November 30, 2007 by frenchflush.

Hello, sometime a question is so simple that you have a doubt (lol) here it is:

2 players left at the turn in a hand - player A bets 500 - player B raises at 1500 - player A takes his time - then … suddenly player B throws his cards in the muck thinking that player A has folded (witch is not the case at all : no confusion, no angle move, nothing from A : just an error from B)  … OK the hand of B is dead but can he recover the raise (1000)?

I personnaly think so because of the official rules BUT … then imagine that:

3 players left at the turn in a hand - player A bets 500 - player B calls 500 - player C raises at 1500 - player A folds - player B takes his time - then … suddenly player C throws his cards in the muck thinking that player B has folded too (witch is not the case at all : no confusion, no angle move, nothing from B : just an error from C)  … OK the hand of B is dead and I think he can’t recover is raise because it pushed A to fold … so who wins what? I would simply say B wins everything of the pot (if his stack can cover the 1500) … but it’s so unfair for A !?!

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Fouled Hands, Incorrect Pot Awards, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Mucking, Dead Hands, Etc, Showdowns & Pot Awarding, Money & Chips | Print | 2 Comments »

November 29, 2007 by Legion Designs.

O.K., blinds are 200/400 at a 10 person table. Before cards are dealt, SB posts 200 (leaving him with 300), BB posts (leaving him with 5600). Cards are dealt, and everyone folds until it reaches the button. Button calls, SB calls (leaving him with 100) and BB checks.

Flop comes.

SB moves all-in with his remaining 100 (300 less than the min bet). My question is, can the other 2 players just call the 100, or does the next player to act (if they want to stay in) have to call the min bet of 400? Supposing that both want to stay in.

Posted in All-In Bets; Re-Opening Betting, Side-Pots, Split Pots | Print | 3 Comments »

November 27, 2007 by frenchflush.

WPT Foxwoods:

Flop 995 … player A (a short stack) goes all-in … JC Tran (big stack) instant call showing J9!

Player A throws the cards face down to the dealer … the dealer (?) thinking he wants him to turn it face up (?) do it showing A7 … turn 8 … river 6 giving a straight to A !! 

JC Tran called for the floor but he gave the pot to player A !

Any opinion?

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Fouled Hands, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Empty Seats, Penalties, Clocks, Ejected Players, Mucking, Dead Hands, Etc, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties | Print | 3 Comments »

November 22, 2007 by Sonny.

This situation occurred recently in one of my games. Rather than just spout off the rule, I went to look into Robert’s Rules, and the TDA rules, to see if it was actually written anywhere, in procedures, or rules.

 As happens many times, players try to announce rules, that they “think” are correct, or rules that they use in their home games. In this situation, a player CLEARLY announces RAISE and then puts in an amount of the bet he is facing. At the time, it was BB. So he puts in 200, goes back and puts in another 1000 making it 1200 to go. However, another player asks what he is doing. That player thinks that since he said raise, and then matched the bet, he can only min raise to 400. I was called, and ruled that the player who announced raise, can match the bet, and THEN in one motion, or by verbally announcing it, make his raise. The other player disagreed, and said that is not a rule anywhere.

As I looked through the rules, I could not find a clear indication either way.  In my understanding, a player who is raising, can match the bet he/she is facing, and THEN raise in one motion or verbally state it. I have always used this as my method, any help here?

Posted in Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties, Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn | Print | 2 Comments »

November 22, 2007 by Bariloche.

Hi,

We just have some discussion here about all-in bets and re-opening the betting in NL. The rules say that “a raise must be at least equal to the amount of the previous bet or raise”. Is there any difference in between pre-flop and after the flop.

In a tournament where went to play, the blinds were 2500/5000. Pre-flop, player A called, then player B (that was me in this case) called, player C to my left went all-in for 8000. The blinds folded and player A, who called before, also went all-in. My question is:

Is the all-in of 8000 re-opening the betting (this in case of pre-flop)?? The explanation of the casino was that the previous raise was 2500, the difference in between the SB and the BB, so the 8000 was a raise and re-opened the betting. Our explanation was that the BB is a bet and not a raise, so the minimum raise has to be the BB.

Now the same case but after the flop. The SB bets 2500, the BB raises to 5000, player A calls the 5000, player B (me) calls the 5000, and player C goes all-in for 8000. SB calls, BB calls and player A goes all-in. As the raise of player C is 3000 (8000-5000) and the previous raise was 2500 (5000-2500), player A can go all in now. Is this right??

Thanks in advance!

Posted in All-In Bets; Re-Opening Betting, Side-Pots, Split Pots, Bets, Min Raise, StringBet, Fwd Motion, Act Out-Of-Turn | Print | 7 Comments »

November 20, 2007 by frenchflush.

Hello,

Wow: a hand is going on with 4 players still in and a big pot in the middle. After the turn: A bets, B raises, C calls & D calls then suddenly (before A can act) … B realizes that he has 4 cards (he still have his previous hand and nobody saw it before he tells everybody) !?!

Your advices?

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Fouled Hands, Chaos: Sloppy Mgmt of Tables & Tournament, Mucking, Dead Hands, Etc, Dealer Errors, Bad Flops, Etc., Misdeals | Print | 3 Comments »

November 20, 2007 by frenchflush.

Hello,

We all know now that the home rules of the private casinos & clubs can’t be a reference and that we must stick with the international rules like the TDA or the RRs when we rule a tournament.

But what if thoses houses apply for a long time the same variation of the original rules? What if all their numerous customers start to get used with thoses new habits? What if the WSOP or any main event start to use it too?

 Here are four exemples of very common “new” rules … (seen in european clubs) :

1- “Show one - show both” (I hate it!) : If a player wins before the showdown (everybody folded to his last bet) and that he shows one card … he must show the other one! (somebody told me they was gonna use it at the next WSOP?) … Daniel Negreanu & me (lol) ARE AGAINST IT!

2- “Undercall”: If a player made a wrong call (too low by more than 50%) without saying “call” (but only putting the wrong low amount or annoucing the wrong low amount) he still can choose to call or fold but must let the error amount in the pot if he choose to fold! (well … why not!).

3- “Hide your cards”: If a player still in the hand shows his cards before the end of the hand (while anybody still can act … even him) his hand is automatically dead! (They said they made this rude law because the casinos can’t really put “warnings” on their customers and must have clear rules to apply immediatly!) … (well … I’m against that … like my “friend” Daniel again … !).

4- “European min. raise rule”: a raise must simply be the double of the total previous bet or raise … for exemple after the flop: A bets 100 - B minimum raise is 200 - C minimum reraise (if B made it 200) is 400 (instead of the american 300) … (well this one I like … more simple to manage for everybody!).

Your opinion on thoses new “traditions”?

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General | Print | 2 Comments »

November 15, 2007 by onedoubleo.

I run a weekly tournament in my university un its Poker Society. However with time constraints between the venue and university lecture times we have a very harsh blind system that is generally double blinds at 20min intervals. I looked into holding it somewhere where time costraints wouldnt be a problem but couldn’t find any where that is feesible.

The blinds in this system can work well but 50% of the time are far too steep by the time we hit the 4th level. Has anyone got tips on methods to improve this?

Posted in Start Chips, Blind Raising Structure, Tourney Timing, Buttons & Blinds, Tournament Directors, Event Structure & Management, Texas Holdem | Print | 2 Comments »

November 9, 2007 by psand.

Rule 7 specifies that soft-play will be penalized and indicates the penalties available are a warning, missed hand penalties, and disqualification.

Rule 33 on the other hand also addresses soft-play and indicates that chip-forfeiture may be the penalty.

If by chip forfeiture they mean the chips are removed from play that is one thing, but if they mean that you give the chips to the player you were softplaying that makes no sense.

Any on have any thoughts on this. I’m inclined to think that its an oversight and that the intended penalties are those listed in rule 7.

Posted in Collusion, Cheating, Etc., Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Empty Seats, Penalties, Clocks, Ejected Players, Etiquette, Behavior, Play Procedures & Penalties | Print | 1 Comment »

November 8, 2007 by frenchflush.

Well, to make a conclusion on the counting (unpleasant situations I experienced with my dealers as TD with very unsportmanlike players):

A bets 13575 (counted & annouced by the dealer) … his stack is around 100000

B raises all-in at 47325 (counted & annouced by the dealer) …

A wants the dealer to tell him the difference he has to pay to call BEFORE taking his decision !?!

IMPORTANT:

1- In one hand the organisators of this finale table wanted the stacks to be very big for the show (pictures & vidéos) so there where a lots of chips around (even the short stacks) making the counting hard for everybody. 

2- But in the other hand the player A (and some others) where really not nice: critisizing everything & my poor dealers & asking quite everytime for the differences of amounts BEFORE taking his decisions! His main argument was the during the EPT (european poker tournament) the dealers did ALLWAYS give the 3 amounts: the first bet, the raise & the difference (still not sure they really did it)!

SO: does my dealers are definitively OBLIGED TO ALLWAYS COUNT THIS DIFFERENCE BEFORE THE PLAYER’S DECISION (imagine the waste of time?) ???

GG

Posted in Official Rules & Guidelines, General, Start Chips, Blind Raising Structure, Tourney Timing, Showdowns & Pot Awarding, Money & Chips | Print | 3 Comments »