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New players visiting card rooms across the nation are likely to run into situations they don't quite know how to handle, such as the dilemma this player from Wyoming faced recently.

How To Deal Poker Chips

At a tournament in Las Vegas, the man next to me said he did not like how I was playing. Once, he touched my chips when I was slow posting my blind, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that. What should a less-experienced player say or do so no one is offended? — Jamie, Rock Springs, Wyo.

You are 100 percent correct, Jamie. No other player should EVER touch your chips. It's bad etiquette, it can lead to arguments or even fights, and it can be a way to cheat or steal. It's just not done.

Dealing with cheating at the poker table. Chips and be aware of what’s happening at the table. Large chips are targeted the most, but even a $25 or $5 chip. General Rules for Poker Dealing. Various rules govern the dealing of the cards. Here are some common dealing anomalies you may run into at a poker table. During a deal, it's common for the dealer to accidentally flip one card over, or 'flash' enough of its face for another player to see the face value of the card.

• Step 3 of 10: Chips Setup. I typically use 5 total chip colors with the following values: White - $25; Red - $50; Blue - $100; Black - $500; Green - $1,000; I use the Poker Tournament Manager Deluxe chip calculator to determine how many chips of each color I need based on the number of players and the buyin chip value.
• With fewer chips, the blinds quickly become too high to play reasonable poker. Naturally, you can start off with more chips: you could do this with approximately 100 big blinds. An important aspect is how long you want the tournament to last - the more chips each player starts with, the longer the game.
• Betting is the key to Poker, for the game, in essence, is a game of chip management. In the course of each Poker deal, there will be one or more betting intervals in which the players have an opportunity to bet on their hands. Minimizing losses with poor hands and maximizing winnings with good hands is the underlying skill that Poker requires.

Meanwhile, it's OK (sometimes) to politely remind another player he hasn't posted yet. I've done it, but ONLY because I thought the player might discard his hand without posting. That's easy to do, especially if a player is distracted (such as happily stacking chips from winning the previous pot, as you were!). If a player mucked prematurely, he'd still have to post, with no hand to show for it.

Even though I consider this a polite gesture, some opponents won't take kindly to being told to post their blind or ante by another player, no matter how pleasantly the player says it. Good dealers prevent such problems by prompting players to post as they start each new hand.

Regarding unfriendly players: It sounds as if you showed tremendous patience with that jerk in Vegas. He didn't like how you were playing? He said rude things? The game was beneath him? The guy needs an attitude adjustment, or he should switch to online poker, where he doesn't have to sit next to real people.

Your experience level is no excuse for an opponent to berate your play or be a horse's butt. He may have suspected you were inexperienced and was trying to intimidate you, but that's still no reason to break the rules and treat others poorly.

How To Poker Chips Shuffle

Your efforts to keep from being rude back to him or offending anyone else are commendable — not because he deserves being treated with respect, but because your first goals at the table are to have fun and play your best game. That won't be easy with an irritating opponent beside you.

So, what should you do?

If someone touches your chips, in a calm and steady voice just say, 'Sir, please don't touch my chips.' Say it loud enough for the dealer to hear it, but don't shout. If it happens again, ask the dealer directly to please instruct the player not to touch your chips. Keep your tone calm but determined.

If the dealer doesn't act, you've got three choices: Tell the supervisor what happened, give the player a final notice, or leave that seat. If you decide to move, either ask the dealer for a seat-change button so you can take a different chair at that game, ask the supervisor to move you to a different table or leave the card room. Nothing good will come from you staying there if the nonsense won't stop.

You can expect more of the same at times in public card rooms, so you've got to be ready for it.

Russ, you truly have a great gig with your LuckyDog column, and I wish you the best. Also, I want you to know there is a $20-$40 stud game at the Bellagio that you would just love! — Jim M. in Las Vegas

Ha! I've held my own in that stud game at the Bellagio in Vegas back when it was $15-$30 and played in it a few times with modest success after it switched several years ago to $20-$40. Lots of fun!

Now that I'm retired from my 'day job,' however, I'm not sure how many racks of red chips I can risk. I plan to make it out that way later this year, so maybe I'll give that game another go.

I only play home games now. I can't play online anymore, as I can't find a place that lets U.S. players deposit money. Danged government always screws up a good thing! — Bryan J. in Dallas

Don't sell your computer just yet, Bryan.

Yes, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which passed in late 2006, caused many online poker sites to cut off U.S. players — not because it was illegal to play online, but because the law threatened penalties against financial institutions that process transactions with online sites.

How To Deal Chips In Poker

Nevertheless, there still are many sites where you can play free poker and several that still accept U.S. players in cash games and tournaments. A check of their Websites will explain your deposit options.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to [email protected] for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

We don't know about you, but we prefer playing poker with chips rather than cash. Even putting aside the safety issues, chips feel better in your hand, look better stacked in front of you, and sound better clicking and clacking into the pot. But not all poker games are equal and neither are the poker chips they use. Before you buy a poker chip set, you're going to want to know a few things about them, as well as the game you're going to use them on.

How Many Poker Chips to Buy

Depending on the size of your game, you're going to need to stock up on different amounts of chips. We recommend:

• 200 Chips for 3-4 players
• 400 Chips for 5-6 players
• 600 Chips for 7-8 players
• 800 Chips for 8-10+ players

You may end up with more than you need, but it's always better to have too many chips than too few.

What Denominations (Color)?

How To Poker Chips

Most cheap chip sets have too many colors. Follow the casino's lead and only have four at the most. No matter what level you play at, this color scheme and worth will work:

• WHITE - 1 unit
• RED - 5 units
• GREEN - 25 units
• BLACK - 100 units

It's the same as most card room's color scheme, which makes it easy to remember, and makes the transition from the casino to the home game—or vice versa—easier as well.

Clay

How To Deal Out Poker Chips

There are three types of materials most poker chips are made of. The fanciest kind are known as clay poker chips, though truly they're made of a combo of clay and other materials, and are the standard casino diameter of 39 mm. They have a nice heft and weigh from 8 to 11.5 grams apiece. If you want to provide your players with a special experience, you're going to want to shell out the extra cash and get these chips. You can even go the extra mile and get custom designs on them. While this definitely starts to get expensive, it nearly completely negates the possibility of people introducing chips into your game.

Metal

The second kind of poker chips is made of a metal core surrounded by plastic and weigh either 8 or 11.5 grams. These metal-core composite poker chips are the closest match to what you'll find in most casinos these days and are a good, durable choice. If you're looking for your game to be professional in all ways, (except the rake, of course), then this is the choice.

Plastic

Finally, you'll find plastic poker chips. They aren't as substantial as the other two kinds of chips and are usually filled with more colors than are useful, but they are a lot cheaper and in the end, they do get the job done. You can find a kind of plastic chip that's better than the ones you can pick up at toy stores and department stores, but if you're just starting out, we'd recommend beginning with the cheapest ones and saving your money for when you can buy metal-core or clay chips.