Poker etiquette at online tables – tips for playing poker online As successful players know, good etiquette is essential at the poker table. It helps everyone get along, gives you more hands per hour – and there’s usually a tactical advantage too. Lastly, it’s good poker etiquette to have all your stacks in easy-to-understand stacks. For example, you shouldn’t have 16 $100 chips in one stack. You should have them in stacks of 10 or 20 so your opponents can clearly see that they’re stacks of $1,000 or $2,000. When you are betting on poker, there are still rules of poker etiquette to adhere to. It may appear to be a product of its era – the “Wild West” where everything and anything was allowed. However, poker actually does have its rules of proper behavior. Call it etiquette, if you will. Online Poker Etiquette. With all this talk about live poker games, you may believe that online poker etiquette is unnecessary, or impossible to implement. Fortunately, there are many rules – spoken and unspoken – that apply to online poker games. Most of this takes place via chat functionality, timing, and actions.

Poker is still one of the most celebrated and watched games. When televised poker tournaments began airing in the early 2000s, poker became even more popular in American culture than it had been before.

The game was already wildly popular, thanks in part to its association with the Wild West and Westerns in general, on top of its consistent appearances in movies. Poker is about as American as apple pie. But just because it’s easily identifiable doesn’t make it easy to just sit down and play like a pro.

Knowing the rules is very different from knowing proper etiquette. If you want to sit down and have a good time without angering your fellow players, here’s some poker etiquette rules to live by.

1 – Wait Your Turn

Now, this might seem like an obvious suggestion, but a lot of new players tend to act out of turn and throw the game off.

It might seem like this isn’t that big of a deal, but it definitely can be to most gamblers. If you act out of turn, and tip off another player they shouldn’t make the bet they were going to (or even hint them to fold their hand), the other players in the pot might get pretty annoyed with you, especially if they end up losing money as a result.

So, when you’re playing poker, always make sure you wait your turn and only act when it’s your turn to act.

This leads me to my next point.

2 – Pay Attention and Make Swift Decisions

Nothing is more annoying than someone looking at their phone or staring off into space while the action is happening, only to see that same person turn to the guy next to them and say, “Hey, what just happened?”

It’s nobody’s job to pay attention to the action but yours. Don’t be surprised if other players glare at you or ignore you if you’re doing something else while the game is ongoing.

The same idea applies for making swift decisions. It’s one thing to need time to focus and think before acting, but it’s another thing to screw around and hold up the game playing too slowly.

What’s worse is that some people do this deliberately to show off or to try to get other players mad. It’s really not okay and can get you into an argument, so play like an adult and make your moves fast.

3 – Don’t Toss Your Chips Into the Pot

This may seem counterintuitive when you see people doing this in movies all the time, but the fact is that throwing your chips into the pot is considered pretty rude.

1. First of all, it makes it pretty hard to figure out what you bet in the first place.
2. Second, you might knock over all the chips in the pot and make it that much harder for the dealer or the winner of the hand to collect the chips.
3. Third, some players do this to try to cheat and bet less or more than they were supposed to. If you do it, play might have to pause while the dealer counts the pot, then you’ll end up with a bunch of people angry at you and not interested in playing with you anymore.

4 – Stay Away From String Betting

String betting is when you don’t make your entire bet at once. You might say, “I see your 20,” and throw in 20, “and raise you 50,” then throw in 50.

What this does is throw people off. They hear that first part and think you’re only calling the last bet. They may immediately bet as soon as you do because they think you’re done. When they realize that what you actually meant to do was raise, they may want to make a different move.

It slows down the game and is generally considered rude, so it’s just something you’ll want to avoid. It doesn’t do anyone any favors and mostly just makes you seem inexperienced and foolish. Some casinos won’t even allow you to do it.

5 – If You’re out of a Hand, Stay Out

This is a big one. Let’s say four people are playing a hand of Texas Hold’em. You have an ace and a three in your hand and you fold after the first round of betting, before the flop, because someone bets big.

The flop comes in with ace, ace, jack. Then, there’s another ace on the turn. You’ll be kicking yourself for throwing away four of a kind of course, but the rest of the players don’t know if anyone that’s still playing has that ace.

That makes the game much more interesting. Anyone there could have the ace in theory. The other players will be seriously considering it. But if you open your big mouth and say, “Don’t worry fellas, I had the other ace!” then, the game will suddenly shift.

Oh, and everyone will pretty much hate you forever. Even the guy who wins the pot might be annoyed if what you said changes how everyone else bets and they bet less.

Even worse, let’s say you fold from that same hand and don’t have the ace, then lie and say that you did have it. This could turn out even worse if one of the other three players has the ace (or if it comes up on the river).

In either case, you’re essentially trying to influence a game that you’re not a part of, which is a huge no-no and considered extremely rude.

6 – Put Your Cards on the Table

Proper Poker Etiquette Card Game

Nobody likes a cheater, and I’m not going to suggest that you would actually try something as silly as an ace up your sleeve, but keeping your cards on the table is the best way to show everyone you’re playing by the rules.

That being said, there are some better, clearer reasons why you’d want to keep your cards on the table, even if you don’t have bad intentions.

1. First, remember that one of the ways the dealer determines who is in and out is by looking at the cards on the table. If your cards are missing, they might think you’re not in the hand anymore, which can throw off the entire game.
2. Another good reason is that if your cards are in your hand, another player (or someone watching) might be able to see your cards and take advantage of that situation.

Rather than setting yourself up for failure or making it easier for someone to cheat, keep the cards on the table. You’ll look more professional that way.

7 – Tip the Waitstaff and Dealers

In most American casinos, the waitstaff, dealer, and many other employees are relying on your tips to make a decent living. Whether you agree or disagree with that, the reality is that they are going to get paid less hourly because of the expected tip.

If you’re making use of their services, be decent and tip them. It shows a certain lack of class and respect if you’re unwilling to tip these hardworking people.

By the same note, be kind and courteous to all the staff. They often work long hours for low pay, and they often have to deal with drunks, angry gamblers, and sometimes, worse. The last thing they need is to have to deal with someone who is sober and just plain rude.

8 – Treat Fellow Players With Respect

Another way to really make a fool of yourself is to act like a big shot or a tough guy at the table.

There’s always someone who wants to talk trash during poker. They’re usually doing it for a reason. They’re probably trying to throw you off their game.

Proper Poker Etiquette

I suppose it’s a poker strategy, but it usually just comes across as low-class and unprofessional. No matter if you’re winning or losing (or somewhere in between), talk to the other players with respect.

If you don’t, you may not have many people to play poker with after a while (in a good scenario), and if you make the wrong person mad, you never know what could happen.

9 – Be Hygienic

I hate that I have to write this, but you run into it more often than you might expect. If you’re going to be playing at the tables and you plan to be there for a long time, you need to take care of your hygiene.

Now, I’m not saying you need a shave and a haircut every time you go to the tables, but you do need to take a shower and consider some deodorant. And if you’ve been gambling at the same table for a few hours, consider taking a break, going to your hotel room, and cleaning off for the sake of the other players.

Everyone will be glad you did—and remember, the tables will always be there.

Conclusion

Poker does have some specific rules of etiquette related to gameplay that you should probably follow, but for the most part, the rules are the same as you might find in just about any other professional setting.

Act like an adult, play nice, and take care of yourself, and you’ll have a great time. A small mistake when you’re new is no big deal, just don’t be a jerk.

Anything I left off this list? Let me know in the comments!

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