Make sure you are familiar with the Current Tourney Flyer.

The following is a list of rules and etiquette that should be followed in Mike's Poker Den.

1. Have Fun. This is a social, low stakes game. Have a drink. It's fun! Don't get mad. Don't swear. Just enjoy yourself with a bunch of friends playing some poker. If you are looking for a casino game, go to a casino!

2. MY HOUSE, MY RULES. I will make all final decisions and be the ONLY one to resolve any disputes.

3. Don't string raise. When you raise someone's bet, announce “Raise.” Then gather the chips and place them in the pot. If you say, "I call that bet," and then pause before finally saying, "...and raise it $20," someone will likely call, "string raise." A lot of poker strategy is based on the other players' reactions to bets and raises. A string raise gives a player an advantage by allowing him to see the other players' reactions before making a raise. In short, only say "RAISE", "CHECK" or "CALL".

4. Don't “splash the pot”. When making a bet, slide your stack of chips in front of you, but not into the pot. Putting them in the pot ("splashing the pot") makes it hard for the dealer and players to know how much you're betting. The dealer will collect all the chips that are bet and put them in the pot.

5. Play in turn. You should not fold your hand or leave your seat until it is your turn to bet; as this can give important information to players still in the hand.

6. Don't talk about the hand in play. Even after you've folded, wait until the showdown is over if you feel you must discuss what you had and what you thought the other players had.

7. Don't be a rabbit. When a hand is over, don't dig through the deck and the hands the other players have folded to see "what you might have had." This slows the game down and is annoying. The exception is if you genuinely think something was done incorrectly during the hand. Then you can call "time," and play will stop until your problem is resolved. This should be done very infrequently, however.

8. Don't hold your cards below the table. Keep them in sight and on the felt. Although the vast majority of poker players do not cheat, it looks suspicious when you hold your cards out of sight. You could be marking them, or switching them with a holdout or a card up your sleeve.

9. Don't hold your cards where other players can see their faces. You might think it doesn't matter, since you're only hurting yourself. That's not true. If one player can see your cards, she has an advantage over the other players, which hurts them. Keep your hand face down, or held very close to your chest (the origin of the phrase, "playing it close to the vest"), and take a careful peek when you need to look at it.

10. Don't expose your cards until the showdown. If you are folding, gently toss your cards to the dealer face down. If you expose them, accidentally or intentionally, this gives important information away, and can affect the outcome of a hand. Similarly, you should try to protect your cards so when you look at them, no one else can see them. This is in your own self-interest, but if one player at the table can see your cards when no one else can, it creates a special advantage for that player (obviously).

11. Don't take chips off the table. Once you buy into a game, the chips you have on the table must remain there until you leave that game.

12. If you're not in the hand, keep quiet. If you're not in the hand, you have no business affecting the outcome of the hand (this goes double if you're not even seated at the table but just watching from the rail). Offering theories about who might have what, or commenting about what you folded, can alter other players' strategy.

13. Don't offer or ask for assistance from other players. "One player to a hand" is a fundamental poker axiom. Asking for advice is considered bad form, and offering help will create angry reactions from the other players in the hand. If you have a question, ask the dealer.

14. Don't mis-declare your hand. Don't muck your cards until you have seen you are beaten. If you have a pair of sevens, don't joke around and say something like, "I have a straight." Another player hearing you might assume you are telling the truth and throw his cards away, and once the cards are in the muck, he can't retrieve them. For similar reasons, don't throw your hand away until you it is clear that you are beaten.

15. Don't "slow roll" other players. If you realize you hold the winning hand, waiting a long time to show it after the other players have shown their hands is considered very bad form. It's viewed as taunting, and won't make you any friends.

16. If unsure, let the dealer read your hand. Cards Speak. Sometimes hands can be confusing, especially when you're inexperienced. If you lay your cards on the table, the dealer can figure out what you have. Don't get accustomed to relying on the dealer, though; you are responsible for your own hand, and the dealer's help is only an emergency backup plan.

17. Show one, show all. If you win a pot uncontested and show your cards to another player, you have a duty to show everyone else at the table what cards you folded. People can insist you do this if you don't do it voluntarily.

18. Double (or more) eliminations. If two or more people are eliminated in the same hand, places will be determined by the amount in chips the players had at the start of the hand. Players with the least amount of chips are eliminated first, and so on. If players had the same amount in chips, they tie (and split money if in the money.)

19. Re-deals. Any re-deals and methods for re-dealing are at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

Below are other's input on poker etiquette.

The following is a sample of poker etiquette from Robert's Rules.

In social situations, using proper etiquette gives you self-confidence, allows you to concentrate on more important matters, and at times, allows you to dominate a situation against someone who does not use proper etiquette. Poker etiquette not only makes for a better game, but is an acquired skill that can possibly increase a player's odds of success.

Poker etiquette are not rules, but manners that relate to the orderly maintenance of the game and civility among those who participate in the game. A player who repeatedly violates poker etiquette is a disruption to the game and should be warned and disciplined.

Roberts Rules of Poker - Poker Etiquette
The following actions are improper, and grounds for warning, suspending, or barring a violator:

• Deliberately acting out of turn.
• Deliberately splashing chips into the pot.
• Agreeing to check a hand out when a third player is all-in.
• Reading a hand for another player at the showdown before it has been placed face up on the table.
• Telling anyone to turn a hand face up at the showdown.
• Revealing the contents of a live hand in a multi handed pot before the betting is complete.
• Needlessly stalling the action of a game.
• Deliberately discarding hands away from the muck. Cards should be released in a low line of flight, at a moderate rate of speed (not at the dealer's hands or chip-rack).
• Stacking chips in a manner that interferes with dealing or viewing cards.
• Making statements or taking action that could unfairly influence the course of play, whether or not the offender is involved in the pot.
• Using a cell phone at the table.
• Collusion with another player or any other form of cheating.
• Verbally or physically threatening any patron or employee.
• Using profanity or obscene language.
• Creating a disturbance by arguing, shouting, or making excessive noise.
• Throwing, tearing, bending, or crumpling cards.
• Destroying or defacing property.
• Using an illegal substance.
• Carrying a weapon.

The following is a sample of poker etiquette from HomePokerTourney.com

HomePokerTourney Rules of Poker Etiquette
• Be polite.
• Do not swear or be verbally abusive.
• Be modest when you win.
• Refrain from criticizing another player's play.
• Limit unnecessary chatter to avoid disturbing active players.
• Do not hit on another player, or the dealer, no matter how attractive you find them.
• Be kind to the dealer. Good karma brings good cards.
• Manage your table space reasonably.
• Keep your chips and/or money on the table.
• Do not handle another player's chips or cards.
• Do not stack chips in a way that interferes with the deal, the viewing of cards, or another player.
• Chips and/or money on the table are not to be transferred from one player to another.
• Protect your cards so that no one else can see them.
• Keep your cards on the table. Holding cards against your shirt or putting them in your pocket or lap is not allowed.
• It is proper for an opponent to complain when a player consistently has the opportunity to see another player's hole cards. It is improper to complain when someone exercises this right.
• If you step away from the table, please advise the dealer of your intentions.
• Play at a reasonable speed.
• It is each player's responsibility to follow the flow of the game. Play in turn. Do not act out of turn.
• At no time should any player or spectator make statements that could unfairly influence the play of a hand.
• Do not comment about the cards you just threw away.
• Refrain from making comments about possible hands. "The board just paired. Someone could have a full house now!".
• Do not splash the pot.
• Do not string bet.
• Verbally announce your action, particularly in games with non-professional dealers.
• Chips and discards should be placed as far forward as reasonably possible to make it easier for the dealer to handle them.
• When discarding your hand, do so towards the dealer at a low level of flight so that no other player can see what you have discarded.
• Do not expose any cards until the showdown.
• Do not mis-declare your hand.
• Show your winning hand quickly. Do not "slow-roll" (allow your opponent to think he's won when you know he hasn't).
• Rabbit hunting (asking to see what cards would have appeared, had you bet) should not be allowed.
• Every player must play in their own self interest. Do not "soft play" any other player(s).
• Agreeing to "check-down" a hand after a player has gone All-in is not allowed.
• Asking to see called hands unnecessarily is bad manners, a waste of time, and is generally bad for the game.

Heads-up play
The small blind is the button and acts first before the flop and last after the flop. The player who does not have the button is dealt the first card.

There are Three Players Remaining and One is Eliminated
Determine which player would have been the next big blind ... that player becomes the big blind and the other player is the small blind (and button).

Examples:
Player1 (Button), Player2 (SB), and Player3 (BB).
If Player1 is eliminated - Player2 is BB and Player3 is SB and Button.
If Player2 is eliminated - Player1 is BB and Player3 is SB and Button.
If Player3 is eliminated - Player1 is BB and Player2 is SB and Button.

Dead Button Rule
Small Blind is Eliminated
The player who was the big blind now posts the small blind and the player to his left posts the big blind. The button does not move and the player who was the button, will be the button once again.

Big Blind is Eliminated
The player to the left of the eliminated big blind now posts the big blind and there is no small blind for that hand. The button moves to the player who was the small blind. On the following hand, the button does not move and the two blinds are posted normally.