I've played in casino card rooms for several years, so I almost forget what it is like to be a new player.

When my younger sister wanted to make the leap from internet play to a sit-down game, I figured that she would feel right at home. Jill has been playing hold'em for about 9 months online, but her ventures into a casino were limited to a few pulls on a slot machine. When she expressed interest in accompanying me to a casino, I figured that she would easily adapt to the brick-and-mortar environment. I didn't even realize she was unsure of herself until we sat down to play and she said, "What do I do now?"

What did she mean? She knows how to play poker. She plays very well. That is why I never thought twice about bringing her with me. But I realized that Jill was intimidated, not by the game, but by the foreign surroundings of the card room. My confident, smack-talking, tournament-winning little sister was transformed into a quiet and extremely nervous newbie by the change from the online environment. Instead of getting her seated at a table and moving on to my own game, I decided to sit with her and help her with the basics until she felt comfortable.

I noticed that something was wrong when Jill began looking around for a seat after we walked in. I explained to her that you signed up for the game and the floor personnel would tell you where to sit; just like online there is a waiting list for a table. It soon became clear to me that she needed an etiquette lesson, and fast. Her first raise was a string bet, something that is simply not possible online. I explained to her what a string bet was, and told her that the safest thing was to just verbalize what she intended to do before she did it. While we waited to play another hand, I went over a few other rules that never really come up in online play.

1. Never splash the pot. Place your chips out in front of you so they are easily seen by the other players and counted by the dealer. The dealer will then place them in the pot.
2. Never touch the chips in the pot or other players' chips. When you win a hand, the dealer will push you the chips. If someone is missing before a hand, do not place their blinds out for them unless they had stated earlier to do so and the dealer prompts you to do it.
3. Never touch any cards but your own. If someone is not there when it is their turn to act, do not muck their cards for them unless the dealer prompts you to push the cards to them.
4. Always act in turn. Online you can click a button to fold, bet, or raise as soon as you see your cards, and you will act automatically in your turn. In a card room, acting out of turn is not only a breach of etiquette, but is giving away a strategic advantage to your opponents.
5. Protect your cards, especially when sitting by the dealer. The game can move quickly sometimes and the dealer may muck your cards if he sees them sitting there without a chip or other item on top of them.

I told her to simply tell the dealer when she sat down that she was unfamiliar with the rules or that she was new and the dealer would prompt her more until she felt comfortable. Players are more patient with someone who states they are new instead of thinking that they are not paying attention. Admitting that you're new to the game may even gain you an advantage at the table, as other players either try to take advantage of your supposed weakness, or decide to go easy on you. After about an hour, Jill was settled in enough that I could move on to my own game. I checked in from time to time and found that the same confident sister that I know and love had finally shown up at the table.

After the game was over and we were heading home, Jill talked about how different it was than playing online. She mentioned how scared she had been that she would do something wrong. It turned out that once she got over her first-time jitters, the only thing she did wrong was to take the other players' chips. I think the most important thing I taught her that night was to have fun. She had a blast. I've taken her back twice since then and she feels like an old pro already.

Doc