Poker Rules

Lawyers learn to distinguish between laws and customs, but in the poker rooms of Las Vegas, and in card rooms around the world and online, the rules of the game and the customs followed by the players are on the same level. For example, it is a breach of both the rules of the game and table etiquette to "string raise" - raise a bet by stringing out the process, or calling first, raising second.

Some intellectually challenged players may think that by violating the rules or etiquette of poker they obtain some sort of advantage. Their thought might be that by making others uncomfortable and by stimulating ill will, they might push another player to "tilt" (i.e., play by reacting emotionally and not using the brain). Not only is this itself a violation of the rules, but it is a hopeless strategy in the long run. The other players will almost surely wreak their revenge at the table, unless the dealer ejects the player before it can happen.

Questions of Rules

The authoritative source for the "official rules" of poker is Roberts Rules of Poker by Bob Ciaffone. All card rooms consider this work to be the ultimate voice on the subject of the rules of poker. Many of the rules also embody some of the principles commonly thought of as etiquette.

The following are some of the more important "general provisions" of the "Official Rules" as they pertain to player conduct at a poker table, regardless of the game being played. Some of them seem like mere manners, but they govern play nonetheless. If you are new to poker, some of these rules may be a little hard to follow. After reading the rest of this poker guide, you might come back and see if the rules make much more sense to you.

• Conduct. Players are required to be civil and not to engage in conduct that distracts or disturbs other players. Strong language - profanity or coarse or vulgar speech - is forbidden. So is the use of cell phones and walkie-talkies. Turn them off before entering the card room. Silent pagers are OK. iPods have gained a limited acceptance if they do not cause play to slow down.
• Verbal Declarations. What you say can overrule what you do. So if you put in a chip to call a bet and say "raise," you can be compelled to raise. In fact, you are entitled to your raise, even if the chip was the wrong one.
• Card Declarations. This is the one big exception to the Verbal Declarations rule. No matter what you say about your hand, the cards determine the outcome. "Cards Speak."
• Gesture Declarations I. Gestures are the preferred method of taking action in live card rooms because of ambient noise and security cameras. Dealers prefer it because they are looking at the table, not at the faces of players, and may not understand what is said or who said it. If a verbal declaration is made at the same time as gesture, and they are inconsistent, the verbal declaration prevails. However, without a clear verbal declaration, the gesture will be definitive.
• Gesture Declarations II. Tapping on the felt is a check, even if the player was really just absent-mindedly beating out the rhythm of The Stars and Stripes Forever with four aces in his hand. It is still a check.
• Gesture Declarations III. Pushing cards away is a fold. No matter what. Tossing cards is bad form, but if it is done, it is a fold.
• Gesture Declarations IV. A raise must be made in a single gesture. String raises are not legal. The dealer may declare the first gesture of a player's string raise to be a call and disqualify the second gesture as a raise. (The reason for the rule about string raises is that a player may react to the first step of the process, thereby conveying information to the person making the wager, and perhaps making him change his mind about raising.)
• Chips I. No chips can be removed from the table until cashing out. This would be "rat-holing" or "going south" and is a violation of the rules. Minor exceptions are permitted for tipping dealers and waitresses and buying drinks.
• Chips II. Chips can be acquired from the dealer, the cashier or chip runners. They can not be bought from other players. Selling chips to another player is also against the rules.
• Chips III. Highest denomination chips should be visible at all times to other players. The easiest way to do this is to build the habit of putting the largest denominations in the "back" when viewed by the player, so they are in the "front" when viewed by the other players.
• Oversized Chips I. If a person says "raise" but puts an oversized chip in the pot - too much for a call and too little for a full raise -- it will be taken as a raise if it is one-half or more of the minimum raise. The player will be required to complete the raise. Otherwise, it is a call, and the excess amount is returned to the bettor. In No Limit and Pot Limit games, if a person says "raise" and puts in an oversized chip, the amount of the raise is the maximum permissible amount up to and including the denomination of the chip.
• Oversized Chips II. In Limit games with no verbal declaration, any oversized chip is considered to be a call, and the excess is returned to the player. In No Limit games, pre-flop, the rule is the same. Post-flop, the chip is taken as a raise, and in the maximum amount possible up to the denomination of the chip.
• Privacy and Security I. Players should put their hand over their cards, or a chip or other object to protect them (if they are not actually holding the cards, as in a draw game). This keeps them from being mucked by accident. If the dealer mucks unprotected cards, it is the player's fault, not the dealer's.
• Privacy and Security II. Players must not remove cards from the table, hold them below the table or hide them from view.
• Privacy and Security III. Players are required to keep their cards secret. It is a rule that a player, whether active or not, be absolutely uncommunicative about his or her cards (or anything else, for that matter) while a hand is still active. Any revelation of any kind, whether a verbal statement, a gesture or a display of a card, must be made known to all players ("show one [player], show all [players]"). The person making such a revelation, if active, should be penalized by the dealer by having the player's hand considered to be folded. Sometimes a player might want to show a hole card to another player to tease them into folding. If that happens, the player's cards are dead. Even if the revelation of the card was a total accident, the penalty should be applied, and the player should be very apologetic. Displaying a card during active play is one of the worst gaffes a player can commit. Sometimes a folded player absent-mindedly wants to talk about the game, even though there are still active players. This is also a violation of the rules.
• Privacy and Security IV. After the hand is over, a player may show an uncalled winning hand (all or part) to another player, but if so, must show the same cards to all players. There is no requirement to show any cards at all if the hand was an uncalled winner. If one hole card is shown, there is no requirement to show the other. It is also permissible to speak of a hand that has finished; however, most players hate to hear some newbie whine about throwing away a good hand or having lousy cards, etc. What makes poker enjoyable is that good and lousy cards are only a small part of the story. The player's skill dominates. And skilled players do not relive old hands, at least not right after they have occurred. They go on.
• Privacy and Security V. Consistent with the rule against preferential revelations of information to active players, it is forbidden to speak a foreign language (from the card room's perspective) at the table. An exception may be had for ring games in which all players speak that language.
• Order I. Only one player per seat, and only one hand per player. This is the "only one player per hand" rule, and applies to having anyone - another player or a bystander - from giving advice to a player with an active hand.
• Order II. Players act in turn, clockwise from the dealer button, in accordance with the rules of the particular game. A player acting out of turn or anticipating his or her turn with body language suggesting what the action will be is a violation of this rule, and also of the previous rule -- that players keep quiet about their own cards.
• Wagers I. Wagers are placed in front of the player's cards. "Splashing the pot" (tossing the chips into the middle) is both discourteous and illegal. It makes it hard for players to know whether the right amount was put in or to perceive the full value of the pot. And, as no one but the dealer should ever touch the pot, it just makes more work for the dealer at a time when he or she has a deck of cards in hand.
• Wagers II. Don't think of raising unless it is in an amount equal to or greater than the previous bet or raise in the same round. This rule applies to Spread Limit and No Limit games as much as to any of the others. The only exception is when a player goes "All-in."