Taking your first trip to the cardroom

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So you go and purchase $200 in chips and now have chips in your hand. You should take your chips out of your tray and stack them in columns of 20’s so that you can keep track of approximately how much in chips you have during your time in play. Of course feel free to play with them and stack them how you like, but usually stacking them in 20’s makes it easier to grab and count.

When your first hand comes up the dealer will ask you whether or not you want to play and post a big bet. The choice is up to you, but in this particular example you decide to play your hand and post the big bet which is 4 chips. The dealer then starts dealing the hands. You are in the cut-off seat and there are 4 limpers and you look down to see 9-T off-suit and decide to check your hand. The button calls as do the blinds. The dealer then proceeds to deal the flop. The flop is an amazing 9-T-T! The big blind bets out and there are a couple of callers and you decide you would like to raise. There are two correct ways to do this. The first is to verbally announce “Raise.” This is the easiest and most efficient way as everyone will hear you and the verbal declaration will stand. The other way is to ensure that you grab enough chips with one hand and make sure you place the required number of chips on the table for a raise. For example, the raise here is to $8, so you want to make sure you have 8 chips (or more) with your hand and place them all in at the same time. You cannot have 4 chips in your hand, place them on the table, and then reach back and grab another 4 chips. This is known as a string raise and is a violation of the rules. If you intend to raise, but grab an insufficient number of chips, then the floor manager will likely rule your decision to be a call only. So remember, if you are unsure of your actions, verbally declare it. This goes for calling a bet too. You may accidentally grab too many chips and put forth a raise when you only intended to call. By stating “I call” you will have declared your action with your verbal declaration. The same also goes for checking a hand. If you intend to check, just say “check” or tap your fingers on the table. Be careful not to tap your fingers when you want to bet, as that will often indicate a check.

So you have now raised the flop. At this point you are probably pretty excited about your cards, so you decide to hold them with your hands. Holding your cards with your hands is a good way to protect them, but your cards have to be visible at all times to the players. Hiding your cards is also a rules violation. However, you don’t have to hold onto your cards near and dear. A simple solution is simply to place a chip on top of your cards. By doing so, you also protect your hand from being swept away by the dealer. This is a very important thing to do, especially if you sitting in the number 1 or 10 seat (the seats next to the dealer). Occasionally the dealer may sweep your hand away into the muck if your cards are unprotected and when that happens, you will have forfeited the pot. Always place a chip on your cards for protection.

Your raise gets called by the big blind and the other two callers decide to fold. Now it is heads up on the turn. The turn brings another T! You get very excited as you now have four of a kind. In fact you are so excited that you instantly bet out 8 chips before the big blind has a chance to act. This is called acting out of turn and is considered quite rude in cardrooms. Be sure to take notice of other players who are in the hand to see if they have acted yet. If you are unsure whether or not they have acted, ask the dealer.

The dealer tells you that you must take your bet back and wait for the big blind to act first, so you comply. The big blind now checks, so you bet. The big blind calls.

The dealer now burns a card and deals an Ace. Now the big blind bets and you raise. He calls.

Usually the person who bets first or raises last is the first person to show their cards. So in this particular hand you would have to show down your cards. However, if all remaining players check their hand down on the river, the first player to the left of the button usually shows their hand first. This rule may change from casino to casino. So you lift your cards up for everyone to see you have quad tens. This is great, everyone sees you have the pure nuts, but unless you actually table your cards you won’t get the pot. Casinos usually have a rule that says a player must table their cards in order for the hand to play. If you do not place your cards faced up on the table and instead just show everyone and muck your hand, then your hand is dead and your opponent will receive the pot. It’s a very costly mistake, so don’t do it. Also if you are unsure about whether or not you have a winning hand, you should just table your hand face up. The dealer will then be responsible for reading all hands that are tabled after the action is complete on the river.

So you table your 9-T down on the felt and your opponent in good spirit shows A-9 as the losing hand. The dealer then pushes you a nice pot and you take it with a grin.

The question now is should you tip the dealer or not? Tipping is always optional and dependant upon many factors that could easily be discussed in a full article itself. I usually like to look and see how the dealer is doing their job. Are they dealing fast? Are they being friendly? Are they being accurate? Are they correctly reading the board and hands? Dealing poker is just like any other service profession that earns a tip and should be performance based. If the dealer is doing their job well, then I believe you should tip them (usually $1 will do). Again the discretion to do so is completely up to you.

Other things to note:

Here are some other important things to note when you are playing in a B&M live session.

Have some courtesy and respect for fellow players around you. A lot of poker players are out to have a good time and enjoy the social camaraderie and feel of a live poker room. So being too unfriendly and rude can make others feel uncomfortable around you. You will get sucked out on, and you will miss your draws every now and then. Just do not act rude and do not berate the fellow players who do. Remember that getting sucked out on by poor players is a good thing.

If the cardroom you are going to allows players to smoke, then ensure that you keep your cigarette smoke away from other players who do not smoke.

Pay attention to the dealer and keep your ears open. If you don’t pay attention, it tends to delay the game and the game runs much slower. Also, you might miss out on very important information during the hand that can use to your advantage.

If you are unsure about anything ask the dealer. If you are unsure about a particular decision or how another player acted in a hand, ask the floor manager. The floorman is there to answer any and all questions, but do note that the floorman’s decision is always final. You can argue with them if you like but it is usually pointless.

Finally, have a good time. Enjoy the game and enjoy raking in the pots you will certainly win.

Larry N.