When you play poker in a casino, you need to know the rules.
The House Rules are posted in plain view.
Read them before you play in a card room for the first time. It will save you money and heartache.
This week alone, I saw four blunders that cost each player involved their hard earned money.
Rules vary from casino to casino. What is acceptable in one is forbidden in another.
Here is what happened this week:
Monday
A player is first to act in three-way action. He bets $100 after the flop and shows one card.
The dealer scoops the $100 into the pot and mucks the player’s hand.
The remaining two players did not have to act on the bet.
The rule is, to avoid collusion, cards cannot be exposed in multi-way action.
When you do this, you just declared your hand dead.
Tuesday
A player sitting across from the dealer did not protect his cards by placing a chip on top.
One of the first rules in any card room is it is the PLAYER’S RESPONSIBILITY to PROTECT their hand at ALL times.
Long story short, this player did not protect his hand, and after investing $300 in a hand by the turn, the dealer thought he was folding on the river and took his cards. Once they hit the muck, it is a dead hand.
He claims to of had A-A, which would have been the winning hand.
Instead of taking a $1000 pot home, he took the bus home.
Wednesday
This scenario happened twice on this day: A player checks the winning hand on the river, declares what he has, and I show the losing hand.
The player then mucks his hand and waits for the pot.
Since he mucked and I showed, I win the pot.
Hee haw.
Thursday
A player was on his cell phone when the cards came out.
The dealer warned him twice to get off the phone.
This player had A-A and ignored the dealer.
The dealer waited a good 30 seconds to deal the flop.
Floor management happened to be standing at the table.
The dealer had no choice but to warn the player a third time and deal the flop.
Once the flop hit, the player bet $100.
Instead of getting off his phone, he got off the hand.
The dealer grabbed his cards and mucked them.
The cards and the money were gone in a flash.
Know the rules.
