Do not play with folk you do not know.
Never play with a man you cannot implicitly trust. The game needs all your attention, and it becomes a toil instead of a pleasure if you have to be on the watch for unfair play.
Never play for a stake you are not prepared to lose.
Fix a limit to your losses and cease play at once when they reach it. The temptation to continue is greater when losing than when winning.
Fix a time to cease play—and keep to it.
Perfect self-control is, it is needless to say, essential to successful play.
The man whose losses make him ill-tempered, must not play at all. He certainly cannot win, since loss of temper involves loss of judgment. A game like Poker, which it must be confessed is not calculated to rouse the finer feelings of humanity, is only tolerable when played under the severest self-imposed restraint.
Avoid playing, moreover, with an opponent who cannot keep his temper. You will beat him, no doubt, but anger is infectious, and, unless you are blessed with extraordinary self-command, the risk of catching it is too great.
Neither voice, manner, nor features should give the [46] slightest clue to your hand. One or other will do so at first inevitably, and all will need a constant effort to control. The perfect Poker player sits like an automaton, and his face is a mask.
Study your opponents, their features and manner, in success and failure. To an accurate observer they will generally betray themselves. An American authority says, “the study of my adversaries is, of more value than the study of my cards.”