Betting Etiquette
26.11.2009 -Action and Betting
When participating in the hand, a player is expected to keep track of the betting action. Losing track of the amount needed to call, called the bet to the player, happens occasionally, but multiple occurrences of this slow the game down and so it is discouraged. The dealer may be given the responsibility of tracking the current bet amount, from which each player has only to subtract his contribution, if any, thus far.
Acting out of turn
Most actions (calls, raises or folds) occurring out-of-turn - when players to the right of the player acting have not yet made decisions as to their own action - are considered improper, for several reasons. First, since actions by a player give information to other players, acting out of turn gives the person in turn information that he normally would not have, to the detriment of players who have already acted. Second, calling or raising out of turn, in addition to the information it provides, assumes all players who would act before the out of turn player would not exceed the amount of the out-of-turn bet. This may not be the case, and would result in the player having to bet twice in order to cover preceding raises, causing confusion.
Cards
A player is never required to expose his concealed cards when folding or if all others have folded (except at the showdown). A player may of course choose to show his hole cards in either circumstance, but this tells other players whether or not the player was bluffing and, if other players are still in the game, it tells others that those cards are unavailable, which may confer an advantage to one or more players.
Cash and chips
Making change out of the pot is allowed in most games; to avoid confusion, the player should announce his intentions first. Then, if opening or cold calling, the player may exchange a large chip for its full equivalent value out of the pot before placing his bet, or if overcalling may place the chip (announcing that he is calling or raising a lesser amount) and remove the change from his own bet for the round.
Other rules
Public cardrooms have additional rules designed to speed up play, earn revenue for the casino (such as the "rake"), improve security and discourage cheating.
Adapted from source, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
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