What Does Ratholing Mean?

What is the definition of the term "ratholing" in the game of poker? What does the term "ratholing" mean?

In poker, "ratholing" is the term given to the act of taking chips off the table during a cash game without telling anybody.

Let's say that you are playing in a cash game at your local casino. You start with $200 in chips and quickly double up when you are dealt pocket Aces against your opponent's pocket Kings.





Let's say that you decided to take $150 in chips off the table after the hand. You palm the chips and place them into your pocket. You have now removed $150 in chips from the game.

This is not allowed in the game of poker and is very much frowned upon. Any time you change the dynamics of the game without telling the rest of the players at the table, you are doing something wrong. People at the table who thought that you had $400 in your stack would be disgusted to find out that you just had $250 due to "ratholing".

Why is ratholing wrong?

Well, somebody who believed that you had $400 in your stack might play you differently if they knew that you just had $250 instead. For instance, somebody may "set mine" in the belief that you have $400 in your stack, and their odds would change if you had less money in your stack than they thought. As you can see, this isn't fair to the rest of the players at the table.

Ratholing is also known by another term - "going south".


Poker King Blog Articles that mention Ratholing:



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