I’m going to my first poker game on Friday. It’s just a group of friends (sounds like about 5 of us) and I’m wondering what poker “etiquette” is (if there is any). I gave a poker set (chips, carousel, cards) to the guy hosting it for his b-day so I’m also curious how one “buys” the chips too to play.
(And of course any other anecdotes, stories, comments, suggestions to play too are greatly appreciated)
Oy. Ok. First, please understand that this is not intended as an insult, and that I would like to help you. That said:
I’m afraid your going to get your ass handed to you in a bucket. This is your first poker game? Get a book. Quickly. Do you know what kind of game you’re playing? Omaha? Stud? Hold 'Em? Kill or no kill? Betting limits? What’s your comfort zone? How much do you already know about the game? If you know these things, I can suggest some books.
Try playing a few hands online here or here. They have “play money” tables. That should at least help you in reading hands a bit. How well do you know the guys you’re playing with? Good friends? Acquaintances? There are different “rules” for different situations. Friendly games are a little looser, the rules a bit more relaxed.
Poker skills are developed over a period of time; you work at them. Knowing when to check, when to bet, and probably most importantly for you, when to throw your hand away, even if it could be a winner, is essential. Try to minimize the bleeding as much as possible. There’s nothing wrong with being a rock your first game. And DON’T listen to anyone else at the table. They want your money.
Where you sit is important. Are you rotating dealers?
Eeee…I know there’s stuff I’m forgetting…where’s Optihut when I need him?
Here’s one more site to help with the basics
One thing that irks me when I play with my friends: they don’t throw their money in in order. If someone opens, they just start tossing their money in willy-nilly. So my little piece of advice: don’t place your money into the pot until the guy to your right either puts his there or folds.
Agree on a set time to quit-- whether it’s as a group, or just you if you have to leave at a certain time. Then, whatever you do, don’t quit early. I have one friend who would come in and win a few pots, and leave after an hour. Pissed everyone off becasue he would take our money, then not give us a chance to win it back.
We do rotating dealers, and pretty much go back and forth between 5-card draw and stud poker, although we’ve taken to Hold 'Em lately, too. stpauler, if you’re rotating dealers and playing a mix of games (whatever the dealer feels like dealing), might I suggest a simple 5-card draw for when it’s your turn. It’s easy to deal (no remembering which cards are up or down or which ones you ‘burn.’) You can pick a wild card to make things interesting.
I might think of some more stuff later…
Happy
To answer your question on chips:
Is there going to be a limit on the buy-in? ($20, $50, $100?) That is a good way to go for starting players, everybody starts as equals and nobody loses more than expected. “Buying” chips is easy - you assign an amount for a chip color (25-cents, 50-cents, 10-dollars, whatever), and you simply pay for the chip with your (real) money which is placed in the “bank” for later. At the end of the night you cash-in your winnings for the bank’s real money.
Now for playing advice:
Most of the basic etiquette (or house-rules) vary from group to group and they should be discussed beforehand to avoid confusion or argument (it would seem that people get particular around money). I would recommend to play conservatively the entire night, study the table (the other players), and don’t be afraid to fold (lots of people lose their money on dumb hands they insist on playing). If these guys are friends of yours you should be ok, have fun. However, if there are to be some ‘lesser’ aquaintances present; then what Maureen said.
…and if you start off real “lucky” from the beginning of the night, worry. 
Thanks for all of the responses and links.
The group of us consists of two people that I’m good friends with and two people that are acquaintances (but good friends with the host). I know my two friends are pretty much newbies to playing “house” poker, so I won’t be the only one wearing the rube hat.
I grew up in a card playing family. Cribbage, Rummy, Spike and Malice, Canasta, (War), but not really ever poker. The only poker experience I’ve ever had was at the Casino playing the quarter slots for 5 and 7 card stud.
I hopped on to partypoker.com over lunch and had a bit of serendipity on the 7 card table. I won the first two hands and then it went all downhill from there. To sum it up, let’s just hope that Friday night doesn’t end the same way. I sat in on another table. I’m not sure what the game was but I was utterly confused and realize I’ve got a lot of reading to do before Friday. (Eep.)
It’s good to know about the “setting a cut off time” as I could that could get ugly. And of course, the fold 'em if you don’t got 'em rule is one that I hope to tattoo on my inner eyelids if need be. Playing the online game I noticed I was playing the crappy hands hoping they’d get better/beat what was out there.
Will you be playing for fun (in which case, divide the chips evenly), or for money?
I used to be in a club where we would get together about once a month to hang out at someone’s house. Often we would play poker. We played just for fun, and had built up a large collection of chips. By the end of the night, as the chips kept getting introduced into the game, we would be betting obscene amounts on poor hands.
We’re playing for money. I do know that. 
As to how much, I’m not sure…I’m assuming we’re keeping it low (Nickels, dimes, quarters kind of thing). Given that, let’s say I only want to lose $50.00 (as whatever money I decide to play with which most likely won’t be leaving with me). Is it ok to set a losing limit and leave the table before the designated time to quit is up?
But remember that bluffing is part of the game. If you only play hands where you actually have some cards, you’re an easy read. Any time you bet you’re telling the table you have a hand which will limit your ability to trap your fellow players into staying in the hand for more betting and bigger pots to you. I agree with you that it’s generally a sucker bet to bet the draw but there’s nothing wrong with running the occasional bluff and trying to steal the occasional pot.
That’s perfectly fine. Set a limit and stick to it, and anyone who suggests you buy more chips after you lose your limit is being a jerk. I wouldn’t suggest leaving the house or anything, and don’t kibbitz, but don’t spend beyond your limit.
It’s fine to quit when you’ve hit your limit. Just let everyone know up front that it’s “10 o’clock or $50, guys”.
Unless you’re really into giving away your money, go easy on the alcohol. Your judgement and memory go to hell quickly after a few drinks.
It’s difficult to bluff in low-stakes poker. Nobody is going to drop out on a $.25 bet. Play your cards. In stud, don’t hang around until the last card if your hand is going nowhere; last card miracles seldom happen. Discourage wild card games: they’re money pits.
Ah, a really friendly, mostly for entertainment game. Good. Have a blast. This is probably the very best type of game to learn in.
Nickel, dime, quarter, you’d really have to screw up to lose $50 over the course of a night.
Quarter, half, buck can be quite different.
-Be conservative - even when you get a good hand. If you are pinching your pennies all night and suddenly bet the limit - everyone else will know you have something and will drop.
-You may wish to raise the minimum, if your table has a maximum number of raises. Will limit the cost of staying in a hand.
-Firmly commit to mind what hands beat what.
-In stud games, buy the next card if it is cheap enough, if you have something you might be able to build on, and if you aren’t really beaten by stuff already showing. Like was said above, tho, don’t toss good money after bad if nothing is happening.
Tables really differ in terms of what is accepted. For example, some are straight stud and draw. Others devolve into blind indian, screw guts, and other (fun) nonsense.
Generally the dealer chooses the game. When we play, the dealer antes for everyone.
Another option is to work in some split the pot games. Black Moria. Or some high/low games.
Personally, I never care for using chips.
Have fun. Let us know how it goes.
What everyone else said. I used to play a casual nickel-dime-quarter game in grad school with some friends, and you could almost always play the whole evening on $10. If the stakes are that low, don’t worry about the money so much. Just enjoy yourself and try to get a feel for the game. Chalk up any losses as the price of an evening’s entertainment.
As a general rule, bluff very rarely in low limit games. It’s OK to fold 50-75% of the hands dealt to you. People rarely get scared into folding a good hand by a raise at low stakes, so bluffing a lot with nothing is really just a recipe to win small pots and lose big ones. When you want to be tricky, a much safer alternative is a “semi-bluff”, where you raise with a hand which isn’t strong at the time but has a lot of improvement potential. Then, even if someone calls your raise, you’ll still have a chance to win (although don’t throw good money after bad if it’s obvious you’re beat).
Hi,
Another option is to play tournament style Hold Em- everyone buys in for the same amount, gets a pretend amount of chips (like they put in $20 real money) for the buy in and get “$500” in chips. We would go from low limit to no limit after a certain amount of hands, change in our smaller chips for 50/100 and play no limit until the last person is bust. Another thing you can do is when you get down to last two players, you can ten-play the hands- no limit and only allowed to fold three times- biggest pot wins. We would usually split the pot ( 50/35/15 or 60/40, something like that) between 2-3 people, depending on how many were playing. Its fun to do it this way because you to stay in, no one walks away with the money without everyone having a chance- its fast paced and straight up poker. Everyone has something to lose by not playing to profit- even if the chips are fake, only a few people will win. I also like it for knowing exactly how much you will lose if you don’t win. All my poker buddies moved away, it was such a blast, definitely something I took for granted until it was gone.
My buddies and I play low limit poker once or twice a month. we play .25 ante, $1 or $2 maximum bet (depending on the game), and 2 raises per round. Dealer calls the game. but we’re partial to 5, 6, and 7 card stud, Texas Hold’em, and some variants of 5 card draw (Jacks or Better). Two of our reqular players, me included, are “purists” and rarely call wild cards. The other two constantly call wild card games. It makes for an interesting mix. We’ew pretty evenly matched skill wise so on a really, really bad night you might lose $50. Not too bad considering we usually play for 6 hours or more. Even in the worst case scenario, $9 bucks an hour is pretty cheap entertainment.
A poker game without cigars and shots and beer is just Old Maid.
excellent. keep drinking, l.l., i’ll keep taking your money.
My friends and I have had a few hold em tournaments over the last few months and the one thing that ticks me off to no end is someone’s cell phone going off every ten minutes. Take it to a movie, take it to a wedding, take it to a funeral, but please for the love of God leave it in the car during a hold em tourney.
Slight exaggeration there… I know.
My poker group plays with nickel, dime and quarter chips, cashing in for $5 to begin with. We defer to Hoyle’s, and everybody has a copy.
There’s a tacit understanding that the first couple of rounds of deal (usually 4-6 people, pass the deal) will be straight poker, stud or draw, before the weird games come out, and if someone calls a weird one too many times, some people just won’t ante.
Eventually we usually wind up alternating between some version of stud, Blackjack and Bouray, which we play as a match the pot game. Pots can get big, so we’ve instituted the Ringo Rule (named for me because I hold the dual honors of having taken the biggest Bouray pot, as well as the biggest hosing - ~$140 both times) wherein the maximum match is $10/player/pot.
A good poker game that often gets a nice pot going is five-draw, Jacks or better to open, trips to win. A popular seven card stud variant is called (locally) Chicago Low Hole where the low Spade down takes half the pot. The guy who’s playing that low Spade tends to drive the betting. You never know, though - I’ve taken half with a Jack of Spades before.
Hey Ringo, if you play on either Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday and ever need another player, toss me an email.