The answer is yes - you can take a break to go to the restroom, check on your sports bets, make a phone call, hit the ATM for more cash, or walk around to calm down after a bad beat.

Poker veterans may find this funny and naïve, but it's a perfectly legitimate question - the kind of thing that everybody just sort of expects you to know, but nobody tells you! Occasionally I've overheard somebody new to casino poker asking the dealer if he can take a restroom break. Other than those two scenarios, you can keep your seat as long as you feel like playing. To protect the vigor of the first table, the newly starting one can be designated 'must-move,' meaning that players will be required to move from it to fill seats in the first game as they become available. Many cash game players don't like short-handed tables, so when a few people leave a game, it can trigger a cascade of exits, causing the game to die. This happens when the poker room manager has enough players to start a second table, but isn't sure that there will be enough players coming in to keep both of them going at healthy levels. When you're first assigned to a game, it might be what's called a 'must-move' table. The poker room staff will direct you what to do if that happens.Ģ. A game may break up, in which case you'll have to move to a different table if you want to keep playing. Two things can happen that force you to move to a different table:ġ. These procedures do not apply to tournaments.

We'll also discuss the process for changing seats, if you wish. Today let's talk about both keeping that seat and leaving it - which, of course, you will have to do sooner or later. Last week we discussed how to get yourself into a cash poker game at a casino. * * * * *Īs the headline suggests, this series of articles is intended for people who have played poker online and/or in home games, but who have little or no experience as yet playing in a 'brick-and-mortar' casino. The series is great for newcomers, and likely useful as well to those with experience playing in casinos and poker rooms.

note: For those who might have missed it before, we're reprising Robert Woolley's series of articles for poker players who are new to live poker.

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