Poker: Etiquette.

Politeness:
There is nothing of greater importance than to always be courteous to your fellow opponents, even when you have had a really bad game and are extremely frustrated, do not take this out on your opponents, you run the risk of playing them again and they will remember you for your rudeness, they may even refuse to play at the same table.

It is never a good feeling to be on a losing streak, but swearing and stomping your feet will stress you out, that will lead to you making bad decision, making snap judgements because you will lose some focus when stress levels are too elevated: your mind races and thoughts are incoherent. So for your own sake, as well as others, keep calm and do not get involved in verbal altercations.

If you reveal your stress in such a visible way, other players are going to notice and from this they will assume that you are a weak player, which you probably will be if you are not thinking clearly, and then they will specifically target you because they will know they are more likely to win money from a flustered and frustrated player (you could also use this advice in its opposite, and target the players who seem most stressed out).

Remember to be polite to everybody, casino staff included, the croupiers, for example, will have their hands full with other grumpy, grumbling players, so making their job easier by being calm and polite will put you in their good books, and you never know what kinds of rewards that behaviour will reap.

Cheaters never prosper:
Cheating in a casino is an extremely difficult thing to achieve, they are constantly on the lookout for professional cheats and have probably seen every trick in the book, if you try and cheat it will probably reveal itself as a crude and simple tactic that they will see through instantly.

Additionally, when you are playing poker, you are not cheating against the house, but against other players, this will make cheating slightly easier as the casino is not so much on the lookout for games where they do not stand to lose, that does not mean that they will not notice though, and if they do you are likely to face serious consequences.

You never know who is actually running the casino, you may find yourself dragged down into the underworld; watch the film Snatch to see what I mean.

Pace yourself:
Try to make the different decisions you take last approximately the same time, do not play a hand too quickly and, likewise, do not play too slowly, both of these methods of play can reveal to your opponents the type of game you are playing.

Show your cards?
When you are playing a hand, make sure that the cards you are playing with are only visible to you. It is not illegal to show other players which cards you have, but it is frowned upon, you will be giving one player the advantage and the rest of your opponents will not appreciate this and are likely to leave the table.

If you want to reveal your cards, then make sure that you show everyone, by laying them on the table for example.

When you are holding a hand, make sure that all the other players see them (not the faces of the cards but the backs...unless you are revealing them to your opponents) in this way they know that you are in the game and have not folded, they also know where your cards are at all times and will thus be able to see if you are cheating, unless you are a professional at slight-of-hands.

Move you chips gently:
Do not be rude and chuck your chips into the pot in a haphazard fashion, other players will not be able to see how much you have put in and the croupier will not be able to verify the amount either.

To play smoothly, arrange your chips into piles according to how much you wish to bet, this way when you place them in the pot the other players will have been able to see clearly how much you have wagered.

Play in the right order:
Make sure that you play your turn at the correct point in the game, sometimes it is easy to get overexcited and start playing out of turn, not only is this frustrating to your fellow opponents, it also means that you are giving away valuable information about the state of your game.

Organisation is the key:
Keep your area of the table neat and tidy, arrange your chips so that they are not scattered everywhere.

Do not reach over and touch other peoples private spaces, do not touch their chips, and never, ever, ever touch their cards.

Do not place your stack in front of your cards, your cards need to be visible remember; but make sure opponents can not see the face values of your cards, just the backs.

Focus, focus, focus:
Do not let yourself get distracted by the environment, switch mobile phones onto silent, you do not want to be unfocused when something of key importance is happening in the game.

You are allowed to talk to other players in most casinos, but check with them first, talking should be kept relevant to the game, that poker table is not a place for idle gossip or the discussion of world affairs.

Be a good loser:
Do not moan constantly when you are on a losing streak, it will by like being back in the playground for the other players, there is nothing more annoying than someone who constantly moans. Losing is as much a part of poker as winning, it is expected so do not lament over it.

A professional, in any field, should know how to lose as well as to win, look what happened to John McEnroe when he lost at tennis, his bad reputation has followed him around since the 1980's!!

Be a good winner:
No one likes to have their faces rubbed in it by an annoying arrogant winner, you are likely to get a punch in the face when you gloat over a win, and it is just one of those human things.

Online poker, special rules:

1. Only open one account per poker site. If you try and play the casino by accumulating bonuses, and they find out, they will close all your accounts and will probably not return any of your money as they can take it as if it were equivalent to the bonuses you received.
2. Do not use the chat features for your own personal gain, for selling poker related paraphernalia or other business ventures.
3. Do not join into allegiances with other players, you will be suspended or expelled if the casino finds out. Speak in only one language, conversing with others in a language the rest do not understand will be treated with suspicion and may lead to you being suspended or expelled.
4. Act only when it is your turn and do it promptly, do not go off and do other things and leave people at the table awaiting your return, which is just really rude and selfish.
5. Always be polite.

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