I love being “compelled” to read all these articles. They're good stuff!
Etiquette/Live Betting
Learn the house rules before you open your mouth – please. Everyone had their first live poker experience once. Everyone you are seated with once played at that venue for the first time. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Telling regs what’s what while you are having your first live poker experience
IS something to be ashamed of.
Betting rules vary from venue to venue. They can also change over time at the same venue. Make sure you are up to speed. If you don’t know, ask.
Watch the Tournament Clock/Gathering Intelligence
I liked these sections of the article (especially the “ditch the cellphone” advice), but if you are an online player having your first live experience, learn to walk before you try to run. Try to gather the basic information that is staring you in the face online. You will notice that players don’t have big neon signs over their heads with their chip count. Pay attention to position and stack size. If you are playing an MTT, check the monitors for average stack, time of blinds, and runners remaining. Don’t be afraid to TAKE YOUR TIME and assess before acting. If you have a question, ask the dealer – that’s part of their job.
Booze and Food
Free drinks and or food at the table are the biggest perks, for me, of going to a card room and paying all those fees/rakes. I like to arrive a couple hours early for a tournament and play $1/2 cash so that I can eat a meal and have a drink for free (plus tip). If things work out really well, I cover the tips and freeroll the tourney. If things go badly, that could be a $200 pizza and beer. Such is life. When playing the tournament, I’ll drink a beer every two or three hours that I play (drinks are free at Playground Poker Club tourneys). I drive to the venue, so drunkenness is not an option. In addition, bathroom runs can cost me
hands and drinking (the physical act) at the table can be a little “telly”. I think if you’re more comfortable having a drink than not, have at it. It is rare, however for someone to be a true “Drunken Master” a la Minh the Master.
My biggest piece of advice for food at the table is: order only something that you are comfortable eating at the table. It really doesn’t matter if the 20 oz porterhouse with all the trimmings is FREE at the $2/5 cash table. What you pay in rake is easily going to cover the house’s cost. How are you going to feel if you have to turn your body to carve through your every bite of a gigantic meal while action is flowing? What if the dealer is the annoying sort that thumps the table and demands action every time you turn to take a bite (lived through this, thank God it was just a salad)? Either order something that doesn’t interfere with play (one utensil dishes or (
yuck*) hand held) or sit out to eat.
*I have cleaned thousands of Casino used poker chips. I cannot think of very many things that can compare to their filth level. Older chips that haven’t been cleaned in a while are almost coated in “finger jelly” with large pockets of the jelly in the indentations. Watching a very ill Maria Lampropulos cough into her hand for three days while winning this year’s PCA is a disgusting reminder of what’s swimming on the chips and cards.There is/was a reg at Playground who eats potato chips with chopsticks!! – weird, but clean.