Poker etiquette at the table and in chat

Most of poker etiquette comes down to one idea: do not waste other people’s time or spoil their game. This is what it means at our tables.

The short version

Act when it is your turn and do not keep the table waiting. Never slow-roll. Do not discuss a hand while it is being played. Be kind to beginners — every regular started as one. In chat: no insults, no links, no selling debens. And if someone spoils your evening, you can mute, block or report them in two clicks.

None of this is about formality. A poker table is a small group of strangers sharing the same few minutes, and good manners simply make those minutes pleasant. The details below are specific to Anubis City, checked against how our tables and chat actually work.

Act in turn and on time

Every move at our tables has 15 seconds. A bar above your buttons shows the time left, turns red near the end, and the last five seconds tick. If the time runs out, the game checks for you if it can and folds if it cannot.

  • Three timeouts in a row and you are marked as away. While you are away, the game checks or folds your hands at once, so the table does not wait.
  • Need a break? Press “Step away” instead of letting the timer run. Everyone else waits the full 15 seconds for each timeout; nobody waits for a player who has stepped away. “Return” brings you back.
  • Ten minutes away — or ten minutes at the table with no chips — and you are stood up: your chips go back to your balance and you are returned to the city.
  • Leaving in the middle of a hand folds your cards. The button asks “Sure? Your cards will be folded” first.

There are no “check/fold in advance” buttons at our tables, so think while others act and be ready when the turn comes to you. Take your time with a hard decision; do not take it with an easy fold. If every player used all 15 seconds on every decision, a nine-handed hand with a dozen decisions would last three minutes.

Do not slow-roll

A slow roll is making a beaten opponent wait, or believe they have won, before you reveal the winning hand. It is the one thing poker players everywhere agree is rude.

At our tables the showdown itself cannot be slow-rolled: every hand still in is turned over automatically, and the pot goes to the winner at once. You can still slow-roll with your actions, though — by sitting on the full 15 seconds before calling a river bet with the nuts, or by writing “ugh, I guess I have to call” in chat while holding them. Call quickly when you know you are best, and let the cards speak.

Winning gracefully counts too. A single “nice hand” to the player you just beat costs nothing. Explaining to them why they should have folded costs quite a lot of goodwill.

Do not talk about a hand in progress

Once you fold, you are still at the table and everyone still in the hand can read the chat. So while a hand is being played:

  • Do not name the cards you folded. “I folded a seven” changes the odds for the players still in, and it helps one of them.
  • Do not guess out loud. “He must have the flush” is advice to one player against another.
  • Do not coach. Even a friendly “just call!” is help that the other side did not get.

After the hand, talk about it as much as you like. The same goes for soft-play: going easy on a friend at a public table, never betting into each other, is unfair to everyone else, and working together against other players is collusion, which our terms of use forbid. If you want a friendly game, open a private table for your group — see poker with friends.

Be kind to beginners

New players call with the wrong hands, take time to find the buttons and sometimes win a big pot with a draw they had no business chasing. That is not a problem to fix in chat — it is the reason the game stays interesting.

  • Do not lecture. “How could you call with that?” teaches nothing and drives people away.
  • Answer if asked. A one-line explanation of a rule or a hand ranking is good manners; pointing to our Hold’em lessons is even better.
  • Take bad beats quietly. Being on the wrong end of a lucky river is part of the deal you accepted when you sat down.

Our chat rules

The table chat — “Table chat” in the game — is seen only by the players at that table, seated or waiting for a seat. There are no spectators. Next to the input there are one-click phrases: “Good luck, everyone!”, “Good game”, “Wow!”, “Ra is with me” and “Thanks”. AI players sometimes say a short line after a hand, at most once every 40 seconds, and each player reads it in their own language.

Every message passes through the same filter in the city and at the tables:

  • Swear words are covered with #, as in “###”. The rest of the message goes through.
  • Links, email addresses, phone numbers and messenger handles are not sent at all: “Links and contacts are not allowed in chat — this protects you from scammers.”
  • Selling debens is against the rules. Such a message is not delivered to anyone; it is logged for moderators.
  • Repeats: the same text a third time within a minute is rejected. Short replies like “gg” or “ty” never count.
  • Speed: up to three messages in a row, then one every 1.5 seconds. Faster than that: “Not so fast — wait a couple of seconds.”
  • Length and shouting: a message is up to 120 characters; text in ALL CAPS (eight letters or more) is turned into lower case, and a symbol repeated more than three times in a row is cut to three.

Beyond the filter, our terms of use ask for respect: no insults, hate speech, spam, advertising or other people’s personal data, no cheating, bots or collusion, and no extra characters to collect free debens. Moderators can warn a player, close their chat or private messages, or ban them, for anything from an hour to good. A chat closure takes effect immediately, and the player sees until when and why. Asking someone for their password counts as a scam — report it straight away.

Emotes: in the city, not at the table

Anubis City has ten emotes, and they work in the city, not at the poker table — seated, you have the chat and its quick phrases instead. In the city, use the number keys, the emote bar under the game (“More” opens all ten) or the /e command in chat.

KeyEmoteIn chat
1Wave/e wave
2Dance/e dance
3Egyptian dance/e dance2
4Clap/e clap
5Cheer/e cheer
6Laugh/e laugh
7Bow/e bow
8Shrug/e shrug
9Think/e think
0Blow a kiss/e kiss

Wave, Clap, Cheer, Bow and Blow a kiss can be aimed at someone nearby: open their menu and press the key. Pair emotes — High five, Bow to each other, Hug and Dance together — need the other person to accept within 10 seconds, and Hug and Dance together are for friends only. If you would rather not get invitations, Settings → Social → Pair emotes lets you choose From everyone, Friends only or From nobody. When someone does not answer, take the hint: the game limits how often you can aim emotes at the same person anyway.

How to mute, block or report someone

Click the player’s name in the chat, their seat at the poker table or their line in the list of players. The menu that opens has Mute, Block and Report.

ActionWhat happensDo they find out?
MuteTheir chat lines and speech bubbles disappear for you. Their aimed emotes, gift shows and pair invitations stop reaching you; private messages still arrive, but without a sound.No.
BlockAfter a confirmation, you stop seeing each other in chat. They cannot message you, invite you, send gifts or open your profile, any friendship is removed, and “Quick play” will not seat you at their table.Not told directly, but if they try to message or add you, they see that you have limited contact.
ReportPick a reason — Spam or advertising, Insults, Scam (selling debens, asking for a password), Indecent behavior or name, or Other — and add a comment if you like. The game attaches the player’s recent messages itself. You can tick “Also block” in the same form.No. You get a message when moderators act on it.

Mute and block can be undone in Settings → Social. Reports are limited to one per player per hour and ten a day. If three different people report the same player within 24 hours for spam, insults, a scam or indecency, that player’s chat closes for an hour automatically until a moderator looks. If the person has already gone, the game menu has “Report a player” with everyone who was near you in the last 30 minutes. AI players have no such menu: they only play cards and now and then say a line.

Questions about poker etiquette

What is slow rolling in poker?

Making a beaten opponent wait, or think they have won, before showing the winning hand. At our tables hands are turned over automatically, but taking ages to call with the nuts is the same thing.

Can I talk about my folded cards during a hand?

Not until the hand is over. Your folded cards change the odds for the players still in, so naming them helps one side.

How do I mute someone in Anubis City?

Click their name in the chat, their seat at the table or their line in the list of players and choose Mute. Only you stop seeing their messages, and they are not told.

What happens when I report a player?

Moderators get your reason, your comment and the player’s recent messages, attached by the game. If three different people report the same player within a day, their chat closes for an hour until a moderator reviews it.

Why was my chat message not sent?

It probably had a link or contact details, offered debens for sale, repeated the same text a third time in a minute, or came too fast. The game tells you which under the input.

Can I use emotes at the poker table?

No, emotes work in the city. At the table you have the chat and its one-click phrases such as “Good luck, everyone!” and “Good game”.

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