03 Jan 2025 Beginner This material is for beginner players Everyone knows the basic rules of poker, but there are some tricky and odd situations in poker that not everyone may know about - even though in some cases they should. In our newest topic we’ll look at a wide range of unusual poker rules and scenarios that you probably did not know. Number 1: Accidental Collusion Cheating is much more difficult, and while it can happen in the context of a home game, even well-intentioned people can fall victim to their own ignorance and do something that can be classified as collusion. For example, you are playing in a small stakes tournament, and you call the small all-in shove from a short stack player. Another player with a big stack that's sitting behind you decided to cold call. You check the flop, big stack behind you also checks back. Since you are close to the bubble, you say to the player behind you that you should both check down the hand and see the showdown in order to maximize the chance of eliminating the player that's already all-in. This is a big no-no. While this line of play happens very often, and it's usually correct if you explicitly communicate an agreement about checking the hand down, it will be considered collusion and penalized accordingly, so beware. Number 2: Suit Rankings While most poker variants don't really take into account the suit rankings, and you cannot beat a club flush with a spade flush in Hold'em or PLO, which would be especially difficult in a game with five community cards, there are some situations in poker, like drawing table seats, etc., where the classic bridge ranking system is recognized. In case you are not familiar with it, it's an alphabetical order from worst to best, clubs worse than diamonds, worse than hearts, and worse than spades. Number 3: Showing Pocket Cards Even experienced poker players are occasionally unsure who is supposed to show their cards first in multi-way pots when action checks around on the river. Meanwhile, most players are mindful of the fact that they should not show their hands unnecessarily, adding still further incentive to hesitate before flipping over one's whole cards. If it's checked around on the last betting round, then the showdown simply goes in the same order in which the players checked, that is, starting with the small blind, whoever was first to check would be the first to show a hand, with the action proceeding clockwise around the table from there. If a player in later position sees that he or she is beaten, that player can fold face down. However, if there is betting on the last street, then the last player to take an aggressive action, betting or raising, is the one who must show their hand first at showdown. After that, the action again proceeds clockwise around the table, with the next player to the aggressor's left having to show next, and so on. Number 4: Checking Nuts One of the most misunderstood and debatable terms in poker is checking the nuts. Those who watch a lot of televised tournament poker might be aware of this rule, as will most experienced tournament players. However, even those who play a lot might not have personally faced this particular situation, and so might not be aware of the rule requiring you to bet when holding the best possible hand when last to act on the final betting round. The reason for the rule is to prevent collusion or soft play between players - although in most cases, a player checking back the nuts often does so without realizing he or she has an unbeatable hand. This rule is generally only part of tournament poker, where any form of soft play, intentional or otherwise, affects all players - even those not in the hand. Incidentally, the rule also applies when a player fails to raise with the nuts when facing a bet. Just calling isn't allowed, as that too could be interpreted as kind of soft play. Meanwhile, a player holding the nuts, who is acting first on the last betting round, can of course check in the hopes of check-raising. So this rule only applies to a player acting last. Number 5: Protecting Your Hand While this rule is very simple and many new poker players are aware of it, most are unaware of the extent of their duty when it comes to safeguarding the hand. While putting a chip or a card protector on top of your hand would suffice, most of the time, you cannot give anybody else access to your hand if you want it to stay alive. This includes the dealer too. Number 6: Balancing Tournaments If you are hosting a poker tournament with two tables and table 1 loses two players, but table 2 is still full, you will need to relocate one player from table 2 to table 1 in order to keep the tables balanced. In order to decide who moves, move the player who is in or close to the same position in relation to the button. If the open seat on table 1 is in the cutoff, you wish to shift the player from table 2's cutoff. This prevents players from paying blinds twice or not at all. Number 7: Breaking a Tournament Table It's time to break the table if you lose enough players to be able to combine one table with another. The open seats are drawn for to determine who sits where. Normally, all players, even those already seated at the table, draw from their place if you are relocating everyone to one final table. Number 8: Cashing Out Half of the Chips In a cash game, a participant must use all of their chips or none at all. Going south or cashing out a portion of your stack is against the rules and is regarded very poor etiquette. You must cash out your full stack of chips. If you only want to cash out a portion of them, then you must wait the allotted length of time before returning to your seat. Recycling is the term used for this. Number 9: Purchasing Chips From Another Player This is never a wise move. It basically has the same idea as going south. The quantity of chips the new player would be purchasing are taken away from the table. Hence, always purchase your chips exclusively from the dealer or the house. Number 10: Overturned Cards in a Deck Anytime a hand contains a card that is face-up, the card is removed from the deck and then is shown to all the players. The deal goes on as if nothing went wrong. If there are several face-up cards, the dealer keeps removing them until he comes to a face-down card to finish the deal. If the deck runs short of unturned cards, the hand is declared dead with all chips being returned to their original stacks. Number 11: Cards Dealt Out of the Turn If the dealer burns and turns fourth street while a player has yet to make their flop decision, the play is temporarily halted. The dealer takes the turn card and puts it back into the deck and shuffles the entire deck. Once the deck is shuffled and the player has made his final flop action, the top card is turned over as the new turn card. Number 12: Exposing Cards During Dealing When dealing whole cards, the hand is considered a misdeal if the first or second card is exposed. Hence, a new deal is made after reshuffling all the cards. If a card other than the first or second card is exposed, the dealer continues to deal as if nothing had gone wrong. When the deal finishes, he gives the top card on the deck to the player with the flashed card and takes back the exposed card. The card is then placed face up on top of the deck to serve as the first burn card after being shown to everyone at the table. Number 13: Marking Cards When noticing a single badly marked card in play, first play out the hand normally. As soon as the hand is over, you should switch out the marked card with a new one with the same value or just pick up a fresh deck. The card should be removed from the game and everyone should be made aware that it is no longer in play if you don't have access to a new deck. It's preferable for everyone to be aware of the card's absence than for everyone to be aware of its presence. Number 14: Waiting Time Before Choosing to Rebuy After losing all of their chips, a player must decide whether to buy in or not before the next hand is dealt. There is leeway for leniency on this problem in a home game as long as the player is not doing it on purpose to gain an edge. Number 15: Considering the Single Chip a Raise or a Call By putting in one overvalued chip without saying anything, it is always considered a call. For example, if the big blind is $2 and you are first to act, putting in a $100 chip without actually saying raise is considered a call. Since home games are played in a much more relaxed setting, the dealer will frequently inquire about the player's intentions. Number 16: Missing a Blind in Cash Games A player may never enter the game between the blinds or the button and the blinds unless they buy the button. This is also true when moving a player in a tournament. In a cash game, if a player misses his or her blind, they are not permitted to be dealt into a hand until the button has passed to the person on their left. When the button has passed, they must pose the amount equal to the blinds they missed. For example, with blinds of $1-$2, a player who misses the big blind must pose $3 to be dealt into the hand. Number 17: Buying the Button Buying the button during a cash game is permitted in some places. This implies that if a player sits between the small blind and the button or on the seat adjacent to the button, they have the option of paying both the small and big blind in lieu of the players who are responsible. This allows the player to play on the button rather than having to wait for it to pass them on the next hand. Number 18: Missing a Blind in Tournaments In a tournament, regardless of whether a player is seated or not, every stack is dealt a hand. When the last card of the hand is dealt to a player, the hands with no players are mucked. Players not present during their blinds have the blinds posted for them from their stacks referred to as blinding out. Number 19: Players’ Stack Size is Less than a Big Blind If a player's stack size is smaller than the small blind, they're considered all-in the next hand they play, regardless of the position. If a player's stack is greater than the small blind, but less than the big blind, they're considered all-in in any position other than the small blind, provided they fold. When all-in, the player can only win the amount of their stack plus the same amount from all the callers and blinds. If the person has less than the big blind, they can only win the portion of the blind equal to that of their stack. Number 20: Removing Smaller Chips From Play When the blinds increase in a tournament, eventually the smaller value chips will become obsolete. Once the chips are no longer needed, they are chipped up to the next denomination. First, make sure the chips are no longer needed. If the blinds are 500-1000, you have no need of any chip smaller than 500 on the table. Change as many low-value chips as you can into higher values and hold on to the remainder. This article was written by Dennis «Dennis_Stets» based on a video from the Poker Bounty channel.
