Etiquette

People who are new to poker are often intimidated by the potential of committing an embarrassing mistake, or violating the many "unwritten rules" of the game. The goal at DV8Poker.com is to provide a friendly environment, where you will feel at ease while learning the fundamentals of the game.

And the fact is it's hard to make an embarrassing mistake in a game at DV8poker.com However, we want to help you become as knowledgeable and comfortable as possible while practicing your art at DV8Poker.com's online cardroom.

Choosing a game

Once you've established your account, begin by selecting a game where you want to play. Selecting a game requires two decisions:

1. What type of poker game you want to play e.g. Texas Hold’em, Omaha etc.
   
2. What stake you want to play for. This is expressed as the minimum and maximum bets allowed in a specific game. An example is in 5-10 Texas Holed’em, the bet size is $5 on the first two rounds and $10 on the last two rounds. As a rule it’s best to bring around 10 times the big bet to the table e.g. $100 in a 5-10 game. Most players are happier bringing 20 -30 times the big bet to the table as this lets them win more if they pick up a good hand and means they don’t have to keep buying more chips.

If you select a table with open seats you can go ahead and play immediately. If a seat is not available you can add yourself to the waiting list for that table. It is then perfectly acceptable to go and find another table to play on while you are on that waiting list. In fact you can join several lists at once. When a seat becomes available in a game you really want to play, you will be notified so then you can decide whether to stay in your current game or move to the other one.

Playing at Multiple Tables

Now this is where Internet poker differs from offline poker. Here you can play at more than one table simultaneously. Using the example we used earlier, you wouldn’t need to leave your existing table when notified to join a new one as long as you had enough chips to play in both. You can’t shift chips back and forth between two tables. You must have separate chips for each.

There is nothing wrong with playing two tables simultaneously as long as you observe good etiquette, which in this case means making fast decisions.

When faced with a decision that requires some thought, no-one will object if you paus for a few seconds. However many decisions are very clear so for instance you may know you are going to fold or raise long before it is your turn. In these cases it is good etiquette to use the speed buttons to pre-select your action. Speed buttons are contextual and indicate the amount that each decision will cost you.

Players who always take a long time to make decisions make the game less enjoyable for others and often players will even leave a table if some players are consistently slow.

Other Etiquette Points to Watch For Include:

1. Be polite when using the chat feature.

No matter what your frustrations may be, keep them under control when using the chat feature. Players who abuse other players verbally may lose their chat privileges. Chatting while playing can make the game more enjoyable as long as everyone behaves like a mature adult. Players who are watching from the rail should keep their chat to a minimum.

• Do not abuse the ‘all-in’ feature.

Because of the possibility of player being disconnected from his Internet connection, most poker rooms have a feature where if the player doesn’t respond he is treated as all-in, making him eligible to win whatever portion of the pot he was involved in before his disconnection. Occasionally some players abuse this, and fail to respond if they think they are losing a hand but want to see it out to its conclusion without investing any more money. This is in effect cheating and if you do it you will have your play privileges suspended. There is a limit of one all-in within 24 hours so if you do it and then really need it because you actually are disconnected, you will be left unprotected.

1. Don’t Tie Up A Seat

Players are allowed to sit out of a game for a while, and may need to for legitimate reasons, such as a call of nature, dealing with children, or a phone call. However, if you know you are leaving a game, please go ahead and leave it rather than keeping your seat tied up, because someone else is waiting to play. DV8Poker.com allows you to sit-out for quite a while, but if you miss three blinds in a row, your seat will be forfeited.

1. Don't comment on a hand if you are not participating in the hand .

Knowledge of folded cards is very important. If you correctly fold a hand like J-2 off-suit in Texas Hold'em, and then the flop comes J-J-J, using the chat feature to say something like "I can't believe it, why didn't I play my Jack-two!" informs everyone that a key card is out of play. Even making jokes like this can affect play because some players may not know if you are joking. This is the same reason that DV8Poker.com only allows you to "fold and show" when play is down to two remaining players. Similarly, encouraging another player to raise or fold is poor etiquette. Follow a fundamental rule that also applies to live games: if you are not in the hand, don't talk about the hand while the hand is ongoing.

A good way to get more familiar and comfortable with Internet poker games is to spend some time playing in "free" games before you start playing for money. People will be much more forgiving of your gaffes, simply because there is less at stake than when playing with real money.

 

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