view at all times.This way everyone at the table knows who is still in the hand.
7. Let bygones be bygones.Listening to someone's painful story about what could've happened three hands earlier if only he had done such and such can really be annoying sometimes.
8. Leave the preaching to the priests.Don't try and teach players what they did wrong. It's bad enough to lose without having someone explaining to you why you lost. Also, do you really want to make your opponents smarter? In general, it's better to keep your mouth shut and let the cards do the talking.
9. Show one, show all.Never show your cards before the showdown. If you fold, make sure no one gets to see your card. In case you win a hand before the showdown, and you decide to show your cards, you must show them to everyone at the table.
10. Don't take it out on the dealer.A bad hand is no reason to treat the dealer badly. Be mature about the hands you get, and make the best of them.