• Do not touch cards during the deal.
• Do not touch or examine cards until after the deal has finished. If there's a mistake in the deal (a misdeal), things just start over. This typically happens if a hole card is exposed or if the wrong number of cards is dealt, or if cards are dealt out of sequence. Do not cause misdeals by having your hands anywhere near the cards as they are being dealt.
• Do not act out of turn. Not only is this rude and inattentive conduct, but it may unfairly convey extra information to another player.
• Do not stall or hold up play. If there is something on your mind that keeps you from being attentive to the game, withdraw. When someone asks, "Whose bet is it?" The answer is almost always, "He who asks."
• Do not play with the chips First of all, it bears repeating that once chips have been wagered by being placed in the betting circle, you can't touch them any more. The dealer will give them back to you (with some more, it is hoped) if you win. Once they are in the circle, they really do not belong to you. Keep your other chips out of the way of the play and do not fondle them during play. If you do so, the dealer will probably ask you to stop. If you must play with something whilst thinking, grow a mustache.
• Do not handle the cards more than necessary The cards must never be lifted away from the table, and should be raised off the deck only the minimum amount necessary to see what they are. Memorize what they say. They will not change for the entire hand, no matter how often you look at them. Dead cards (i.e., those already played) are not to be touched. Also, never touch another person's cards, live or dead. The dealer is paid to take care of those details and will also enforce the rules. Players are permitted to complain when someone breaches these principles, and they do.
• Do not reveal cards (if at all) until all play has concluded People who carelessly show their cards to other players, or discuss them with passers by, are really unwelcome in a poker room. If a player is negligently revealing a hand, do not look at it. Players who reveal cards during a game probably are so inattentive to what is going on that they should be asked to leave. It is the sign of a newcomer (a "newbie") to reveal cards after play is over anyway. If you have lost, it does not matter what your cards were. If you have won without a showdown, it is a little egotistical to show off what you had. Occasionally there may be a strategic benefit in showing cards in this circumstance, to show that you are not a bluffer (so that later you can bluff). But do not revel cards just out of pride or ego.
• Do not check when a player is "all in." Either fold or pay to play.
• Do not dawdle or tease when putting chips on the table The despised "string raise" comes up one more time. Some people, when seeing a bet and raising, put the "see" part on the existing stack and then the "raise" next to it. It is always best to keep all the chips in one stack (if you can). Regardless, always put the chips out in one motion. It is inappropriate to place chips out in the circle in a teasing way, by putting some out, and then adding more. The "two trips" method of "seeing you . . ." and then pausing and then saying " . . . and raising you . . ." is from old Westerns. The players who did that then, if indeed they ever behaved that way outside of Hollywood, have been dead for a long time (possibly from saloon violence). If you try it, the dealer can disqualify the second half of the bet. This faux pas might induce someone to show cards or otherwise communicate his or her position or hand out of turn or before the game is over.
• Do not talk too much Talk is generally sparse at the poker table, as everyone is thinking and concentrating. A jabberer breaks the concentration of other players and is distinctly unwelcome. During a game, talking is really unnecessary. In between hands some light-hearted comment is all right. But be mindful that people are not there to chit-chat. They are mostly there to enjoy themselves -- so the atmosphere can be relaxed and friendly -- but conversation is best minimized. Even more to the point: Never talk about a hand in progress. This is, of course, particularly true if you are still playing the hand. If you are trying to reinforce a bluff with words, it is a failed stratagem from the outset. If you are just careless, you are spoiling the game for others. Many people violate this rule after they have folded, but before the hand is concluded. Because they can relax, being out of the game themselves, they start to talk. They are so embarrassingly self-involved that they forget about the others still in the game. Worse still, if the comment had to do with how "I only had two tens," or something like that, it could also affect who wins the hand. A second offense probably will prematurely end a player's time in the poker room.
• Do use the appropriate hand signals to play the game Of almost equal importance to the thou-shalt-not's is a "shalt" rule. You need to know and use the correct gestures of poker action in a casino. Words don't count, or at least, they should not. There are at least three reasons why words do not count in the Poker Room: (1) possible ambient noise; (2) possible language barriers with some of the players; and (3) (and the real reason) the many surveillance cameras can not hear you. Most dealers will strictly enforce the use of gestures for the conduct of the game, though few will object if the gesture is accompanied with a verbalization of the usual term. The easiest gesture is for a call or a raise. The player simply advances the requisite chips to the circle. A "check" is shown by a tap of the finger on the table felt. A draw request is communicated by the number of cards pushed toward the dealer. The best way to fold in draw games is to place the cards more towards the center of the table face down, and lean away from the table. In stud games, a good method is to turn the face-up cards face-down. Never fold by turning face-down cards face-up. Other than a call, a raise, a check, a draw and a fold, players have nothing else to say.

Other rules of table conduct and courtesy may vary somewhat according to the nature of the game. For example, in draw poker, each participating player can request new cards after the first betting round. Just slide the discards face down on the table towards the center and retrieve the new cards without showing them to anyone else. In stud and Texas Hold'em, it is customary not to lift the hole cards from the table. Just peek at them. Never touch the board cards.