Seven Sins to Avoid in '07 --- and now in '08

I know.... '07. But these hard-headed, no listening, gonna-do-it-their-way-or-die-mugs ... didn't hear it then and probably won't this time either, but here goes anyway.

Source: The Offical World Poker Tour Magazine http://www.worldpokertour.com/http://www.worldpokertour.com/magazine/?x=detail&aID=389


SEVEN SINS TO AVOID IN ’07Polish your poker etiquette with some sensible New Year resolutions. Poker dealer Ian Hatlen helps you avoid being slapped with a poker ASBO.

1. Never discuss a hand that you’re not involved with.

Casino rules prohibit the discussion of a live hand by players not active in the hand – which is to say, those holding cards. This is perhaps the most fundamental tenet of poker etiquette, yet amazingly it’s also the most frequently breached. As a dealer I’m baffled by how badly some people want to discuss hands they’re not involved in, even after being repeatedly informed both that it’s against house rules and that it shows a lack of respect for others.

In 95% of cases, people talk about hands not to help out a friend or purposely try to sabotage someone, but to demonstrate just how ‘smart’ they are. They love to point out ‘Look how he’s shaking! He must have a monster hand,’ or ‘Remember he did that bet five hands ago and then showed a bluff?’ so everyone at the table will respect their poker knowledge. But this is counter-productive.

2. Quality players shouldn’t draw attention to their abilities.

When weaker players realize they’re up against a strong player, two things tend to happen: they avoid playing marginal hands against the stronger player, and they start to play smarter. Good players know this, and tend not to try to impress others with their abilities.

The dealer should control his or her table and prevent repeated commenting on the hands. If every hand is turning into a 10-man discussion on what the current bettor is holding, you have the right to ask the dealer to control the table. There are very few times I’d advise complaining about a dealer to a floor person, but if a dealer is blatantly allowing table talk that’s affecting the outcome of hands (especially if you’re involved), then it’s perfectly acceptable to speak to a floor person – in a calm and reasonable way, of course.

3. Don’t ‘sandbag’ or ‘slowroll’.

A few places refer to check-raising as ‘sandbagging’, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Although the odd cardroom still doesn’t allow it, check-raising is much more accepted and commonplace in poker than it was 20 years ago. Sandbagging occurs when two or more players have reached the showdown and it’s time to turn over their hole cards to determine the winner of the pot, but one player misrepresents his hand to make the opponent believe they’ve got a chance at winning the pot when, in reality, they don’t.

For example, Player A shows Ad Kd on a Qd Qh Jd 3d 7c for an Ace-high flush. Player B says: “Wow! Nice hand! You got me!” and pretends to throw his cards in the muck…then slams Qs Qc face up and says: “Just kidding! Quads, baby! Ship that pot over here!”

This is terrible etiquette, and will infuriate Player A – not to mention the rest of the table, plus the dealer will likely think Player B is an idiot. Even if Player A has been a jerk all night, there’s really no need to stoop to that level. Also, gloating of any type is generally considered poor form – especially if you’ve outdrawn someone to win the pot.

4. Keep the action going.

There’s nobody at the poker table who wants a slow game – especially if you’re playing in a game where the house takes an hourly session fee instead of a hand rake. For those that play professionally (and for the dealers), unnecessary delays mean fewer hands per hour and less earning potential. For recreational players, fewer hands mean less excitement.

Behavior that’s not appreciated by anyone includes habitually not paying attention to when it’s your turn to act, not posting your blinds, taking extra time to ponder folding when there’s really no decision, and laboring simple actions, such as counting out chips for a call. If the bet is $14, you can verbally announce call and let the action continue, then put your chips in the pot. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching for 30 seconds while a player counts out 17 single chips to call a bet, when he could have simply verbally announced it and allowed the action to continue.

Nobody’s asking you to rush your actions at the table, or to maintain razor-sharp concentration at all times. It’s simply appreciated when you do your best to keep up with the action, and don’t purposely waste time.

Probably the biggest time waster and pet peeve of many dealers, which you should avoid at all costs, is the actor-fold. You’re entitled to take time to make decisions during a hand, and if you’ve a legitimate decision to make, I strongly advise you to take some time to think about it (although someone at the table can usually ask for a clock to be put on you, which gives you one minute). If you’re facing a $950 all-in call, it’s fine to take 45 seconds to ponder your move; it’s not likely to be an easy decision.

But what nobody wants to see, and what drives many players and dealers crazy, is when you take 40 seconds to fold your 7-2 off-suit to an all-in pre-flop because you want to create a table image (that table image, by the way, will be of somebody who wastes time). Occasionally, you won’t want to fold immediately to a bet, and will pretend to think about it a little bit (like when you’ve just put in a bet on a bluff, and you’ve been re-raised), but try to keep the amount of time to a reasonable limit.

5. It’s poker. Just deal with it!

Rarely do 10 hands go by at any given table without someone insulting another player for how they chose to play their hand, or pointing out why it was an unsound play in terms of game theory or pot odds. I know it hurts to have your Aces cracked by 4-9 off-suit, especially when you bet hard all the way, but that’s poker.

Before you sit down at the table, remind yourself that other people have the right to use their money however they see fit, and that it’s the nature of the game that powerful hands can change in value after one card hits the turn or river.

If pocket Aces were the be-all and end-all in the poker world, there would be a rule that pocket Aces were wild, guaranteeing victory every time. Obviously, no such rule exists, so if you don’t want to be the token whiner at the table, take your beats with your chin up.

You might also want to keep in mind that in order for someone to lay a bad beat on you, you have to be ahead in the hand, and they have to have made a mistake in terms of game theory. Let’s say your opponent calls a $300 all-in with 9-4 pre-flop. Sure, when the flop comes 4-4-4, you want to throw a tantrum and call him every name under the sun, but remember that in the long term, every penny you earn at the poker table is going to come from mistakes just like this made by your opponents.

If everyone at the table played optimal game strategy there’d be no long-term winners (except the house rake). You want players to make idiotic calls, and belittling them for doing so makes them feel bad and, believe it or not, even bad players can play better when they want to. Don’t make someone fold their 9-4 off-suit to a raise because they remember how you’ll insult them if it wins – you want that player to be in there with every possible piece of trash to a raise.

6. Understand that a 19% draw will hit…19% of the time.

There’s a certain proportion of players at the table who like to whine about how unlucky they are and how ‘everyone else hits their flush draws all the time, and I never hit mine’. If you prefer that the people around you don’t find you incredibly annoying, I’d recommend trying to avoid being seen as this person at the table.

Even if you’ve had a spat of bad luck, nobody at the table really cares. In fact, opposite to the pity you’re looking for when you complain, other players are happy when you miss your draws, because they want your money. Frustration is a normal part of the game, but if you find yourself commenting every hand on just how bad your hole cards are or how you get no action on your Kings, you might just be the table whiner.

7. Remember the dealer has enough to do.

I, like most dealers, have no problem making change between pots or exchanging money for chips when a player loses part of his or her stack. What I, and many others, find annoying, however, is the player who makes the dealer do unnecessary work because they’re superstitious about their stack.

For example, some players like having black ($100) chips, and will ask the dealer to color up their $5 and $1 chips for blacks simply because they like them. The especially frustrating part about a player like this is that, two hands later, he throws that same $100 in to call an $8 bet because he has no more singles or fives.

Others don’t like having a particular denomination of chip, like quarters for example, and will ask to change up that chip every time they win a pot with one in it. This nonsense not only annoys the dealer, but slows down the entire game, especially if done frequently.

In games where cash plays on the table, you’ll often see players buying chips off one another to save going through the dealer and slowing down the game. Some players, however, don’t like taking cash for their chips (even when they have monumental stacks of chips in front of them). But there’s a reason why I actually consider that this is often good practice.

American casinos in particular are magnets for counterfeit money, because of the volume they process, and unless you know your currency, it can be difficult to be sure if the money you’re being asked to exchange is legitimate. If you’re playing in a $1 / $2 game, it’s not necessarily a big deal, but if it’s $20 / $40 you could easily wind up stuck with $500 in counterfeit currency if you sell chips to the wrong person.

Reprinted from www.worldpokertour.com/