As poker grows more popular around the world, so too does its need for clear and concise rules. Understanding a complete set of official poker rules will not only help you play better poker but also make your time at the table more enjoyable for everyone. While there are many unwritten poker etiquette rules, I’ll cover a few of the most important here.

Poker is a game of skill, and the key to winning is minimizing losses with poor hands while maximizing wins with good ones. While there are many factors that affect a player’s ability to do this, one of the most important is being polite to your opponents. Crying over bad beats or complaining about a bad night in poker is not only rude but it gives away information that you are tilted, and you will likely play suboptimally going forward.

Players should always be aware of what other players are doing at the table, especially during a betting interval. It is considered a major infraction to reveal the contents of a folded hand to someone not involved in the pot, even to another player. Similarly, any player may not give advice or opinions to an opponent during a betting interval, whether they are in the pot or not.

In addition, any player who is not actively playing a hand must keep their chips visible at the table. Failure to do so could result in your chips being surrendered to the floor person and you being disqualified from the event. It is also improper to look through the discards or deck stub of any player, regardless of whether they are in the pot.