What happens if you fail to act when prompted? Ah, we're so glad you asked. This is a question that rarely comes up in brick and mortar games, where the dealer rightly calls to task anyone who takes an inordinately long time to play. Yet it comes up time and time again online, where players may be distracted, sleepy, knocked offline, playing in another game, inebriated, or just plain rude. Most of the time, they're either inattentive or experiencing a computer glitch or an Internet snafu.

Several laggard players at a table can turn even the best of games into a "watching-paint-dry" boredom fest. Therefore, persistent slugs are pests openly scorned in the player chat box. If you have a valid Internet connection problem or computer glitch, for the consideration of all concerned, sit out until it's fixed. Otherwise, help ensure fair and considerate play by consistently acting in a timely fashion.

If you don't act in time, and you have a live connection to the games, you'll either be treated as "all-in" for the remainder of the hand, or summarily relegated to "sitting out" status with your cards whisked away and no right to share in the pot. The latter is more likely at many sites, and may be accompanied by negative commentary about you in the player chat box if you were involved in the hand. Remember: In general, if you're connected to the games, failing to act means forfeiting the pot.

On the other hand, if you are unintentionally disconnected from the games, you'll be treated as "all-in," regardless of how much money you still have on the table. This bears further explanation.

• Keeping Pace with the Action
• The History of Online All-In Policy
• The Bottom Line on Timing out with a Live Connection
• But What If I Really Lose My Internet Connection?
• The Pre-Action Checkboxes
• Sitting Out
• Chatting
• Note-Taking Screens
• Stats
• Ten Point Prescription for Pleasant games