Posted by Dr Fro 8:18 AM
Another thought about last night:
 
Have you ever been in that situation where you are the new guy that is joining an established poker group, and you want to be on your best manners so you can get invited back?  You bring a little more beer than you need for yourself.  You don't butt into every discussion over rules.  You certainly don't complain about the house rules.
 
The awkward situation is when there is an obvious breaking of rules that seems lost on the rest of them.  I am not talking about 'house' rules, I am talking about poker rules that they probably don't even know exist.   Let me provide some examples from this weekend:
 
1.  Underraising
2.  Taking chips off the table vis a vis letting other players buy your chips and then pocketing the cash
3.  Not using the exposed card as the burn
4.  String betting
 
Re: item 1, I kept my mouth shut.  It is a good rule, but you actually get an advantage by having the underraise out there.  I guess the only way you could get burned by it is if A underaises, you call, and B (who is the intial bettor) makes a big raise.  In this scenario, you now have to face a big bet that would otherwise have been avoided.  I guess.  But there is some real opportunity in the underraise, which should get a post of its own someday.  Maybe soon
 
Re: item 3, I kept my mouth shut.  What comes out of the deck is still completely random, so the only thing that mattered to me is that whatever the practice is, we stay consistent.  It is analagous to "third base" in BJ.  Sure, he can screw you by "changing what cards you get", but he can also help you.
 
Re: 4, this is a good rule when playing with sharks, as they could really take advantage of you w a string bet.  However, I don't think that any of these guys knew how to make a string bet to their advantage.  There was no upside to speaking up.  The downside was looking like an asshole.
 
Re: 2, I spoke up.  Nobody cared strongly and everyone understood the value in the rule.  It was not at all contentious.  I am glad I did, bc the guys with the early big stacks ran cold later.
 
cf

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