There is an old poker story of a gambler traveling
to a strange town, only to find himself in a high stakes poker games. The
gambler was doing quite well. As the night rolled on there was a huge pot
for which only he and one other player were competing. The gambler held
a Royal Flush and raised. The other player had a five, seven, nine, three
and deuce of varied suits with which he re-raised. The two went on this
way until each player had raised the raise four times. Then came the showdown.
The gambler proudly laid down his Royal Flush only to hear the other player
say "You Lose, I have a lapsolazza". When the gambler protested
saying that he had never heard of a lapsolazza, the other players in the
game explained to him that he did actually, lose. A lapsolazza was the
best hand anyone could have. As luck would have it the gambler received
a lapsolazza the very next hand and again proceeded to raise and raise.
This time when he laid down his hand showing the lapsolazza he heard...."Sorry,
you lose again, I have a pair of two's". You see nobody told the gambler
that there were only one lapsolazza allowed during the nights play.
The lesson of this story is that if you don't know
the local rules or customs, you don't have a chance to win. Saying things
like "That's not how we play back home" or "That's not according
to Hoyle" mean nothing. The pot goes to the player who can site agreed
upon rules. If a group of players attempt to play under no formal rules
of poker there WILL be problems.
Even with rules everything doesn't always go smooth.
But at least having something written down will stop players from feeling
cheated.
This book, House Rules, was written so that people
could study this book one night and win at poker the next night. None of
these rules are complicated and they are all there for a reason. If you
find a rule you don't like, and everyone agrees , get rid of it. If you
find that your group of players needs a rule not listed here, add it if
all agree.