Poker Chip Etiquette: The Don’ts
We’ve already covered the do’s when you’re stacking chips at a live poker table in your favorite casino or regular home game. Now, it’s time for the other end of the spectrum. What should you avoid like the Plague when you’re seated? Read on to find out.
Don’t Be the Next Frank Lloyd Wright
I know it’s tempting, but don’t create complex structures with your poker chips. We’ve all seen this before. I’ve witnessed players create bridges, intricate towers, and even a stack of chips three feet high. Face it, we’re poker players and like to flex our creative muscles. However, when you build a leaning tower of green chips, you’re telling your opponents that you’re disinterested in the game. Why would you sit down at a ring game or cough up the cash to enter a tournament if all you’re going to do is focus on being an architect? You can do that at home.
Instead of building a pirate ship complete with working cannons out of $1 chips, use your energy to focus on your opponents. Are they giving off any live tells? What about betting patterns? What do you have to do in order to rise to the top of the pack and succeed? Pay attention to your opponents – not your chips – and you’ll be on your way to victory.
Don’t Make Yourself at Home
We’ve explained that you should always stack your chips at the table. A big no-no is having your hard-earned collection strewn about in front of you. Don’t make it look like a tornado ripped through your section of the table and spread out your chips. Stack them neatly and remember to make the high-value chips visible.
Moreover, arrange your stacks as close together as possible. Organize them in a triangle or square in order to take up as little room as possible. Remember, you have eight or nine neighbors and all of you have to squeeze in around a little table. Be professional and give off the vibe that you know what you’re doing by arranging your chips neatly. You’ll be given a lot more credibility as a result, which could bode well for your table image.
Don’t Mix and Match
When buying used golf balls, you can mix and match to your heart’s content. Not so at the poker table. Always stack chips of equal value together. Do not, under any circumstances, mix up your chips.
There are several reasons why you wouldn’t want to mix and match your chips. First, with 10 or 20 chips in a stack, it’ll be nearly impossible for you or your opponents to discern its value. Therefore, you’ll be in the dark about calling an all-in, pushing all-in, and pot committing yourself. More importantly, no one else at the table will have any idea where you stand, making the game quite confusing for those around you.
In addition, if you’re playing at a cash game, mixing and matching can lead to a false sense of where you stand in terms of real money. You may walk up to the cage expecting to cash out $1,000 (a rack of reds), but in actuality your messiness caused that number to be just $865. It’s entirely possible. Avoid unnecessary headaches by stacking like chips together.
Don’t Make Change with Strangers
If you need to make change, always barter with the dealer. This situation will come up quite often in tournaments when calling raises and in cash games when making bets that require multiple chips. If your action requires change, announce “call” or “raise to” and toss your chips into the middle. Leave it to the dealer to make change for you.
Don’t make change with your tablemates. This can lead to a lot of confusion, especially since everyone at the table has an interest in ripping off everyone else. A dealer is truly neutral at the poker table. Remember, stranger danger!
Don’t Buy Anyone Else’s Poker Chips!
Always buy Nevada Jacks. Your home game will thank you.
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