Part one: Online Etiquette | Part two: "Brick and Mortar" Etiquette

Many people who are new to poker are intimidated by the potential of committing an embarrassing mistake, or by violating any of the many "unwritten rules" of the game. The goal at UltimatePoker.com is to provide a friendly environment, conducive to learning the fundamentals of the game. And the fact is it's hard to make an embarrassing mistake in an UltimatePoker.com game. However, we want to help you become as knowledgeable and comfortable as possible in both brick-and-mortar cardrooms and UltimatePoker.com's online cardroom.

Part One: Online Poker Etiquette

Choosing a game
Once you've established your account, UltimatePoker.com poker begins with selecting a game where you want to play, which is no different than in a brick-and-mortar cardroom. Selecting a game involves two decisions:

What type of poker you want to play (e.g., 9-handed Texas texas hold'em, Heads up texas hold'em, Omaha, etc.); and


What stake you want to play for. This is usually expressed as the minimum and maximum bets allowed in a particular game. For example, in 5-10 texas hold'em, the bet size is $5 on the first two rounds and $10 on the last two rounds. Generally, it is a good idea to bring at least ten times the amount of the big bet to the table ($100 in a 5-10 game), and most players are more comfortable if they bring 20 or 30 times the amount of the largest bet allowed. This will let you win more if you happen to pick up a strong hand and will reduce the number of times you need to buy more chips.

If you select a table that has open seats, you can join the game immediately. If the game is full, you can ask to be put on the waiting list for that game, or on the waiting list for any particular type of game. You can also set your minimum requirements for each of those games. It is perfectly acceptable to join several waiting lists at once, if there are several different games you might be willing to consider playing in, and it is also perfectly acceptable to remain on other waiting lists while you are playing in a different game.

For example, you might arrive at UltimatePoker.com wanting to play 10-20 texas hold'em, and find that seats aren't currently available in a game that you want to play. You can start playing 5-10 texas hold'em (or any other game) and remain on the waiting list for a spot in the 10-20 game. When a seat becomes available, you will be notified, and you can then choose whether you wish to remain in your current game or move to the other one.

Playing at multiple tables
One thing you can do on the Internet that you can't do in a live game is play at more than one table simultaneously. So, staying with the example we just used, you wouldn't necessarily have to leave your 5-10 game to join the 10-20 game, as long as you had enough chips in your account to buy into the second game. You can't shift your chips back and forth between the two tables; you need separate chips for each.

Many players do choose to play more than one game simultaneously, because a good poker player folds many hands, and then must wait until the next hand begins before having anything to do. There is nothing wrong with playing two (or more) games at once, as long as you observe good table etiquette, which in this case basically means making quick decisions.

Every once in a while, you will be faced with a decision that requires some significant thought, and no one will object if occasionally you pause to think about a play. However, many decisions are very clear: you know you are going to fold or raise long before it's your turn. In those situations, it's good etiquette to use the application's speed buttons that allow you to pre-select your action. Speed buttons are contextual (only options that are available are presented to the player) and indicate the amount that each decision will "cost" you.

Players who always take a long time to make decisions make the game less enjoyable for others, and people often will leave a table if one or more players are consistently slow. Playing in two or more games simultaneously creates the potential for slow play, if you start focusing on one hand in one game while the action has reached you in the other. It is probably a good idea to avoid playing two games at once, until you are comfortable with the game interface, and are able to move relatively quickly while playing one game.

Other important Internet etiquette points include:

1. Be polite using the chat feature
Poker can sometimes be a frustrating game, but it is important not to swear at other players or to be critical of their play. If you abuse other players verbally, you may - if the offense is bad enough - lose your chat privileges. Remember, once you make an enemy, your enemy may have a long memory, and verbal battles with him may distract you from playing your best game. Chatting while playing can make the game more enjoyable, as long as everyone is behaving like an adult. Players who are watching "from the rail" should keep their chat to a minimum.



2. Don't abuse the "all-in" feature
Because of the possibility that a player can be disconnected from his web connection, most Internet poker rooms have a feature where - if a player does not respond in time - he is treated as "all-in," and he is eligible to win whatever portion of the pot he was involved in before his disconnection. Occasionally, some players abuse this, and fail to respond in time because they think they are losing a hand, and want to be able to see it out to its conclusion without having to invest any more money. This is tantamount to cheating, and if you do it, you can have your play privileges suspended. Additionally, there is a limit of one all-in per 24 hours, unless you send us an email requesting your all-in privileges to be re-set. If you use the all-in feature as an "angle" to take an unfair shot at winning a pot, you will be left unprotected in case you are later playing and DO become disconnected.



3. Don't tie up a seat when you don't intend to return
Players are allowed to sit out of a game for a while, and very often need to for very legitimate reasons, be it the call of nature, dealing with children, or a phone call (this is one of the great benefits of playing from your computer). However, if you know you are leaving a game, please go ahead and leave it rather than keeping your seat tied up, because someone else is waiting to play. UltimatePoker.com allows you to sit-out for quite a while, but if you miss three blinds in a row, your seat will be forfeited.



4. Don't make a comment about a hand if you are not participating in the hand
Knowledge of folded cards is often very important. If you correctly fold a hand like J-2 off-suit in Texas Hold'em, and then the flop comes J-J-J, using the chat feature to say something like "I can't believe it, why didn't I play my Jack-two!" informs everyone that a key card is out of play. Even making jokes like this can affect play because some players may not know if you are joking. This is the same reason that UltimatePoker.com only allows you to "fold and show" when play is down to two remaining players. Similarly, encouraging another player to raise or fold is poor etiquette. Follow a fundamental rule that also applies to live games: if you are not in the hand, don't talk about the hand while the hand is ongoing.

A good way to get more comfortable with Internet play etiquette is to spend some time playing in "free" games before you start playing for money. People will be much more forgiving of your gaffes, simply because there is less at stake than when playing with real money.

Part Two: "Brick-and-Mortar" Etiquette

The first trip into a public cardroom or card casino is usually intimidating. There are many rules and procedures, and most of the players are regulars who tend to have short fuses with people who don't know the rules, even though these same regulars once were in exactly the same position.

The basics of buying chips and selecting a game are similar to Internet play, but work a bit differently. The great majority of live cardrooms employ "chip runners" who will bring chips directly to your table and sell them to you there, so you need not buy chips ahead of time and cart them around with you until you are ready to play.

You select your game in a live cardroom by finding the employee who maintains the game lists. Sometimes, these are kept on a chalk or whiteboard. Sometimes the lists are kept on paper. You can ask this employee what games are available at what limits, and he or she will either seat you immediately, or put you on as many waiting lists as you like. As with Internet play, it is perfectly permissible to play in one game while remaining on the waiting list for another. Obviously, in live games you can only play one table at a time.

In general, you should assume that comments about Internet etiquette also apply to live game etiquette, but there are some situations that occur in live casinos that can't occur on the Internet. Here are the important guidelines to follow:

1. Play in turn
This means you should not fold your hand or leave your seat until it is your turn to bet; this can give important information to players still in the hand.



2. Don't expose your cards at any time, until the showdown
If you are folding, gently slide or toss your cards to the dealer, face down. If you expose them, this gives away important information that other players are not entitled to have, and can affect the outcome of a hand. Similarly, you should try to protect your cards so when you look at them, no one else can see them. This is in your own self-interest, but if one player at the table can see your cards when no one else can, that creates a special advantage for that player.



3. Don't try to take chips off the table
Suppose you buy in for $300, and start winning heavily. Many players are tempted to take some of their chips off the table and place them in a pocket, to ensure that they walk away with at least some kind of win. This is not allowed. Once you buy in to a game, all the chips you have on the table must remain there until you leave that game. If you do leave a game, even if it is to move to another game at the same stake, you are allowed to start with as many chips as you like at that new game.



4. Don't abuse the dealer
Throwing cards at the dealer, or cursing at the dealer, only brands you as an immature, unsophisticated player. The dealer tries to shuffle the cards fairly and run the game impartially. He is not trying to give you good or bad cards...just random cards.



5. Don't "splash the pot"
Whenever you are making a bet, place your chips neatly in front of you, ideally in easily countable stacks within the dealer's reach, and let the dealer pull them into the pot. If you toss chips into the pot, the dealer and players have no way of knowing if you put the correct number of chips in, and may require you to put additional chips in.



6. Verbal declarations are a good idea
Until you get comfortable handling stacks of chips and moving them properly, it's a good idea to say, "I raise" or "I call" when making a bet. That way there can be no confusion about what you intended to do.



7. Don't try to assist other players or seek assistance
A fundamental poker axiom is "one player to a hand." Offering help or asking for advice from other players is considered bad form.



8. Don't misdeclare your hand, and don't muck your cards until you have seen you are beaten
If you have a pair of sevens, don't joke around and say something like "I have a straight." Another player hearing you might assume you are telling the truth and throw his cards away, and once the cards are in the muck, he can't retrieve them. YOU might be willing to give him the pot, if you are the only two players in the hand, but if there is a third player involved, he is unlikely to give the pot to someone whose cards he hasn't seen. For similar reasons, don't throw your hand away until you have clearly seen that you are beaten.



9. Don't "slow roll" other players
If you have a very strong hand, waiting a long time to show it at the end, after the other players have shown their hands, is consider bad form. They will assume that your delay means you have lost and are trying to figure out where you went wrong, and when you turn over four Kings and take a pot they were already figuring they had won, they will fume.



10. If you are not sure what you have at the end of a hand, lay your cards on the table and let the dealer read your hand
Sometimes hands can be confusing, especially in Omaha. If you lay your cards on the table, the dealer can figure out what you have. Don't get accustomed to relying on the dealer, though: you are responsible for your own hand, and the dealer's help is only an emergency back-up plan.



11. Don't make a mess
If you want to eat or drink at the table, keep your food and/or beverages on a side table if at all possible, and take care to wipe your hands before handling the cards.



12. Don't be ashamed to ask questions
If you are not sure how much money to put into the pot for a blind or ante, or how much it costs to raise, or why something happened the way it did, ask the dealer. That's better than making a mistake the dealer has to correct, or slowing the game down by forcing the dealer to alert you to something, and you'll learn much more quickly than by guessing.



13. Show one, show all
If you fold your hand, and are going to show your cards to another player who has also folded, you have a duty to show everyone else at the table what cards you folded. People can insist you do this if you don't do it voluntarily. You're better off not showing other players your cards, anyway. Although live cardrooms usually do not have free games the way Internet cardrooms do, it often can be possible for you to observe play from behind some sort of railing, to get the feel for etiquette, and the ebb and flow of the game. If you explain to a casino floorman that you would like to do this, he will show you a good position to take. Take care not to disturb the seated players...don't comment about their game, don't ask questions about their game, and don't stand so close that it will make them uncomfortable.

Although these rules may seem like a lot to remember, most of these are just common sense or courtesy to other players. Don't expect to know everything right from the beginning... with a little experience it'll be second nature! Just enjoy the game, respect other players and you'll be on your way to becoming a good poker player.