Playing Poker At A Casino

You're a recreational poker player, playing in basements and kitchens. You show up for the occasional tournament at the Elks or Kiwanis. Maybe you're still in school and play there. But casinos and other public poker rooms — they intimidate you. You'd like to go, if only because you have friends who go and you'd like to join them. But you're afraid of embarrassing yourself.

This column is a crash course in fitting in and feeling comfortable in that public poker room environment. It won't teach you the necessary strategy for winning. For that I recommend any of a number of articles, training videos, or poker strategy books including my own Winning Poker in 30 Minutes A Day. But following these 12 tips will allow you to feel comfortable sitting down for the first time.

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1. Don't worry about looking inexperienced

Everyone has to start some time. There's no shame in being new. The good players know this and will be accepting and forgiving of any mistakes you make. It's only the jerks who will be rude or condescending. Pay them no mind. If they were really any good, they would welcome with warm and open arms any inexperienced player.

2. Look at your cards deftly

Home game players often pick up their cards, pull them back from the table, or even put them on their lap. Public poker rooms are much more concerned about cheaters and so require players to follow certain rules when handling cards. You may not hold your cards below the table. You are discouraged from picking them up above the table. You are encouraged to shield them from other players (though you alone are responsible for protecting your cards from the prying eyes of your opponent).

Accordingly, you should adopt a standard, simple, and effective way of bending up the cards so you can see them, without exposing them to others. You can practice this at home. I find that you can simply use your right hand to bend up the left corner of the cards for you to view while using the left hand to keep the exposed corner out of the line of sight of your opponents. It should only take you a few minutes of sitting at a table with a deck of cards to master this technique.

3. Make sure to act in turn

Acting in turn is easy if you make sure to follow the action. You don't want to act before it is your turn to do so. Similarly, it is really annoying to others if you don't act when it is your turn to do so. Avoid having to say, 'Is it to me?' or 'My turn?' The action moves clockwise, one person at a time. It's an easy concept to understand. Act in turn!

4. Don't needlessly delay the action

When it is your turn, act quickly. If you have a tough decision to make, by all means take the time you need to decide. But don't turn every hand into a major, time-consuming ponder. Avoid daydreaming, engaging in conversation, and playing a game or talking on your phone unless you are out of a hand. While you are in a hand your attention and focus must be on the game.

5. Don't anticipate the action and broadcast what you will do before it is your turn

Two actions fall into this category. Don't grab or count out the chips you expect to be betting until it is your turn to act. And don't hold your cards in such a way as to indicate you are going to fold. Doing these things gives other attentive players an advantage to know what you are going to do before they act.

6. Make your bet (or raise) in one motion

It's against public poker room rules to make what is known as a 'string bet' or bet in two or more motions. You must make your bet or raise in a single motion. When you see poker players in the movies say 'I bet $200' and put out $200, and then dramatically add 'and I raise you another $300' and put out $300, that's a string bet — and that's not allowed when you play in poker rooms.

Accordingly, before making any betting motion, think about exactly how much you want to wager — the total amount. Then say what you are doing before you act. If you make that verbal announcement first, you then are allowed to go back and forth to your stack to put out the bet you have announced. For example, if there is a $10 bet to you and you want to raise to $30, do not put out $10 and then go back to your stack for another $20. Say, 'I raise to $30' and then make your bet.

7. Don't take chips off the table

This is called 'ratholing' and is generally forbidden in casino play. When you win money it must stay on the table. The only time you may take chips off the table is at the end of your session.

8. Ask questions of the dealer, but ideally not during the play of a hand

No one is expecting you to be an expert. You will have questions about the policies and procedures of the poker room that will pop into your head while you play. Resist the urge to ask the dealer these questions while you are in the middle of the hand. Wait until the hand is over, then ask.

Alternately, you could go up to the floorperson, the brush, or the poker room manager and ask any of them. Keep in mind that it is distracting even for the best dealers to try to carry on a conversation during the play of the hand, so avoid it if you can.

9. Post your small or big blind punctually and without having to be prompted

This falls under the category of not delaying the action, but it merits a separate mention. Hold'em and Omaha are played with blinds. These are forced bets that are supposed to be placed before the cards are dealt. Avoid holding up the game by not posting your blinds when it is your turn to do so.

10. One person to a hand

No one but you should be looking at your cards or making decisions about your betting action. You may have a friend sitting with you or even a cluster of friends standing by to cheer you on in your poker playing session. Do not share your hand with them or discuss your betting action with them during the play of the hand.

11. Resist the urge to celebrate your win

Don't draw attention to your good fortune by celebrating or even talking about a hand you just won. It's annoying to the player who just lost the hand. Take the pot, stack your chips, and then move on to the next hand.

12. Don't 'slow roll' your winning hand

Again, the movies are partly to blame for this one. In your home game it might be acceptable for the winner to dramatically turn over his or her cards slowly, drawing out the suspense before the big reveal. But in a public poker room, such 'slow rolling' is boorish behavior that you should absolute avoid.

When you're called, turn over your cards right away — win or lose. If you call your opponent's final bet, turn over your cards right after your opponent does. Show your winning hand without unduly drawing attention to the moment.

These 12 suggestions will not turn you into a winning player. But they will help you avoid embarrassment or annoying other players while you are learning the basics of how to take their money.

Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of poker articles as well as Winning 7-Card Stud and the brand new Winning Poker in 30 Minutes A Day. He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.

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So you want to know how to play poker in a casino cardroom? And you’ve only ever played in home games?

You’re in luck because I can tell you the pros and cons of playing in a casino as contrasted with playing in a home game. I can also explain the differences between the 2 venues and how to choose which one is right for you.

Finally, if you’ve decided you want to make the transition from home poker games to casino poker games, I’ll tell you how to adjust to the differences.

The Differences between Home Poker Games and Casino Poker Games

Most casual home poker games are played at kitchen or dining room tables. You’ll usually be playing for low stakes, and the experience probably has more to do with socializing than playing cards. In most home games, the choice of poker game being played changes with the dealer.

In a casino, though, things are more serious and structured. You’ll be playing at a professional quality poker table, for one thing. The stakes might be low, but higher stakes games will almost always be available. And the game being dealt at each table will be the same as long as you’re sitting there (usually).

The Rake

In a home poker game, you don’t usually pay any kind of rake or chair rental. In a casino poker game, you’ll pay for the privilege of playing there. Most casinos use a “rake” system to make their cardrooms profitable. They take a small percentage (usually 5%) of each pot. Some casinos might still charge flat rental fees for sitting in their chairs, but that’s unusual.

If you’ve been reading my posts about poker, you’re likely to be the best player at the table in a lot of home poker games.

Think about it this way. If you’re playing poker with 8 other people who all are exactly as skilled as you, you’ll eventually break even. If you’re just 1% better than the rest of the players, though, you’ll eventually walk away with a profit.

That’s not true in a raked game. Not only do you have to be better than the other players at the table, but you also have to be so much better than they are that you can overcome the rake.

Professional Dealers and Security Staff

Also, in a casino setting, you’ll have a professional dealer rather than just your buddy dealing the cards. That takes a little of the pressure off, especially if you’re not great at shuffling cards. (I’ve been playing poker for a couple of decades now, and I’m still not great at shuffling a deck of cards. I’m too slow.)

Best Casinos For Video Poker

I’ve played in some home poker games in some rough neighborhoods. I remember walking out of one local game in Plano, Texas with $1000 in winnings in my pocket. It was 7am, but it was still almost dark out, and I was terrified someone was going to knock me in the head and take my money.

As luck would have it, that didn’t happen. But it’s unlikely in the extreme in a casino setting. Those places are crawling with security personnel.

Also, the professional dealers and management ensure that no one at the table is cheating. I’ve never played in a home game with a cheat—at least not that I’m sure about. But I sure take comfort in knowing that the staff at the casino are doing what they can to prevent cheating.

Different Kinds of Social Pressure from One Venue to the Other

In-home poker games, if you walk away from the table early to preserve your winnings, you’ll often face social pressure from your opponents. It’s considered poor form to not let your opponents get a shot at winning back their money.

This isn’t a concern in a casino poker game. It’s a good idea at the Texas holdem tables to wait for the blind to come back around, though. After all, you did pay for those hands.

Game Availability

Good casinos offer multiple standardized card games. Most of the following are common:

• Lowball
• Omaha 8
• Stud
• Texas holdem

When you’re playing at home, you’ll probably have a wider variety of games, but you’ll only get to choose the game part of the time. The rules for these variants are often silly, with lots of wild cards. The rule of thumb, strategy-wise, is to play even tighter in these kinds of variations than you would normally.

Home poker games usually have a slower pace than casino cardrooms. The dealers help with this, but the players at the casino are there to play. They’re not there to socialize.

The final big advantage to playing in a casino is the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life who love to play poker. Most home poker games lack the diversity available in casino cardrooms.

Getting Started in Your 1st Casino Poker Game

When you go into the cardroom, you’ll find a counter where the staff handles the seating of new players. There will usually be an electronic board listing what games are available at what limits, but you can also just ask the person working at the counter. Sometimes you’ll be added to a waitlist.

You’ll just tell the person at the counter what game and what limit you’d like to play, and when a seat is available, you’ll be taken to it. If you’re playing in tournaments or large stakes games, you’ll need a valid form of identification to prove your age. (I’ve been allowed to play in low stakes games without my identification before. I look old, and the stakes were so small that the cardroom manager wasn’t worried about it. This might not be true in every cardroom.)

When you sit down at the table, you’ll need to buy chips. Depending on the stakes at the table, you’ll need to buy in for a certain minimum amount. You might buy chips from the dealer, but more often, a floorperson will come around to sell you chips. It usually won’t take them long to arrive, so be patient.

In fact, at most casinos, you can even play before you get your chips. The dealer will just announce that you’re “behind,” which just means you’re waiting for your chips.

You’ll notice that the dealers at a casino do a more thorough job of shuffling the deck than home poker dealers do. These guys work for tips, so it’s customary to throw them a chip or 2 when you’ve won a pot. Also, the dealer in a casino cardroom never plays a hand. In home games, they’re almost always playing in the hand, too.

You’ll also notice that casino poker players tend to fold more often than people in home poker games. In most friendly home games, a lot of players will play almost every hand just for camaraderie. Casino players tend to be more skilled and willing to fold bad cards.

Most players in the casino, especially at the lower limits, are still loose. They play too many hands. Most novice poker players can break even just by having relatively tight starting hand requirements.

I still recommend playing for low stakes the 1st few times you play in a casino, though. There’s no point in needlessly wasting money while you’re learning to play in a casino.

I fold probably 75% or 80% of the hands I get at the Texas holdem table preflop. That’s not the optimal number, because that varies based on game conditions, but those are my standards. You should have your own standards for which starting cards are good enough to continue with and play accordingly.

Getting Used to the Fast Pace

Home poker games are slow. The dealers aren’t professionals, so they take longer to shuffle and deal. Most of the players aren’t taking the game seriously, so they’re holding up the game by not paying attention while they jaw with their buddies.

Adjusting to the faster paces of casino poker can be a challenge for some. Once you get used to it, though, casino poker seems to move at a stately pace. If you’re playing tight preflop like I recommend, you might even be bored while the various hands play out.

Once you get used to the faster pace, which is just something that comes with experience, you should focus on becoming more mindful at the table. Just because you’ve folded doesn’t mean you should ignore what’s going on at the table.

I usually have to think hard about what I’m going to focus on. Sometimes I’ll “clock” how often a specific player sees a flop. That gives me an idea of how tight or loose that opponent is. If you do that with everyone you play, you’ll recognize tendencies that will inform your betting decisions in later hands.

Poker Games At Casinos

Conclusion

How To Deal Poker In A Casino

You might be intimidated by playing casino poker for the 1st time, but that’s not necessary. Once you’ve participated in a couple of games, you’ll probably be at least as good (if not better) than most of your opponents. I don’t know many reasonably serious players who don’t at least break even at most lower stakes games.

Of course, casino poker isn’t for everyone. You might be bored with the lack of game variety or wild cards. Or you might not like the faster pace of the game. You might miss knowing all the other players at the table.

But if you’re at all serious about the game, the best place to play poker in its truest form is in a modern casino setting.