Etiquette at the Poker Table

If you play live poker for long enough you'll probably encounter plenty of players who don't follow this rule. It's a very easy one to stick to yourself and there's really no excuse for not being polite and courteous to your fellow players or your dealers for that matter. You don't have to overdo it and you can even stay quiet if you want to, but using good manners isn't hard to do and it'll create a more welcoming atmosphere at the table.

You have a responsibility to pay attention to what's happening at the poker table while you're playing and it's especially important to know when it's your turn to act. It certainly won't take long for other players to get frustrated if they have to constantly remind you when to play. You should also ensure that you post your blinds and antes in a timely manner and that you avoid acting out of turn. Don't take an excessive amount of time while making simple decisions and don't keep players waiting while you order a drink or something to eat.

Making your actions clear will not only make your life easier but your opponent's life as well. Shoving a few chips into the pot and mumbling "call" or "raise" under your breath doesn't give you an advantage and it'll probably just annoy your opponents. It's not hard to slide a neat stack of chips in front of you and declare your actions with clarity. This will avoid any confusion and it will help ensure that you don't get accused of trying to gain an unfair advantage by misrepresenting the action you are taking.

If you win a hand without going to a showdown, you can choose to show the table your cards. What you cannot do, though, is show them to just one player. This potentially gives that player an unfair advantage, as they are then in possession of information that no-one else has access to. It may not be extremely helpful to them, but it's the principle of the matter that's the real concern. As the saying goes, "If you show one, you must show all." The same rule applies if you decide to muck (throw away without showing) a losing hand after going to showdown.

No one likes a poor loser or a poor winner, so you should always try to be gracious in both defeat and victory while at the poker table. There's nothing wrong with showing a little bit of frustration following a particularly crushing defeat, but you won't gain any respect by going on a massive rant every time you lose a hand.

Likewise, a small celebration after winning a big pot is perfectly acceptable. Celebrating too wildly is just going to agitate your opponents and gloating about how brilliantly you played a hand is equally annoying. If you want the respect of your opponents, then you should act with some degree of humility.

Revealing your cards during a hand, regardless of whether you are still active or not, is very poor poker etiquette. It gives away information to the table that may provide an advantage to one player over another. For example, if one player is on a draw and hoping for certain cards to come and you reveal that you had one or more of those cards, this could change the way they play the hand, which ultimately is an unfair advantage.

Please keep in mind that there's more than one way to reveal your cards to the table. It's easy to avoid telling everyone what you have, but you need to be careful not to reveal your cards accidentally too. Carelessly throwing your cards away when folding, for example, can easily result in exposing them. Your reaction to seeing a flop after folding your cards can also give away unplanned information. If you exclaim in frustration that you would have made a great hand, then players may be able to determine what exactly was in your hand to some degree of certainty.

Giving a running commentary during a hand that you aren't involved in definitely goes against poker etiquette. No one wants to hear your views about what each player may or may not have, what they should do next, or what you think is going to happen. It can be annoying to the players that are involved in the hand, as they probably just want to concentrate. It could also be constituted as giving advice to a player, which is prohibited in most poker rooms.

It's not your place to criticize the way any of your opponents have played. Even if they have made a huge mistake, or you are just trying to offer constructive feedback, it's simply not the way to behave at a poker table. Everyone has the right to play how they want, within the rules of course, and it's not your responsibility to point out where they might be going wrong. In any case, why would you want to help your opponents improve their game? You want them to make mistakes, as that ultimately improves your chances of beating them, so please keep that in mind.

Remember that Poker dealers are just there to do their job and they have no control over what cards are dealt. Verbally attacking a dealer because you've suffered a bad beat or are getting a poor run of cards is never acceptable. You are practically guaranteed to get some bad luck from time to time. It's simply the nature of the game and it's your responsibility to learn how to deal with the frustration and stop yourself from taking it out on the dealer.

It's also worth pointing out that this rule is applicable even if a dealer makes a mistake. Dealers are human after all, and mistakes do happen. There's no excuse for berating a dealer, even if their mistake might have cost you money.

The term slow rolling can be used to describe a few different circumstances, but it would generally apply when a player knows he has the best hand at showdown and takes a long time to turn over his cards in order to build up suspense. It could also apply when a player takes a long time to call an all in bet, despite knowing that they have the best hand at the table.

Many poker players consider slow rolling to be one of the worst breaches of etiquette. It serves no real purpose other than trying to wind up other opponents and rub salt in their wounds after you won a big pot. While some players will slow roll precisely to put down their opponents, it's really not a move that we recommend making.