Experienced poker players are nearly unanimous in condemning the following behaviors in the poker room. While all of this may be fairly intuitive to most people, even if they have never even seen a card room before, the following points bear mentioning, to be sure everyone has an enjoyable time.
- Drunk Poker. Seasoned players never drink and play, unless they do not care what happens (which is almost never). Drunk poker is really hard on the drunk, but it is also hard on everyone else. Most good poker rooms will not let this go very far. Staff and player alike should encourage the drunk to hang it up and just retire from the table.
- Illness. Dealers and seasoned players, who spend a lot of time in poker rooms, will tell you that it is hard to stay healthy around so many strangers all the time. Invariably someone shows up with a cough or cold and infects everyone at the table. The rule is simple: If you're ill, play online or don't play at all. Because chips and cards are handled by many people, it is especially important not to sneeze or cough into or on one's hands, which then go right to the cards and chips. Please use a handkerchief.
- Smoking. More and more players prefer a non-smoking game. This includes poker rooms or tables where smoking is permitted. Even though smokers may want to be insistent on their "right" to smoke at a smoking table, a lot of times it is better to ask the other players if they mind.
- Changing Seats all the Time. In cash games some players like to change seats all the time, hoping for some sort of leverage that table position might provide over an incoming player. Sometimes it is a change in order to get a "favorite seat." Both reasons amount to superstition, and the sooner the player quits behaving that way, the sooner he or she might actually improve. Results do not depend on which chair it is. And all the shifting around is a foolish annoyance.
- Neglecting the Dealer. Anyone who has tried being a dealer knows it is not easy. Every pot that goes to the flop or Fourth Street should deserve a tip from the pot winner, even when the pot is small. Anyone who is stingy with dealer tips probably has not gotten to know very many of them.
