going to a B&M for the first time PLEASE HELP

[ofcrtville]

After playing online for a while i feel it is time to venture out to my local casino and play some holdem. My objective is to not look like a fool while i am sitting there by having the dealer constantly correct me. One thing i was wondering is if a bet of $25 is infront of me and i want to bet $50 do i
1)say raise $25 meaning i raise the bet before me 25
2)say raise 50 meaning i'm putting 50 in. or will that be taken as i am putting 75 in.
i venture to say that if i say raise to 50 that could be confused as 250.
any help would be greatly appreciated

[Dazarath]

I can think of four options off the top of my head:
1) Like you said, just say "raise 25" and put in $50.
2) Some people just say "raise" and put in $50 worth of chips.
3) I don't think I've heard this as much, but you could also say, "I raise $25 on top".
4) Lastly, some people don't talk at all, so they would just put $50 in and the dealer will annouce to the table that the person is raising.

I think as long as you're not doing anything really weird (ie. saying "raise 25" and putting in a total of $33 worth of chips), it should be self-explanatory what your action was.

Oh, I'm assuming that you're talking about NL/PL. Otherwise, just saying "raise" already implies that you're putting in the amount of the bet for the current street.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Announcing your action is always helpful, but just putting out the bet is all that is needed.

Do a search for basic rules and etiquette here. You should find a number of B&M FAQs. At 4/8 and below, many players at the table will be newbies, and the dealers will be used to telling you the rules. At mid-limits the players will tag you as a fish, but if this is your first venture into a cardroom, I'd avoid higher limits. Not because you lack the skill, but because the cardroom can be a bit overwhelming, and you will NOT play your best game on your first venture out.

Good luck.

[smoore]

options:
"raise 25"... put out $50
"raise TO 50"... put out $50 (make sure you accentuate TO)
"raise"... put out 50
"50"... put out 50
"raise"... put out 25 (the call) then put out your raise (another 25 in this case).
The last two are how I like to do it.

Limit is much easier of course. Just say,"raise" and put out the appropriate amount. Sometimes in 4/8 I'll say, "16" on the later streets instead of "raise" for example.

edit: if it's going to take you more than one motion to put out your raise, go ahead and verbally declare the amount so you don't string bet.

[MLerra]

These are good suggestions. Best advice I could give is just to somehow let people know (with the dealer within earshot) that it's your first time playing in a casino. It will likely be obvious, but if you mention this and are polite in your interactions, the dealer will be watchful to ensure he/she does not misinterpret your actions or betting. After half an hour at the table, you'll wonder what you were worrying about and you'll be having a good time.

[bholdr]

just say 'raise' and put your chips out there.

[jacks321]

I played live the first time about a week ago and was unsure about that kind of thing too. Until I loosened up and got to understand what was going on a bit more, I just kept my mouth shut and put the chips in. Seemed to keep me out of trouble for the most part [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Ok, it must be a new week, here's the same question over again that gets asked every week. As usual, I will re-post the same post I do every week, hoping that one internet player will come to a REAL cardroom and not piss everyone the hell off...




Yes, I have advice. But I feel slightly RANTY tonight, so bear with me....

Please do not be one of those internet players who can play poker well in a strategic sense, but has no idea how to conduct themselves in a live cardroom. These internet wanna-bees are everywhere these days, and they are just annoying as hell for us B&M regulars. It's like they get used to the internet doing all the work for them, and like a child who cannot entertain themselves without watching TV, they are inept and unable to function without the beeps and buzzes they are used to getting online.

Pay attention! Gawk at the waitress BETWEEN hands, not while everyone is waiting for you to act.

If you are going to wear glasses, make sure your eyesight is sufficient that you can actually SEE the cards, suits, etc.

Don't blow smoke in other people's faces if it's a smoking room. Be polite with your smokes. If it's a non-smoking room, buy some listerine strips (or something) to keep your neighbors from gagging on your breath when you come back from smoking!

Play fast and learn the mechanics of live cardroom play before you sit down and irritate the dealer and other players in the game. If you have to sign up for "lessons" then do it. Lee Jones book does have some good advice on cardroom ettiquette. Read it if you aren't sure.

don't friggin' count out your chips one at a friggin' time out of your rack (which of course most internet wanna-be cardroom players insist on keeping on the table). Take the chips out of your rack and cut them like you know what you are doing. Single chip counters bug me, particularly if they are obviously internet players. Us B&M regulars are already aware that three comes after four, four comes after five, etc etc and don't need a fresh physical demonstration EVERY SINGLE TIME IT IS YOUR TURN TO BET/RAISE/CALL. Six chips are stacked 3 and 3, eight chips are stacked 4 and 4, ten chips are stacked 5 and 5, etc. Stacks of seven or nine or eleven or seventeen are completely useless, and the dealer will break them down anyway, thus wasting time counting chips you could have already properly stacked in the first place.

Stacks of chips on the table are in stacks of TWENTY. It's much easier to verify stacks for change/color up if you don't stack them by 23 or 39 or 14. If you are all-in in a no limit game, having your chips already stacked in a convenient manner will speed up the game immensely. Remember, the dealer MUST count your chips when you go all-in, so make it EASY for them.

Use basic courtesy and common sense when dealing and speaking to others involved in the game, including the dealer. I understand that the internet is a free-for-all contest to see who can be the most obnoxious, and I was sometimes guilty of this myself when I used to (GAG) play online. However, in a live cardroom this crap doesn't fly. While there are 50,000,000,000,001 idiot moron fish waiting to take the place of anyone who you piss off on the internet, in a live game, if you piss off the fish you may wind up in a game full of rocks with a profitability margin of 0.000000000000000001%.

Let the DEALER run the game. Listen to them and follow their commands/prompts. While some dealers these days are inept and incompetent, most can run the game efficiently enough. They are ALL much better if you don't make their job difficult.

Tip the dealers when you win a pot. An extremely large tip is not required, but don't be a friggin' stiff either. I generally tip 2% of the pot, but usually try to tip a buck even if the pot is less than $50. If it's REALLY small I don't tip a buck, but might tip a half dollar or couple or three quarters anyway. Stealing the blinds does not require a tip. Tip your waitress for your drinks, and give the chip runner a buck when they bring you your chips! Live cardrooms require tipping! If the floorperson or brush does something particularly nice, it never hurts to tip them as well (most cardrooms allow tipping floorpeople, tho a few don't, obviously they will tell you if it's not allowed).

Protect your hand! This is more important than what beats what! Cup your hands around your cards and lift up the corners, peeking in the little "window" to see what you have. Don't remove your cards from the felt! They should never leave the table! Don't let go of them until A) they have killed all the losing hands and are pushing the chips your direction, or B) you are certain your hand is a loser. Once your cards touch the muck pile, THEY ARE COMPLETELY AND FOREVER DEAD AND YOU HAVE NO FURTHER RIGHT TO THE POT REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU HAVE.

FLOORMAN'S DECISIONS ARE FINAL. Don't argue with the floorman!

If you want to raise, say "RAISE" loudly and clearly. Then you may count the chips out at your leisure. If you try to raise (without saying it out loud) and make multiple motions towards your chips, you have made a "string bet" and it won't be allowed to stand. Multiple motions for bets or raises are just not kosher in a live cardroom. Just say it out loud "RAISE" and you'll be fine. If you are playing no limit, you might say "raise to fifty" or "make it $110." Then you can count them out as you wish without fear of being guilty of a string raise (which a dealer won't allow to stand, and correctly so).

Oversized chip rule: If you are going to call with an oversized chip, just tossing it in the pot indicates a CALL. Say the bb is $2 and you wish to make it $5. Well, if you just toss in a red chip and don't say anything, YOU HAVE CALLED. If you say "RAISE" and toss in a red chip, now the bet is legitimately $5. Another way to deal with this is to just use five $1 chips instead of a $5 chip.

When you fold, push your cards to where the dealer doesn't have to do the friggin limbo stretch across the table to retrieve them. Same thing for when you place a bet.

Place your bet in front of you, and far enough where the dealer can easily collect it, and in the proper stack configuration for the bet you are making (see above paragraph on stacking bets). Don't splash the friggin' pot! It's cool when teddy-kgb does it, but it is a real annoyance when some moron does it in a live game and the dealer has to count down the pot to verify the bets.

In general, do everything you can to get that game going fast and to make the fish feel comfortable! Live play is slower than internet play, like usually almost 50% slower. You need to do everything in the world that you can to act quickly and efficiently.

Rant completed!

al