Wed, 03/02/2011 – 23:18 – PokerPages Staff

#5 – Keep your advice to yourself
Poker players may from time to time attempt to incite opponents into playing on tilt, but only empty-headed know-it-alls offer unsolicited advice on how others should play their hands.  Even if you think it, don’t say it.  Just don’t.

#4 – Pay attention, 007
These are the words of mild admonishment spoken by gadget-maestro Q to an inattentive 007 in the Bond movies.  But they constitute good advice for the poker room, too – there’s nothing more annoying than a player gawping idly at the table waiting for the next player to take his turn when it’s actually been his turn for the last five minutes.

#3 – Slide the chips, don’t throw
No matter what you might have seen in the movies, tossing your chips into the center of the table is considered the height of bad manners, not unlike slinging your sandwich crusts onto your host’s floor after a bite or two.  Keep chips neatly stacked in front of you and slide them calmly into the middle of the table when everyone else does.

#2 – Always act in turn
You might instantly know that the cards you have in front of you are turkeys but always wait until it’s officially your turn before folding.  If you fold, raise or turn out of turn, it unfairly favors some players and disadvantages others.  The chances are you won’t be invited back.

#1 – Button your lip during a hand
Resist the temptation to pour forth with your speculations about what might be about to happen during a hand.  Keep notions like this on the inside of your skull, not clattering through the airwaves into other players’ ears.  You have to sit zipper-mouthed throughout the game – you can freely share your thoughts after the hand is finished.