There have
not been many situations in my life when
I have been really nervous, but the first
time I walked into a public poker room definately
stands out in my mind!
Typically, the public poker room is a friendly
setting and most of the time there are very
friendly people working the room. However,
when you first walk in you will be overwhelmed
by the sea of tables, the hundreds of players...the
sound of shuffling checks..."Brian,
2/4 Hold Em" blares from the p.a. system.
What the hell is going on here? More importantly,
what the hell do I do now?
First , try and relax. The guy sitting with
the toothpick in his mouth and the John
Deere hat is just like you. He slid his
Wrangler jeans on over his boots this morning
the same way you did...or something like
that. Take your time and look around. Most
card rooms allow you to wander around, just
don’t crowd the players and be courteous.
Anyway, the next thing you'll want to do
is get your name on a list. Towards the
front of the room there will be a desk with
employees behind it. This is your check
in counter and you go here to look at a
list of all the games available as well
as waiting lists that you can add your name
too. If you don’t have a particular
table that you want to join, you can just
ask to be added to the first available table
that meets your limit requirements and game
choice. Find a game you'd like to play in
and tell an employee behind the desk would
like to be put on the waiting list for that
game. They will call you when a spot has
opened.
O.K. Now that you'll soon be in a game,
it's time to check out some of the other
things in the room. Feel free to walk around
and get acclimated to your new environment.
In many rooms there is a list of current
games and their table numbers on a wall.
Soon enough you will hear your name being
called. Proceed to the counter and they
will point you to the direction of the table
and seat that you now occupy. Ask them what
table you are going to or ask them where
that number is. They will probably prompt
the dealer at your table to raise his or
her hand. More times than not there will
only be one available seat at the table
and that one is all yours.
Once you sit down you can get your money
out. The dealer will signal for a chip runner
who will bring you’re your rack of
chips. It is customary to tip the chip runner.
Normally, you will wait until the big blind
makes it to you before you actually play
in your first hand. You can expect to be
pretty nervous for the first few minutes
but once you get the hang of the betting
and you take down your first pot you will
fall right in and feel like you belong!
You will never forget your first time in
a public poker room...
It never hurts to study up on the etiquette
of playing poker. Poker is a sport, and
like all sports it has its own unique rules
and practices.
Normally, you don’t want the other
players to believe that you are a novice,
or that this is your first time playing
poker live. There’s lots of us internet
players out there that have never stepped
foot in a brick and mortar casino. This
quick article, along with our First
Poker Room visit should help get you
ready for action. Of course it sometimes
might make sense to look like the total
novice, but this will only last a few rounds,
the other players will pick up to that ploy
quickly.
Once you sit down at your first table you
will most likely get a quick idea of the
texture of the table. Is it a talkative
loose table? Are the other players having
fun and joking with one another, or is it
a serious game with very little chatter.
Adjust accordingly, both your manner and
more importantly your strategy of play.
There are a few things
that we should try to avoid doing as much
as possible:
This includes ‘slow rolling’.
Slow rolling is when you go to the showdown
and your opponents have turned their hands
over and you have the winner, but instead
of showing immediately you pause and pause
for ‘dramatic effect’. This
is highly frowned upon and is disrespectful.
TJ Cloutier accidentally slow rolled Phil
Helmuth in the Showdown at the sands when
he ended up making a flush and not realizing
it. As he was about to muck his cards he
checked and realized that he actually won
the hand. Even more interesting is that
he had tried to bluff at that pot and Phil
read him beautifully, TJ honestly didn’t
know he had the winner, so it wasn’t
an intentional slow roll, but you get the
idea.
Don’t lose your temper
and shout or get physical. Believe me; I
know that there are few things more frustrating
than the game of poker. Take a horribly
bad beat you just want to scream. Do your
best to keep your calm, drink some water,
relax and continue with your game. Don’t
be rude to the dealers and don’t blame
them for your bad luck, they really didn’t
have anything to do with it.
Play in turn. This is important.
Don’t bet or muck your cards before
it is your turn to act. Wait until the action
gets to you and then make your decision.
In higher stakes games and high level tournaments
you will see players wait until the action
is to them before they even look at their
cards, this way they don’t give off
anything about their hand and they focus
totally on the opposition.
There are a few tips and suggestions
you should think about when playing.
Don’t forget the dealers,
because they work hard and appreciate when
you do the small things to help them out,
as well as tokes when you take down a good
pot. It’s appreciated when you make
a bet; put your chips far enough in front
of you so the dealer can easily reach them
without having to stretch across the entire
table.
Same applies to your mucked cards.
Slide those puppies far enough towards the
muck so the dealer doesn’t have to
reach all across the table. It keeps the
game flowing smoothly, which is good.
Try not to stall too long
when it is your turn to play. Think about
your situation for sure and don’t
make snap judgments, but when it is your
turn to act you should be thinking about
what your action will be, not checking the
scores of the football game or chatting
with your friend. The other players at the
table will appreciate it also.
Most importantly, have fun
and remember to smile every now and then.
Thanks and we'll see you at the tables!
KAP
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