Poker Etiquette

Poker Ethics

Poker Mole

Poker Games 1

PokerGames 2

Casino Intro

Casino Guide

FINDING FRIENDLY POKER GAMES

Breaking the Ice

It's well known that slot machines account for the lion's share of casino profits. One of the reasons for this is that gamblers, especially beginners, are often intimidated by the table games, fearing that complicated playing procedures may lead to embarrassment. And few would argue that the most feared table game of all is poker. Not only must you deal with all of the rules imposed by the casino, you must also contend with an almost legendary lack of cordiality from the veteran players. Fortunately, there are a couple of steps that you can take to reduce the grief of breaking in.

The first step is leaming to play the game. I'm not kidding; just because you understand the rules of poker doesn't mean that you're ready for the cardroom. Many beginners are surprised to leam that five-card draw, the game they were weaned on, isn't even offered in most casino poker rooms. The popular poker-room variations are 7-card stud and Texas hold'em, and each game has its own rules, ante format, and betting structure with which you should be at least casually familiar before you attempt to join in. Don't worry, it's not too difficult to get the requisite schooling. Anyone can learn the rules of stud and hold'em by reading a book or attending one of the classes that many casinos offer free of charge.

Becoming versed in cardroom protocol is step two. The games in the poker rooms are highly structured. Rules govern everything from how and when you bet to when you may introduce more of your own money into a game. Regular readers of my Casino Player articles will recall that I addressed many of these points in last year's November issue, so I won't do it again here. Rest assured that most of the cardrooms have brochures explaining what you can and can't do. And again, the fastest and easiest way to leam is to spend 30 minutes in a beginner's class.

Once you've done at least the minimum amount of preparation, you'll be ready to give casino poker a whirl. But one more word of advice: DON'T try to fake it. The experienced players tend to get perturbed when beginners don't observe (or are ignorant of) proper protocol. If you let on that you're a beginner, the cardroom employees will help you over the early bumps and your honesty might even evoke a little bit of compassion from the other players.

Who Cares? Ultimately, the quality of your initial casino poker experience will probably come down to where you play. The objective is to find the room that's most willing to cater to the needs of novices. There's a case for choosing one of the big rooms (The Mirage and Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, or the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City). They have more games to choose from and lots of other tourists play there. On the other hand, the big rooms are often hectic, a disadvantage when you're sitting down for the first time and are in need of a little bit of personal attention. The better play is to cut your teeth in a small to mid-sized room. But aren't the smaller rooms inhabited by local sharks who sit around waiting to feed on tender morsels of timid tourists? Not according to Larry Sanders, poker room manager at Las Vegas' Texas Station (where the clientele is 90 percent local). "Only people who don't know poker think that," he insists. "The locals are very friendly. Most play a social brand of poker." My own experiences in the locals-oriented cardrooms of Las Vegas support this.

So a smaller room it is, but which one? Ask poker-room employees or publicity personnel at any casino if they cater to beginning players, and they'll fall all over themselves to assure you that they do. Maybe-but painting rosey pictures is part of their job. In an effort to find out who really does care, I sent a scattershot of 41 faxes to casinos in four jurisdictions: Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Mississippi, and Colorado. I asked the poker room managers to call me back if they felt that they had a room that was particularly beginner friendly. I figured that anyone who'd take the time to read the fax, compile the data, and send it back is probably serious about attracting new players. Information from those who responded is detailed below.