Regarding TDA rule number 52 (non-standard and unclear betting) and the addendum. Here is the rule-

Players use unofficial betting terms and gestures at their own risk. These may be interpreted to mean other than what the player intended. Also, if a declared bet can reasonably have multiple meanings, it will be ruled the lesser value. Ex: NLHE 200-400 blinds, player declares “I bet five.” If it is unclear whether “five” means 500 or 5,000, the bet is 500. See Rules 2, 3 & 42. See Illustration Addendum.

In my experience, this is one of the most fuzzy and misinterpreted TDA rules. It only is an issue in the early stages of tournaments when 5k chips are in play but bets of 500 or less are still permissible.

How about this- if you throw out 1 chip and say a single number that could be a legal bet on both the high end (x-thousand) and the low end (x-hundred), the automatic ruling is the amount closest to the chip you threw.

99% of the time this ruling comes up, the intended bet was the higher of the 2 options. The rule as it stands (or mainly how it is widely interpreted) is only brought up when certain players want a 90% discount from what the bet was truly intended to be.

When and how is the rule misinterpreted?

Isn't this obvious? The lower amount is the default. Why would the ruling otherwise come up if not when the higher amount was intended?

I guess by misinterpreted I mean interpreted in multiple ways. Some dealers/floors consider it a "one size fits all" rule while others take factors like pot size, # of smaller chips available to bet with, etc. into account.

I agree. Almost 100% of the time the higher amount was intended. So why are we punishing players who are clearly not trying to shoot an angle?

What I always run into are players (mostly rec tourney players) do not realize that it can be ruled either way...they always think it should always be the lower amount.

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you are missing what he is saying. If the dealer declares it the lower size the player who bet it intending it to be the lower size will never raise a fuss.

the only time the player will raise a fuss is when they intended it to be larger ... but that doesn't mean that most of the time players intended it to be larger.


say it happens 1000 times

990 times the player intended it to be the lower amount and the dealer declares it to be the lower amount.

10 times the player intended it to be the higher amount and complains.

You see it as 100% of the 10 times there was a complaint the player intended it as the larger size ..... when in fact it is 1% of the time that it occurs.

Now that being said the current iteration of the TDA rule calls for the circumstances to be considered. See the addendum and illustrations to the rules:

I prefer these considerations over your proposed absolute rule.

There last betting round the vet was 200 and the total pot size was 800 and the player throws out a 5k chip while saying "Five" and has no smaller chips yur rule would make that a 5k bet when it was almost certainly intended to be a 500 bet.

Ditto what Psandman says. People throw out one big chip and mean the smaller number a LOT, and nobody notices because of course they're betting 400 into a 550 pot.

Expect the addendum to be built into the rule at the next summit. I had my doubts about the change but it really seems to be making things smoother. The only complaints I hear about allowing a "four" bet into a 7k pot to be 4k are from other players who want to only call the smaller amount.

I see typically the dealer (or even the next acting player) will stop action and clarify what the bet is before moving on. Generally this will keep things moving along without the delay of a Floor ruling.

Of course you have the potential angle from each the bettor or next acting player to try and get a reaction ... and then into the pot for cheap(er) perhaps. Pretty high risk angle on both sides, but none the less quick thinking to try and pull it off. GL

To encourage them to use standard, unambiguous betting terminology and gestures.

"The beatings will continue until moral improves!"

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