Can't hurt to spell 'em out. We've played in other home games, and besides the quality of our table, cards, timer, and chips the thing that has really stood out to us is the protection from debate that our rules list gives us. Obviously etiquette isn't quite the same thing as a rule (in terms of repercussions), so I'll interject some comments after each item. We've been hosting games for many years now, so this list is pretty well vetted. One thing to keep in mind is that we tend to fall on the "more like how they'd handle things in a casino" side of the mountain rather than letting things run chaotic. I figure that casinos know best how to minimize the inevitable arguments that come with linking money with emotionally charged games.
Don't comment on a hand in play. Don't talk about the cards you held, the possibilities the board offers, the types of hands your opponents tend to play, or whether or not the flop would've hit your cards. Don't groan when your K-3 would've flopped a full house, as that gives the players left in the hand information about how likely their opponent hit their hand. — This is mostly an etiquette thing depending on just how someone felt the commentary affected the outcome of the hand. In a casino it's possible that someone would get penalized (anywhere from forced to sit out a number of hands to kicked out of the casino) for collusion.
If you've folded, don't talk to players currently involved in the hand. They should be able to concentrate on making their decision, and story time tends to lessen the number of hands we see during each blind level. — This is etiquette as well, and only really comes into play if someone feels affected by the conversation. I'm certain we see this violated at least once each time we sit down to play, so it's really only something to keep in mind if someone shoots you a dirty look or seems to be ignoring your conversation.
When action is on you, don't feel rushed to make a decision, but don't drag things out unnecessarily. The clock is always ticking. — This one is pretty darn rare in our home game, but sometimes comes into play during televised events in casinos, in which case folks eager to get extra TV time are said to be "Hollywooding."
Your opponents always have the right to know how many chips you have. Don't hide chips off the table. Don't build dirty stacks. Don't put your lowest denomination chips in front in an effort to hide the size of the stack of larger chips. — This is a rule and one which is enforced when someone points it out. Nobody earns any demerits for unintentionally violating this one, but you will be forced to fix the situation. This is enforced the same way in a casino.
Verbal declarations are binding when action is on you. Stating: "All in! Just kidding..." means that you're all in. "I'll call your twenty and raise you eighty more." = You call (as those were the first words out of your mouth). The more players involved at the table, the more likely you should be to declare your action. You can't ever screw things up if you state what you intend to do before moving any chips forward. — This is a rule, though it gets mixed enforcement based on how much (apparent) experience you have playing cards. If you're totally new to the game, you will very likely get one warning (and an explanation) the first time it happens. If you've played with us before, you probably won't get that warning and enforcement will be strict. In a casino this one gets strict enforcement at all times.
Place bets, calls, or raises directly in front of you. If you toss your chips directly into the pot, folks may express uncertainty regarding how many chips you bet. Nobody takes the word of a poker player at face value (at least at not the poker table). Plus, if you get raised, it's handy to know how many chips you've already put forward. Once betting is completed, please help collect all the chips in the pot (especially if you're sitting near the center of the table). Also, don't make change for your chips until after the round of betting is complete. — This is a rule, though bordering on etiquette. It's pretty rare for there to be a big hullabaloo at the table if this gets violated, but we've had to pause the clock and recreate the pot from scratch to ensure that pots are the correct size in the past (which is never any fun for anyone at the table). If anyone ever got the impression that this was a mistake made intentionally, it'd affect just how likely you were to be invited back for future poker nights. In a casino, the dealers earn the big bucks to ensure that pots don't ever get splashed.
A single over-sized chip tossed out in front of you is considered to be a call, even if you intended it to be a raise. Declare "raise," state an amount (for instance "two thousand"), and/or otherwise make it obvious that you're intending to raise. The full rule is actually that for the chips you (silently) toss forward (note that if you are in a blind, it matters whether or not you pick up the chips you already had out) if you can remove the smallest denomination chips and not cover the bet to you, then you call. If by removing the smallest denomination chip you at least cover the bet to you, then your action is eligible to be a raise (see rule #23). — This is a rule and enforcement goes along with how #5 is ruled. If you're obviously new to the game, then you'll probably get the benefit of the doubt and things will get ruled along with your intention, but if you were present when this one was explained at the table, your action will be declared as a call. In a casino this is another strict rule.
Act in turn, including folding. If you fold out of turn, that gives extra information to the people yet to act. This also includes when someone else has declared "Raise," but hasn't yet figured out an amount. In the case that someone attempts to take action out of turn, that action is binding unless things change ahead of them (and even then, you can't ever take chips back out of the pot). If an intervening player folds, checks, or calls then that is not a change and the out-of-turn action stands. — This is a rule. Generally this comes from folks making an honest mistake (if you've played poker for any length of time, you're going to eventually mess this one up). The rule is enforced by the book, however, even if it puts you (or us) in a bad spot. If done in a moment of frustration (say you've got nothing but 30 bad hands in a row and you violently muck your hand out of turn), you're probably going to get some dirty looks. If dirty looks aren't doing the trick to get you to modify that behavior, then don't be surprised to find your email inbox empty the next time poker night comes around. In a casino these rules are very straight-forward and are enforced by the book. A Comment on Rule 8: I hate the inability for folks to take chips out of the pot. We've slowly moved away from a strict interpretation of this rule, which I think is appropriate. However, if someone's inattention becomes an issue at the table, we will leave this rule in place to deal with it.
You are responsible for your cards. Keep them protected with a card protector (or use your hand with fingers splayed wide open like a cage — see rule #10). If someone else mucks their hole cards into yours, a card protector could be the difference between getting to play your hand or being forced to fold. If you're the dealer or sitting next to the dealer, be especially careful with this one! — This is a rule and strictly enforced, even if you had an awesome hand. Sorry about that. In the casinos it's also strictly enforced, but they're not sorry at all.
Leave your cards visible (but face-down, of course) to everyone else at the table so that they may see that you're still involved in the hand. It seems to happen each week that someone gets skipped over because they hid their cards behind their chips or held their hands closed over their cards. Be especially sure that the dealer may see that you're still involved — having a new board card put out before you had a chance to bet or raise can be especially disheartening. — This is a rule, though generally you end up getting blamed for someone else violating rule #8, above. You'll get told not to do it anymore and maybe get the stink-eye if you keep hiding the fact that you've got cards. In a casino this is handled the same way, though generally its up to the players to enforce this one rather than the dealers.
If you show your cards to one person at the table, you have to show everyone. Nobody's allowed to get more information than other people at the table. — This is a rule, but typically isn't enforced unless someone who is still active in the game says something. Same enforcement in the casino: dealers aren't going to take it on themselves to enforce this unless one of the players says something.
You must show both your hole cards at the showdown to win the pot. Thinking about just showing one? Don't even try it. — This is a rule. You won't get the pot shoved to you until you show both cards. In a casino, they have the power to not award you the pot if you don't show both cards (i.e., pushing it to your opponent, even if the one card you showed was good enough to win on its own), but I've never seen this happen.
Prior to putting new cards on the board (be it the flop, turn, or river) the dealer shall state the number of players left active in the hand. This gives everyone a chance to correct the dealer if new board cards are about to be mistakenly shown. — This is etiquette and something which should be incorporated into everyone's dealing routine (though it doesn't always work out that way). In a casino it differs from dealer to dealer depending on how they were trained. Please also note rule #22 for additional desirable Dealer-specific behavior.
A deal begins when the cards are cut. This is the dividing line for when folks need to pay the old blinds or the new blind level. Please note that you shouldn't cut the cards (say in a second deck) before the current hand has played out. Doing so does not prevent folks from paying a new blind level if the timer goes off. — This is a rule and is enforced. In the casino the hand starts at the first riffle.
Blinds get paid whether or not you're at the table. If you're not in your seat when action's on you, your hand may get mucked (though generally if you're in the room at the time action's on you, we'll wait for you to look at your cards). — This is a rule. If you're close by, we tend to wait for you. There are usually scheduled breaks approximately every hour or so, but if you can't hold it (getting up to get food, use the bathroom, stepping outside for a phone call or smoke) between breaks we generally will keep playing without you. It can't hurt to ask to pause the game. In a casino this is strictly enforced. I've been inches away from the table and have had my hand mucked without remorse. They will also take your cards away if they see you playing with a cell phone during a hand.
All entry fees collected get paid out as prize money. This is part of what makes our home game legal — we're not collecting any "house money" to keep for ourselves or to pay to dealers. — This is a rule. In a casino, it's the opposite situation. What the card room keeps (to pay the floor staff and dealers, as profit, etc.) is known as the juice, the vig(orish), the rake, and any other number of colorful names.
We use the dead button rule. If one of the blinds busts out, the big blind (BB) always moves forward one player and there may or may not be a small blind (SB). One person may end up dealing twice consecutively. In the case of going from three to two players, the BB always moves forward and the other player becomes the button & SB. The way to envision what happens is to pretend like the busted player is still seated at the table and then move the blinds and button accordingly: there has to be a BB (if the BB is at a seat with no player, then keep advancing it to the left), there doesn't have to be a SB, and if the button sits at an empty spot at the table, then the person to the right acts as the dealer for this hand. — This is a rule which we enforce. Only one person in the general vicinity of the game needs to understand how this works. In local casinos this is also how they run things.When the game gets down to two players (also known as "heads-up") the big blind moves one seat to the left of the previous hand and the opposite person becomes the small blind and the dealer.
The dealer is always the small blind during heads-up play. — This is a rule describing how we do things and how it's done in local casinos.
The "action line" is your cards, or realistically about one inch closer to the center of the table from where your cards are sitting (see #10, above). If you move chips forward past your cards, you will be obligated to at least make the minimum-sized bet or call the current bet. Your action is complete when you release chips. We've never had an issue with folks "pump faking" to get reads, but if it is done behind the action line it is not binding. I may happen to think it's a douchebag move, but it's possible to perform it legally. We hate interpretation calls, but push-comes-to-shove we will make one (and generally align ourselves on the side of non-douchey behavior). — In casinos they may follow this rule, or there may actually be a physical line on the table which acts as the action line. Various casinos have differing rules regarding whether this line (or the imaginary line created by your cards) is binding, whether you have to release chips to end your action or whether your action ends as soon as chips cross the line, etc.
If there is no betting on the river and a hand proceed to showdown, a player does not have to table their hand to be awarded the pot if their opponent(s) all voluntarily muck. A player can ask to see a hand mucked at showdown if they can make a convincing case (to the de facto Tournament Director, generally Neal and/or Shannon) for collusion taking place (curiosity is not enough). — Again, these rules change from casino to casino. The above interpretation is a combination of how it is done in local casinos and how I think it should be handled in local casinos.
In the case of any discrepancy at the table or in the need of a ruling, the acting Tournament Director shall be the ultimate arbitrator. If the acting TD is involved in the dispute, then the TD progression shall be followed. In the general case Neal shall act as the TD, followed by Shannon, followed by the dealer of the hand, followed by the player to the left of the dealer (etc.). In all cases, the TD has the ability to rule in the spirit of what's best for the game. There is no higher authority to which one can appeal. — Casinos tend to have dedicated Tournament Directors, though one does have the option to go to casino management and the state Gaming Authority in search of a higher ruling. We only ever have this come up rarely, in each case related to rule #9. We've tried to create the rules so that we're not put in the awkward place of having to make rulings, but ultimately they do happen.
Dealers should verbalize bets, raises, and folds and stay mum for checks. Dealers should repeat verbalized bet or raise amounts and may verbalize amounts which are obvious to them as the chips lie. If prompted by a player whose action it currently is, the dealer should give an exact bet or raise amount. — This is all etiquette. Different dealers are taught different behaviors and different casinos have different house rules. In self-dealt home games it's more likely that a fellow player will provide a bet amount than the actual dealer. If a player at the other end of the table is squinching up their eyes in an attempt at discerning the bet amount, it's very likely that someone will provide them a value (estimated or actual), just to speed things along. Please also note rule #13 for additional desirable Dealer-specific behavior.
In no-limit games, a legal raise is one that matches the full size of the bet or raise to you. Limit games (which we don't typically play for our tournaments) require at least 50% of the bet or raise to you to open things up for additional raises. — This is pretty esoteric, and does not come up too often. Sometimes when there are all-ins folks have to "do the math" to figure out whether a third-player can raise. Dealers generally get this right inherently at casinos, but not always!