Poker Etiquette: Table Manners for Home Games and Card Rooms

The written rules tell you how poker works. Etiquette is everything else: the habits that keep a game friendly, quick and fair. Good manners matter just as much around a kitchen table as in a card room, and they are the quickest way to look like a player who knows the game.

Acting at the table

Act in turn. Wait until it is your turn before you check, bet or fold. Acting early gives information away and spoils the hand for others.
Say what you are doing. Announce "call", "raise to 300" or "fold" clearly. A spoken declaration in turn should be treated as binding.
Make your bet in one movement. Going back to your stack for more chips without announcing a raise is a string bet, and it is usually treated as a call.
Do not splash the pot. Place your chips in front of you rather than throwing them into the middle, so everyone can see the amount.
Keep your chips tidy and visible. Stack them neatly with the larger values easy to see. Opponents are entitled to know roughly how much you have.

Cards and showdowns

Protect your cards. Keep a hand, a chip or a card protector on your hole cards. A hand that is mixed with the discards is dead.
Keep your cards on the table. Lifting them to your chest risks showing a neighbour.
Do not slow-roll. If you know you have the best hand at the showdown, show it promptly. Making an opponent wait in false hope is the biggest breach of poker manners.
Do not talk about a hand in progress. Even after folding, commenting on the cards ("I folded a seven") can change how others play.
Show one, show all. If you show your cards to one player after a hand, anyone at the table may ask to see them.

Behaviour

Be gracious in winning and losing. No gloating and no sulking. Everyone has bad nights.
Do not criticise how others play. Explaining to a player why their call was wrong is the surest way to make the game less fun, and the player less likely to make the same mistake again.
Respect the dealer. At home that is usually a friend, so be patient with mistakes and help put them right politely.
Keep the pace up. Take your time on a big decision, but do not hold up every hand. Have your chips ready when it is your turn.
Keep phones, drinks and food off the playing surface. Spills damage cloth and cards, and constant phone checking slows the game.

Fair play: what is never acceptable

Collusion: two or more players working together, sharing information about their cards or agreeing not to bet against each other ("soft play").
Angle shooting: using a technicality to deceive, such as pretending to call so an opponent shows their cards, or hiding high-value chips.
Betting "blind" when you have looked: if you announce you are acting without seeing your cards, that must be true.
Breaking the rules on purpose: an honest mistake is part of the game; a deliberate one is cheating.

Bluffing, on the other hand, is part of the game. Betting with a weak hand to make others fold is fair play; lying about the rules is not.

For hosts: set the tone

Write your house rules down and explain them before the first hand. Agree who makes the final decision on disputes (usually the host). Put a printed hand rankings chart on the table for new players, and keep drinks on a side table. A Poker Whizz Wheel on the side table is a friendly way to help beginners decide which starting hands to play without slowing the game. Our complete guide to hosting a poker night has a printable checklist.