Hello all, please help settle a debate we're having in a club tournament. This happened last month late in the tournament:

3 way to a flop, then this action:
Player A leads out with 15k
Player B calls
Player C goes all in but only has 22k
Back to Player A while says "all in"

Can Player A do that since it wasn't a full raise by player C?

I know in cash games, Player A would not be able to, but are rules different in tournaments?

In the end, I was Player B and i folded. Had I called, I would have missed my nut flush draw and been eliminated from the tournament. But for future reference, I would like to know if this is a legal reraise by Player A.

Players A and B only have the option to call player C's all-in (or fold). Player A would need to have initially bet under half of the all-in in order to re-open the action.

Yes! I am only responding to let Hero know that this is a standard truth. The "Club" is not well run... They should probably take a look at TDA rules.

The funny thing is that had this been a LHE tournament it still would have been no raise because a raise would have had to be more than half of the original bet by Player A. Usually this is why Dealers and floors get this wrong...

Player C would have had to have 30K in his stack to reopen action for A and B. Another way scenarios like this get confused is if A had checked and then B bets 15K with C going all in for 22K. In this scenario, B cannot raise, but A certainly can. A has not called B’s bet so he still has all options open.

One more that often gets confused: A bets 15K, B is all in for 22K, C calls and D goes all in for 31K. Neither B nor D made a legal raise, but player A is facing a legal raise based on the combination of the two (He is in for 15K and has 16K to call - a legal raise amount) and may hence raise if he chooses. Assuming A does not raise, player C is not facing a legal raise (he is in for 22K and has 9K to call - not a legal raise amount). Player C cannot raise and may only call or fold.

Thanks for your insight. One of the guys in my club says this does not apply to tournaments. But I haven't seen or read anything to the contrary.

TDA rules certainly state exactly this. Of course tournament directors are free to use non-standard rules in their own tournaments. They just should not try to argue that they are using the standard rules if they do so.

Another thing to consider - this was post flop. Head it been preflop the amount in C’s stack needed to reopen action would have been a bit smaller. This is because the initial raise to 15K would not have been a 15K raise, but rather a raise of 15K minus the big blind amount. If for example blinds were 1/2K then it is a 13K raise, so C would have to have 28K for a legal minraise to reopen action

Personally I would ask the head of the room if they are using TDA rules for tournaments or not.

Even if they are not they are asking for enormous trouble if they allow an all-in that is only slightly more than a prior bet to be considered a raise. This could easily lead to collusion or ridiculous outcomes like the one here.

I would actually understand it if the all in had been for more than half of the original bet. Its not a TDA rule but at least its a bet of some significance. So if they actually have a house rule that allows an all-in that is more than a 50% raise to be a raise then OK but that rule should be known in the house. If this was the first time in the house that the rule had been enforced then it is most likely a mistake. This is another reason I would talk to the head of the house. To let them know a really bad ruling was made and the dealers and Floors need training so that it won't happen again.