Official poker is a set of rules designed to keep a game of poker fair and fun. It includes all the most common rules that are in use at cardrooms around the world, including many improved ideas for wording and organization.

Protecting Your Hand

The most important poker rule is to protect your hand at all times. This means you should not fold your hand without revealing it, even if it’s a strong hand. It also means you should not show your cards if someone else already folded and is trying to give you advice.

Acting Out of Turn

Sometimes players will check when their actual turn in the action has not come up yet, but they do not call “time.” This is called acting out of turn. A player who acts out of turn is penalized and loses their right to act when three or more subsequent players have acted on their hand.

Incorrectly Seating New Players

The house will control the seating of new players to best preserve the viability of existing games. A new player is dealt in at the first available seat, except when seated between the button and small blind.

New players are usually playing their first game and have a lot of questions, so it’s important to be polite. If you don’t make them feel comfortable they may never come back to the table.

Unfair Play

There are many different types of unfair play that you should avoid in poker. Some of the most common include: