Worried about playing Live games

[lablelarry]

I only play online and 'friendly' games at friends houses. I worry if I play a live game there are weird rules that I don't know about and I'll do something wrong. Anyone have a .pdf or something or rules at a live game in vegas or casino. I remember seeing some weird thing about you cannot check on a certain hand?

Also I'm female, and slightly intimidated by poker being mostly men. They can't say inappropriate things to throw you off?

 

[kkonicke]

I've played a decent amount of live poker with all types, and have never ever ever ever ever encountered a male player doing something like that to a female player. I would be super surprised if it even happened, and I think other players at the table would come to your defense if a male player got that out of line anyways.

I don't have a pdf handy of specific rules. Some places will have a rule of whether or not you can show one or both of your hole cards when heads up with a player. Some places will freeze your action if you act out of turn, or give you a 1 round penalty for continually acting out of turn. I think the rule you are referring to is you can't check the nuts if you are last to act on the river. For example, if you are on the button and have a royal flush, you can't check the river or it's viewed as collusion. A majority of the nitpicky rules I've run into are mostly a non-issue as long as you are focused on the game. I would advise protecting your hole cards with a chip to make sure they are not mistakenly mucked.

 

[smallfrie]

I only play online and 'friendly' games at friends houses. I worry if I play a live game there are weird rules that I don't know about and I'll do something wrong. Anyone have a .pdf or something or rules at a live game in vegas or casino. I remember seeing some weird thing about you cannot check on a certain hand?

Also I'm female, and slightly intimidated by poker being mostly men. They can't say inappropriate things to throw you off?

Are you playing cash or tournament?

You can't check if you are the last person to act in a hand where all the streets have been dealt and you have the best possible hand (The nuts). You also can't just call if there has been a non all-in bet made before it is your turn to act and you have more chips than the bet that was made and you are the last person to act when all the streets have been dealt and you have the best possible hand (The nuts) you must raise. Just calling in the first situation or not raising in the second situation is soft play and there is no justification for it unless you did not realize you had the best possible hand. You May be warned the first time or receive a penalty.

If you are playing a tournament... Google/Search Poker TDA and you will get a listing for Tournament Directors Association (TDA) rules. If you read those rules and ask for a copy of the house rules at the room you are playing and read those you should be fine. Don't worry or be intimidated.

 

[lablelarry]

Thanks for the replies, my hubby kept insisting there were no rules like this!

 

[lcid86]

Most have rules posted and will help you out if you ask when you check in. Generally, bet sizing, string bets and acting out of turn are mistakes I see. Don't discuss your cards, wait until your turn and verbalize your bet when you are raising when you bet other than the minimum (if you are unsure). Good luck and have fun!

 

[smallfrie]

Thanks for the replies, my hubby kept insisting there were no rules like this!

Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, like this...

 

[SirLongbottom]

what smallfrie said...my local room was pretty relaxed with people messing up until about 4 months ago...i accidently expose my hand on the river 3 ways cause i thought it was only two of us and the sat me out an orbit...i was actually pretty upset on the inside cause that was the first time ive seen them actually enforce their penalties...but then ive seen them do it to a few other players and was like "oh dang, their actually enforcing rules lol"...so i guess its a good thing for the game..

also, some rooms have rules where if you throw in 1 chip its considered a call..so theres a bunch of limpers at like 50/100 and you toss in 1k chip, its a call..at least 2 chips is raise...and becareful of chips sticking together (cause some are so dirty they stick to eachother) because you might accidentally raise 5k more than you wanted like i did once lol..at least it worked out for me..

but usually men are pretty respectful to women because of what your sayin, there are a lot of men there and if one guy talks a bunch of crap to a women the other dudes will actually defend the woman..and the dealer might call floor to have them moved or just leave..but the trash talk is kinda what makes it fun lol

playing live is really fun once in a while though, trash talk, especially in smaller games/rooms, is part of the game..not like vulgar talk(sometimes) just stuff like "wow nice suck out kid", "these young kids just have no fear huh", "im not good enough to fold KK's pre-flop like this kid"...ive heard that from a few old slaty men that i sucked out on and a little worse..they really dont like it when a 27yo busts them,or women, so get ready if your good lol..I LOVE IT!!!

P.S ive also heard some pretty nice comments from the old folk as well when they just couldnt call my 3bets or check raises like, "damn this kids too hard to kill!".."nah, this kid knows what hes doing" "jesus christ kid, how many times do you reach a final table!?"..thats good sportsmanship....not really a brag cause those live tourneys i played were super hard to cash cause of how deep they got even at the final table...ive gotten 6/7th/8th/9th multiple times with NO CASH!!! (BARF!)..GL, and talk some trash back if they start it!

 

[FrothyGoodness]

You can't advance your game if you dont venture out. Usually dealers will help you out with any oddball rules you aren't used to. Basically there shouldnt be anything different compared to online except take and straddling. As far as non friendly people....just like online you may run into some douchenizzle that wants to try and get in your head and throw you off. It happens , if it gets to out of line you can usually call the floor and at least for the moment get that person to hush up a little. From what I've witnessed in live play is women are basically the children of the game a lot of guys will pressure you consistently to see your hand ranges and basically push you around the table. However it plays very well for the aggressive playing women because they take that and feed off of it and I've seen a lot of female players take down huge pots because someone thought they could run them down and out of a pot. I wish you good luck on your journey into live play, it will teach you a lot about not only poker itself but how you see yourself as a player , the types of reads you give off and can learn from. Good luck have fun and bring hesdphones