I am going to be playing live (a tournament) for the first time next weekend. I am curious about a few of the basics. Do I have to declare that I am raising and by how much? If it is $100 to me and I want to make it $500 to go, do I say raise $400 or raise TO $500, or just chuck it out there?

Also, what are the rules for showing/mucking your cards? As many hands as I have played online you would think I would have picked up on this but it has never been important that I know. Bottom line, I would like to know when I can muck my cards on the river or ask to see the villain's cards.

Thanks!

Good luck in the tourney. A few thoughts to keep in mind: Always declare your raises. Some B&Ms have a "one chip rule", where if the bet is 100 and you throw out a 500 chip without saying raise, you have only called the bet. Declaring raises also avoids the problem of string betting. You must either declare or bring all of the chips across in one motion. The only reason not to declare is if you think that you cannot hide excitement in your voice, thereby declaring not only your raise but giving a tell about the strength of your hand.

Do not turn over your cards unless and until instructed to do so by the dealer.

Do not, under any circumstance, muck your winning hand before the pot has been pushed to you and all other hands are in the muck. There is a common angle shoot where at showdown a player will raise his cards as if to deposit them into the muck, hoping that you will muck because he appears to have surrendered the pot. Don't fall for it.

Beware of other angles. Protect your hand at all times. Use a chip to cover your cards, bring a card protector from home, or by a fossil from Raymer. If the dealer sweeps the cards, they are dead. Protect them.

Do not take your cards off of the table. Lift the corner of the cards with one hand, cup your other hand to protect the cards from view of others, then put your protector on the cards. Do this every time, whether you intend to play or muck. Alternatively, do not look at your cards until it is your turn to act.

If you need time to make a decision, call time. The action may pass you by if you do not.

Take a quick read through the tells section in SS2 or buy and read Caro's book of tells. Nearly 30 years on and the information is still very useful.

Good luck.

All great advice.

Live play is certainly different than online. The hardest part is not letting your attention wander. Focus. Look at the two people to either side of you. It's really hard to concentrate on the whole table, at first. Until you get used to it, make sure you are aware of the tendancies of the ones who act just before you and just after, as they are the ones you can most easily outplay when in position and the blinds.

Most tables have a line, real or imaginary, where you can stack chips before declaring a raise.

Try hard to do everything exactly the same every time. Use the same hand to put in chips. Don't reach for chips before it's your turn, as this is a strong tell that you're going to do something.

Don't look at your hand and then let your attention wander. Practice putting people on hands, watch how they bet, esp watch their hands as this may give more info than their faces.

Live play is a lot of fun. It can be pretty boring, too.

CJ