Poker Articles

Unwritten Rules
By Michael Wiesenberg

Here are three rules that are usually not written in the rule books, but they are still enforced in most cardrooms.

1. You must have a hand to win the pot. (Some clubs have the rule, Any player who has discarded his hand has no claim to the pot. Obviously. The rule about incorrectly describing a hand as being better than it is, and in so doing, causing others to discard their hands, thus forfeiting any rights to the pot does not apply in these clubs. That you must have a hand to win a pot, however, is the unwritten rule in all uncertain situations.) This fact would seem self-evident, right? So obvious, in fact, that it looks ridiculous on paper, and this probably why the rules is not in most books.

Of course, you say, I would never try to win a pot without a hand. Consider this:

You're sitting next to the house dealer in a hold'em game. Your cards are on the table in front of you. This is a large pot, with a lot of betting and raising. The river card has been dealt.

The first player, who had been putting in much of the action, now bets. The next three players all fold, and the house dealer scoops up their cards. Just what you've been waiting for has occurred; you are the only one left to call, and you have top pair. You hesitate a moment and call.

The original bettor now sadly says, "I missed."

"I've got kings," you say, and reach for your cards to turn them over and take the pot.

You have no cards to turn over, you suddenly discover. You hadn't protected your hand, and the dealer just scooped them up along with all the other discards.

"Hey!" you yell. "Where are my cards. I had the best hand."

The dealer starts to push the pot to the bluffer. "Wait a minute," you cry out.

"Floorman!" yells the dealer.

A houseman shows up. When the situation is explained, he asks, "Who still has cards." The original bettor takes your pot.

There is an easy way to preclude having this happen to you. It's covered by rule 4.

2. A hand touching any discards is dead. If a player leaves his cards sitting unprotected on the table in front of him, and someone's discard accidentally falls on those cards, the hand is dead. If a player discards his hand prematurely, it is dead if it hits any discards. (Some clubs even call a hand dead if it lands anywhere within a certain area of the table--usually near the center--regardless of whether it hits other cards.)

To avoid getting your hand fouled, always hold onto your cards until either you fold, are obviously beaten, or the pot is completely out of play.

In a deal-yourself draw game, when it comes time for you as dealer to distribute the draw cards, if you are playing in the hand you have to set your own cards down. You can avoid getting your hand fouled in this situation too by setting some chips on top of your hand while it is lying otherwise unprotected on the table. This protects the hand, and most clubs rule that cards falling on your hand do not foul it because they cannot mix with it.

3. No string bets. This rule is found in very few rules books, yet it is almost virtually universally enforced. It is the likeliest rule to cause an argument, particularly from a newcomer who does not understand what a "string bet" is. A string bet is one made in more than one move, by going back to your chips for more. Bets are supposed to be made all at once in one fluid motion. When you intend to raise the pot, for example, you must fulfill one of two conditions:

a. When it is your turn to bet, have in your hand sufficient chips to make the entire raise and release them all at once without withdrawing your hand from the pot.

b. Say "I raise" (or an equivalent statement, such as, "Two bets," or, in a no-limit or pot-limit game, "And 20" or "20 more"; most clubs liberally interpret expressions like "Going up" and "Upstairs" to mean "I raise").

If you carry chips in your hand and say nothing in a no-limit game, your bet is usually limited to how much is in your hand (provided you release all the chips without removing your hand from the pot and provided also that the amount of chips in your hand is sufficient to constitute a legal raise; if you pull you hand back without saying anything, you can bet only as much as you dropped into the pot). In a limit game, if you have half a bet or more over the amount of a call, in some houses you are permitted to raise; in others you are not. It helps to know how much "constitutes a raise": this is usually defined in the rule book. If you say, "Raise," however, you can go back to your stack for more chips as many times as you wish. (Exception: A few no-limit games allow only one "return trip.") If you acquire the habit of always saying, "I raise," when you want to raise (or, "I bet," when you bet in a no-limit game), you will never have anyone call a string bet on you. (By "calling a string bet on you," I mean, "accusing you of making a string bet," and likely asking the house for a ruling, or, at the least, starting an argument.)

While all of this may sound a little like "Mother, may I?," its purpose is to protect the players from angle shooters. Formerly, some players put some chips in the pot and then, when had seen a the reactions of the others, add more chips to the pot. Or they might raise a certain amount when attempting to drive others out of the pot and then, finding that amount insufficient, increase their bets. In a limit game, such a player might call a bet and then, when seeing the player behind him reaching for sufficient chips also just to call, add a raise in a string bet.

The Two Most Important Rules

These two rules are in every rule book, and they cover all the other situations.

4. Protect your hand at all times. This includes not getting it fouled because stray discards touched it, in a draw game asking for the correct number of cards in turn, not allowing two people to pass behind you if you intend to bet--which in many clubs either disqualifies you from betting, or in a call situation, kills your hand--without either acting or calling "time," not discarding your hand before the pot is actually in your possession, knowing who else is in the pot, not dropping your cards on the floor (which has various interpretations, few of which help the beginner, and, most important, knowing the rules.

In hold'em, many players protect their cards by one of two methods: holding tightly onto them during the entire play of the hand, placing a "protector" (which can be a special disk or token, or just a few chips) on top of the cards.

5. Floorman's decision is final. Know the rules, and you won't lose on a technicality any pots that should be yours. Read the rule book of a new club the first time you play, or ask a manager to explain the rules. You'll avoid arguments and bad feelings, and you'll have a good time.

© 2000 Michael Wiesenberg

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