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Ruling! #13 – The Mucked / All-in Scam

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:11:58 +0000

Ruling! #13 – The Mucked / All-in Scam

The Scenario

There are two players involved in a pot. After the flop Player A, who is first to act, decides to have a stab at it and makes a bet. Player B stares him down and then asks for a chip count. While Player A is counting his chips, Player B mucks his cards but cups his hands to make it look like he still has cards. He then states that he is all-in. Player B has no cards but neither Player A nor the dealer notice this, and he mucks his cards without spotting the scam. The dealer pushes the chips towards Player B, but an observant bystander points out what occurred. Who should win this pot? And what is the ruling for this type of behavior?

Kelli’s Ruling

There is a famous hand that T.J. Cloutier calls his “mystery hand” where he was heads up against an opponent for a large pot when suddenly the dealer mucked T.J.’s cards on accident. His opponent did not notice, so T.J., with his great poker face, kept right on betting and his opponent eventually folded the hand. The dealer awarded T.J a large pot without cards. This makes for a great story, but the reality is a player should not be awarded a pot without an active hand. The dealer would likely have awarded the opponent the pot had he not felt guilty about his first mistake. Protect your hand at all times, even from dealers.

Ruling! #12 – Asleep at the Table

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:37:18 +0000

Ruling! #12 – Asleep at the Table

The Scenario

A player falls asleep at the table due to his medication and is unable to be awoken. He is in the big blind and there has been no raise pre-flop. What should happen?

Kelli’s Ruling

Wow, that must be some heavy medication! In this scenario the player would be treated the same as a player who walks away from the table after the cards are dealt. Once he does not respond, the dealer should muck his cards and deal the community cards. If the player continues to be unresponsive the floorperson can rule that the player be treated as an absent player, meaning don’t even deal the cards to the player. Most dealers however will typically just keep dealing and mucking the cards in case the sleeper finally wakes up.

Ruling! #11 – Verbally Binding

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:24:16 +0000

Ruling! #11 – Verbally Binding

The Scenario

During a hand Player A announces “all-in” and moves his stack forward. Player B then repeats this and says “all-in” in a quiet puzzled tone as he considers why he’s done it. Player A then demands that it should stand and Player B be held to account for saying “all-in” – even though it seemed he was merely repeating what player A said. What is the ruling and at what point does such a statement become loud enough to be taken as binding?

Kelli’s Ruling

In poker, verbal is binding, so you should always be careful of what you say, especially when it comes to words like, “Call, Raise, and All-In.” It would be difficult to ask the dealer to take tone inflection into consideration – if the dealer hears all-in, regardless of how it is said it can be considered a verbally binding statement. Had the player said something like, “You’re all-in?” that would be different, but saying just “all-in” and repeating the words “all-in” can sound exactly the same. Now, If it was said so quiet that the dealer can’t even confirm he heard it then, no, it is not a verbally binding statement. The bottom line is say what you mean and mean what you say – don’t rely on the rest of the table to interpret your meaning.

Ruling! #10 – Phone a Friend

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:17:14 +0000

Ruling! #10 – Phone a Friend

The Scenario

In a cash game a player talked on his phone throughout the night. He would whisper into the phone and pause when he played. I was sitting to his immediate left and during the middle of a big hand while there was noise at our table I heard him tell his buddy, “Hmm, this guy under the gun just raised me $150 and I got Queen’s…uh huh” He paused for a few seconds and then re-raised. The other player folded and the guy whispered into his phone, “You were right.” No one else at the table heard, but this guy just got advice on how to play the hand from his friend. What should have been done?

Kelli’s Ruling

Well, to be honest, this is an etiquette issue more than anything. First, it is poor etiquette to remain on the phone throughout a game no matter what. I hate that cardrooms allow this. Second, it was your responsibility to point out that the player was violating rules by asking advice on a hand. The best way to handle it is to simply tell the dealer, “I think this guy on the phone is taking advice from his friend, can he be asked to get off the phone?” The guy will likely deny it and probably get mad, but he certainly wouldn’t risk getting caught again. As for the hand he won, the most the floor would do based on hearsay is warn the player. From that point on though, I promise all the other players would be listening closely in case he was stupid enough to try it again.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #9 – The Blinds Went Up

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:48:39 +0000

Ruling! #9 – The Blinds Went Up

The Scenario

In a poker tournament where the blinds just went up from 500/1,000 to 1,000/2,000, Player A placed $1,000 into the pot, Player B quickly said, “Call,” and also placed $1,000 into the pot. Player C raised to $3,000 and Player D calls. Suddenly, Player E says, “The blinds went up, the pot is completely wrong.” What happens?

Kelli’s Ruling

This is a real mess that the dealer should have caught, but it’s not uncommon for the players and dealers to not notice a raise in the blinds. There is a rule in Robert’s Rules of poker section 3.5 that reads:

“All wagers and calls of an improperly low amount must be brought up to proper size if the error is discovered before the betting round has been completed.”

So, since the betting round is not complete, Players A & B should have to put in the proper call of $2,000, Player C must make the raise $4,000, Player D call the $4,000 and then Players A & B can either call or fold to the additional raise amount when it comes to them.

Now, with that said, there is an argument to the fact that when 3 or more players act, there is what’s considered “substantial action,” that would cause some tournament directors to allow the wagers to stand. In addition, when that many players are wrong about the blind amounts, it is likely that a proper announcement was not made. But, if you want to “go by the book,” and don’t mind the anger of several players, adhere to the method above.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #8 – An Abandoned Pot

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:33:18 +0000

Ruling! #8 – An Abandoned Pot

The Scenario

While playing in a poker tournament, three players were all-in. Player A held 56, Player B held JJ, and Player C held AK. The flop came AKJ, at which point Player A said, “I can’t win,” and left the tournament table. The turn and river came 29 and Player A had the winning hand after all. Who should get the pot?

Kelli’s Ruling

This is considered an abandoned pot, but since cards speak, Player A does still win the pot. You should not award the pot to a losing hand. The chips should be pushed to his vacant seat and blinded off in the same fashion as if the player left unexpectedly for an emergency. If Player A returns, he can actually continue playing his stack. If this situation occurred in a live action game, the floorperson should rack and remove the chips from the table and follow the state’s gaming commission rules for abandoned winnings.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #7 – Two Burn Cards Before the Flop

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:35:20 +0000

Ruling! #7 – Two Burn Cards Before the Flop

The Scenario

During the deal a card is exposed and is swapped for the top card, and the exposed card becomes the first burn card. The hand continues, and after the flop, turn and river, where betting action occurred, one player realizes that there were two burn cards before the flop and not one. The dealer had placed the first burn card (original exposed card) face down on the table and burned another card on top, before doing the flop. This changed the sequence of the cards. One of the players complains and says “this hand should be dead”. What is the ruling?

Kelli’s Ruling

The board cards stand in this situation since action has occurred. Here is the passage from Robert’s Rules of Poker section 5.6 that addresses this exact situation:

“If the dealer fails to burn a card or burns more than one card, the error should be corrected if discovered before betting action has started for that round. Once action has been taken on a board card by any player, the card must stand. Whether the error is able to be corrected or not, subsequent cards dealt should be those that would have come if no error had occurred.”

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #6 – I See You… are Very Strong

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:20:01 +0000

Ruling! #6 – I See You… are Very Strong

The Scenario

Two players are involved in a hand. After the river player A makes a large bet, and player B says “I see you,” but before he places his chips in the middle, player A quickly turns over his hand showing the nuts. Player B carries on “are very strong, and I fold,” and claims that he was never intending to call, and that he merely said “I see you are very strong”. What is the ruling?

Kelli’s Ruling

Most games use the terminology bet, call, fold, or raise. “See”, is an outdated term that is rarely used, so I would not assume the player intended to call the bet if he were quickly interrupted by the player flipping up his hand. With that said, IF it DOES happen to be a game where the term, “See”, is commonly used and the player was so slow in speaking that it came out, “I see…you are very strong,” then it’s considered possible trickery and I would rule it a verbal call and the player must pay up. The same would hold true if a player faced with a bet said, “I call…this a very tough decision,” Verbal is binding, so be careful not to use words such as, “Call,” or even “See,” except in the proper context, or be prepared to pay the consequences for your mistake.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #5 – Where Are My chips?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:07:29 +0000

Ruling! #5 – Where Are My chips?

The Scenario

A player wins a nice pot and he drags the pot toward his remaining chip stack. Shortly afterward, the player to his left says “Where are my chips?” and it turns out that the other player accidentally scooped his opponent’s chips that were not part of the pot. They cannot agree how many chips were lost. What is the ruling?

Kelli’s Ruling

Typically in this situation the dealer and other players at the table try to help determine approximately how many chips the two players had before the start of the hand. Together, they can then retrace the bets & calls to determine what the pot should have totaled. If this is no help, the floor will have to be called and security will have to check the table camera to gauge how many chips were in each players stack. This can be a very long and arduous process that will halt the game – probably break up the game – but sometimes it is the only solution.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Ruling! #4 – Showing for a Reaction

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:02:14 +0000

Ruling Please! #4 – Showing for a Reaction

The Scenario

A player is all-in and everyone folds except one player who considers calling. He verbally declares that he has a pair of 10’s. The all-in player remains silent, and the opponent turns his pair of 10’s face-up to try and gauge a reaction from the all-in player. He decides to call the all-in player and wins (10’s vs. AK). The loser asks for a ruling – was he allowed to show his hand?

Kelli’s Ruling

In a live-action game, yes, a player heads-up may expose his cards to gauge a reaction from his opponent. In a tournament using TDA or World Series of Poker rules, no, players are not allowed to expose their cards. The losing player however would still not be rewarded the pot if this were the case. Instead, the player who exposed his cards would keep the pot, but be subject to a penalty of sitting out one hand for each player at the table.

Kelli Mix is a poker player and author of the ‘Game Day Poker Almanac – Official Rules of Poker’. Kelli is from Georgia, and is the state director for the Poker Players Alliance.