One of these days I'm going to try a live game .....

...... and I wanted to ask a few questions.

All my 15k hands or so have been sitting staring at a computer monitor. At some point I think I would enjoy trying a live game.

Simple questions, but just a few things that come to mind when I watch live games on TV.

- Do you wait until the action is to you to look at your cards?

- When the action does come to you, does the dealer always clearly state what you need to call, or do you have to ask if you're not clear on it?

- In a cash game, when you're ready to leave the table (you know, with that huge pile of chips) do you just tell the dealer you want to cash out?

- Let's say you decide that you're going to stop playing if you double your buy in. Through some twist of luck you do this on the first hand. Would you be roundly chastized for such a thing? Not that it matters too much .... I would be there to take money if I could, so no apologies for reaching my goal and bolting. I ask because I would want to know if that was considered poor "poker etiquette". I figure there are general rules of how you're supposed to behave in a live environment (are you listening, Havad Kahn?), and I would like to know what they are.

(I guess I am making a distinction between online and live in that way. I have no trouble clicking 'leave table' if I double my buy in, for example. I have done that after only a 1/2 hour of play. Might feel funny to do at a live table, I'm thinking).

Thanks for any input.

Always wait until the action is to you (or to the player on your right) before looking at your cards.

The dealer should repeat several times, as the action goes around the table, the amount necessary to call the bet.

To leave the table, simply tell the dealer to deal you out. Stack your chips in a rack, get up, and cash out at the cage.

It is considered poor poker etiquette to "take the money and run." You are free to do so, but don't be surprised if you are not welcomed with open arms the next time that you sit down at the table. Obviously, with online poker, you may seldom encounter the same players again, so who cares what they think if you win and run. In contrast, most poker rooms are full of regulars, so if you do this more than once, you may get a reputation of not allowing others a shot at getting their money back.

In addition, most poker rooms play for "table stakes," meaning that once you put your money on the table, it (and any winnings) stay at the table until you leave. You can't pocket any money while playing...it's called rat holing or "going south." In one poker room I've played at, if you sit back down at the table within 2 hours of leaving, all of the previous money you had on the table must be put back in play.

By all means, give live play a try. Having played both, I have concluded that "real" poker is live poker.

nah i mean when youre playing live games you dont have to wait to look at your cards when its to you. if you watch wpt they look at their cards when they please...unless youre playing with the best and you yourself are one of the best, i dont suggest doing that unless playing with friends that are consistent with tells. checking them out while theyre looking at their hands can help i guess

The whole point behind not looking at your cards right away is so that you can watch your opponents and maybe get a visual read on them as they are looking at their cards. You have all the time in the world to look at your cards when the hand comes around to you, so watch how your opponents react. This is also important on the flop as well, watch your opponents and not the flop being dealt. It will still be there when it is your turn,

This doesn't make sense to me. If you wait until action is on you to look, doesn't that give everyone else a chance to see your reaction? Are we assuming we read better than our opponents Watching others on the flop I would think is more helpful.

People wait till people before them to act before they look at there cards so that these people wont be able to get any reads depending on what you see youve been dealt (i.e. you might smile when you see your rockets, UTG could see this and fold his QJos). To be honest though most people do it because they say someone do it on HSP or the WSOP (where there are actually people who can read your face) and thought it was the pro thing to do.

I take a look at my cards before it is my turn to act merely because I need a few moments (not minutes) to make my decision when it is my turn. I have found that people expect you to act quickly and will prompt you by either asking you if you need time or telling you it's only two cards. It is kind of like being in an online game with some people expecting you to act immediately when it is your turn. If you are going to play in a small buy-in game (2/4, 3/6) please expect it to be like a freeroll with everyone going into the pot and taking it to the river to hit. For me, the $100 NL games are where you find people playing quality. One last thing, when you sit at the table if you state that you are not staying long then no one gets upset when you leave. I typically say it everytime I sit at a table although I have never doubled up on my first hand. However, if I am hot I will ride the wave as long as it lasts. No sense in just settling for one double up. Good luck playing live...I love it!

Some really good advice here. When I play my next live game I'll remember to come back here. Thanks

Watch or read Caro's Poker Tells and he talks about why you should be looking at your opponents and not your own cards. I agree that gives everyone a chance to look at you, so maybe look at them right before your turn or something.

I personally have a specific action that I do every single time I look at my cards. I know someone is scoping me out the second I look at my cards so rather than focusing on what I have, I clearly think to myself a pre-thought out action EVERY time I look at my cards. I may sit at the table and tell myself, 'ok I'm going to look at my cards, look at the dealers left hand, then his eyes'.

I've had plenty of success with this because I am by no means a brick wall when it comes to reads. Before I learned of this technique I would look at my hole cards, see AA and get fiddly. Now I look at my cards, and I keep a mental picture of them in my mind without really thinking about what the are. I do this with EVERY hand. AA or 23. A regular I play live games with used to be able to read me like a book. Now he flat out admits that he can't get a read on me no matter what. It may sound silly, but it works perfectly for me.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

I made several live games in French casino.
In France, i played in "Partouche" and "Barriere" group.
Each casino have some little variation of the game.
In both casino :
-> You can look at your cards whenever you want.
-> the "talk" is more important than the action.
- If a player don't say "Raise to 16$" before he put chips in middle, the dealer consider the player only call.
- If a player say "Raise to 16$" and he puts 12$ or 30$ in the middle, the dealer consider the player raise to 16$ (the dealer give back 'the extra
chips' if 30$ in the middle of the table OR the player have to put more chips if he put only 12$).
-> you can leave the table whenever you want but you have to wait at least 1 hour if you want to re-join the table.
-> after a big win, you can leave the table just after a big win; but others players really don't like this (i saw many players doing this and after others players talk each others in bad terms like : "it is a bad manner person (even not consider as a player or a gambler)").
-> if it is the first time you play in a casino, "dealer" and "the poker room manager" allows you sometimes some mistakes. Some manager or dealer allow some mistakes from beginners if the mistakes is not huge :
for example the very first time you want to raise and you forgot to say "raise"; the dealer can accept the raise.

-> if you talk before your turn in order to make a player decision you are consider as "check or call". Example : you say "i raise 16$" and the player on your right haven't act. So if he raise you have to call, if he check; you have to check.

In barriere casino :
-> Your cards have to be on contact with the table when you look at its.
-> You can bet with your "cents". For the rake casino take 4% of the pot, so the winner have cents back. After many pots won, a player can make a small blinds of 5€ with 0,2€; 2€ and 1€ chips. (Note : Sometimes, Often or Always, After winning a pot, giving those chips of 0,2€; 1€ and 2€ is appreciated by the dealer and casino thanks you)

In Partouche casino :
-> you can't play with 'cents' chips in Partouche casino.

fishfishfish.
->Playing live poker is cool!
->Partouche and Barriere Casino : It is allowed to look your cards before your turn, but by doing this you can give to others tells (even if you don't want you 'll give an extra chance to others to catch a tell on you). So better to look at your cards only when it is your turn. (For example : it avoid you to take your chips in order to bet before your turn)


Thanks a lot for this! It is not a lot but it can be a lot of help )

I trolled through the forum to find this thread :Playing live: what you need to know by Oz. Its a great little guide to playing your first live game, warns you about common pitfalls for new players and explains basic casino rules. Really helped me prepare for my first live game.

i wait till its my turn to look at my cards. you say that peopl will prompt you if you dont act quickly enough, well i would say too bad for them. each person has a reasonable amount of time to act when it is their turn. i dont wanna read too much into what you said, but i willl say that if someone was constantly prompting me to hurry, i would ignore it. if they make a big deal out of it, you could always call the floor supervisor over and get a ruling on what is reasonable time. it may not make you any friends, but it will force them to give you some respect. again, i may be reading too much into this, but just wanted to make sure you know that you dont have to let somebody rush you at the table.

im sure this is fairly obvious, but one other thing you can try to is take the same amount of time for each decision no matter what your intentions are. i dont think its good to have the action be on you and you insta call, raise or fold. even if you know what your gonna do, take your time and at least pretend your unsure. and dont forget the blank stare. as soon as your chips are in the pot, you suddenly become statue like, and unable to speak. best of luck to you.

I wait until it is my turn to look at my cards. Two reason: while I wait, I watch the other players looking at their cards. Rarely do I get any tells....but sometimes you do....and sometimes you just make the other guy think you do.
Secondly, if I have any tells, the peole before me won't see them until they have acted.

These I think are the best things to do. If you ever watch any pros a lot of the times this is how they play....like Chris Fergusson, everytime he will look at his cards, fold his hands over his mouth and stare right into the eyes of his opponent for ~10 seconds regardless of what his hand is. He could have rockets or 10-2o(well he might just fold the 10-2). But many times he has the exact same action.