Entering my 1st Live Poker Tournament. I Have Questions???

[Jayman_3]

Hey guys, I have been playing poker online for about 6-7 months now. I've been doing well in the MTTs on Empire lately so I am going to try my hand at a tourny coming up here in town next month. Since this is my 1st time ever playing live, I'd like to know what things I need to look out for as far as table etiquette in regards to handling, counting out, betting chips, etc... Or any general tournament rules and regulations I may need to be aware of that I haven't gotten from playing online including any unwritten rules that may exist regarding tourny play or live poker play in general.

I look forward to hearing from you all

Thanks ALot!!!

[Corey]

Few rules that some people dont know.

For instance someone bets and you want to re-raise say "raise" then you may string bet.

String bet is taking chips from your stack and placing them into the pot then going back to you chip stack to get more. Imo thats a no no. Some ppl let it some dont. If you dont have to show your hand then dont.

If you say "fold", "raise", "call", or "all-in" then you must respect what you said and back it up. Thats a few rules that I know of but every tourney is different.

[Xianti]

http://www.homepokertourney.com/

[Jayman_3]

In live tournies do you guys have any shortcuts for keeping up with the amount of money in the pot as the betting rounds go by? I know I will need to pay added attention to that since it won't be readily available as it is online.

[Humphrind]

I don't know of any special way to keep an eye on the pot size. Just peer out there and figure it up. Or pay attention as people bet and keep a running talley.

I had been playing so many home games that I didn't have much table etiquette. Then I went to the casino for some No limit fun and I realized what i didn't know.

1 simple adjustment and all my betting problems went away. I just called my intentions. I said, call, raise to [blank] or whatever and everything was fine.

[Miggo]

Yep, I agree with Humphrind, just announce your intentions. For instance, on a 2/4 limit table if it comes around, and it's 2 for you to call, and you want to raise, say raise. If you don't and just throw 4 in the pot it's interpreted as a call. I've only gone twice. The first time I was scared to death, but still fun. The second time was just a blast. No one is trying to screw you. The only advice I can add with my minimal experience, is just to pay attention to your poker and concentrate on playing. It's the same 52 card deck, there isn't any reason to be playing any differently than you would online. In fact I found that people are impatient and play alot more hands than people do online. Good luck, and above all, have fun.

[LockLow34]

Few rules that some people dont know.

For instance someone bets and you want to re-raise say "raise" then you may string bet.

String bet is taking chips from your stack and placing them into the pot then going back to you chip stack to get more. Imo thats a no no. Some ppl let it some dont. If you dont have to show your hand then dont.

Actually if you say "raise" then you may go to your stack twice and only twice (unless you haven't put the minimum in for a raise, which is usually the amount of the previous raise, or all-in, whichever is less). Otherwise you would be able to push stacks of chips out one by one, and guage your opponents reaction so you knew when to stop. An even better option is to state the amount of your raise, so if you accidentally put OVER the amount, it won't have to stand.