Manners and Etiquette in Poker
In life, one cannot avoid meeting jerks. Jerks are facts of life. They’re as real as cockroaches, and just as pesky too. When these jerks sit on the poker table, they automatically attract all the negative energy from the other players. When the jerks lose a game, all the other players are secretly smug. When he wins, all the other players secretly wish that he chokes on his chips. So, really, a jerk is definitely not a good thing to be. You’d do well to avoid being a jerk, because if there’s one thing you do not need in poker, it’s an enemy.
Then again, there are some things that may not seem rude to you, but are actually very rude for other people, particularly when it comes to a game of poker. But don’t worry, you’ll generally get along fine if you’re just polite. Things like name-calling and coaching are generally frowned upon, and most people have enough common sense to avoid doing this. Still, it won’t hurt to know what kind of manners and etiquette are expected at the felt. And there are times you may act rude without really meaning to. So, it is important to brush up on some common manners and etiquette in poker before hitting the felt.
Don’t be an Eager Beaver
The thing about poker is that, once you get a good hand, you can easily get excited about the outcome of the game. For some people, this excitement becomes a bit problematic, as some people can forget themselves at this point. Some get too excited that they can’t wait their turn. And when this happens, they usually play out of their turn. They get too excited about the hand they’re holding that they can’t wait to raise the pot. Or, it can work the other way around. Some people have hands that are too ugly, that they can’t wait to get away from it and fold. And it’s not really uncommon to find someone doing this out of turn. However, this does not change the fact that it’s incredibly annoying when someone jumps the gun. It disrupts the whole game and puts the other players out of balance.
Don’t be a Talker
Conversing is all fine and good, and even taunting is considered a poker strategy. But one thing you must never ever do is talk about your hand when the game is still going on. Say you folded, and you only had a meager J and a 2. And then, when the flop and the turn are revealed, three more J’s come out. Then you, caught up in a haze of overwhelming regret, mention that you would have gotten a Four of a Kind. You then proceed to talk about your hand, how it would have gone so well, how you would have played the game, etc, etc. But what you don’t notice is that by talking about your hand, you’re giving away vital information. Poker is a game of numbers. And knowing even that slightest bit of information, that there is no more J in the game, can be rather telling.
Don’t Splash the Pot
One of the things people commonly see in the movies is a player ‘splashing the pot’. That is, he throws his chips haphazardly into the pot, making a total mess. Sure, it looks cool. Sure, it makes you feel like you’re bad-ass. But really, splashing the pot is annoying because it makes it very hard to count your bet. Just stack the chips neatly in front of you.
