Home cash game, 10 players, but by the river it's heads up. Players sitting the long way across the table from each other. One player makes a bet and puts out a stack of red chips (Maybe 10-12 chips), and the other player asks "How much is that?" The better, then divides the stack in half. The caller asks again, "How much is it? I can't see." The better doesn't move or respond at all.

So my question is, does the better have to reply or no?

(Home game, everyone is talking, up walking around, eating, even the dealer maybe... because I know at casinos, the dealer is really responsible for responding. At the home game, the dealer doesn't really have that responsibility.)

Thanks for the replies.

There is no general rule that covers this because this is a home game, and home games get to make their own rules. If the bettor wants to be a dick, then I guess he can. If it were on me, I would just say "okay, I'm not acting until I know how much it is". Someone will eventually tell me. But in my home game nobody acts like that, so your game might be different.

Yup, I agree... I said he was "acting like a baby by not replying. " He tried to stand his ground saying I'm not giving any additional information for a read. I think it's a dick move too. If sitting next to him, fine, can get away with it... but across the table, poor poker etiquette.

The bettor has to announce how much he bet. There is no way other players know how much to put in to call. If there was a dealer at the table, fine, they could count them. But really, what does the bettor expect others to do? The bettor is being a real pain in the butt here. If it were me, I would wait it out because honesty, I wouldn't know how much to put in to call.

I'm guessing you're not the host? That makes it tricky, cuz there's the what to do in the moment answer, vs what is the long term answer.

As with anything and everything, it's the host's job to keep things running smoothly. So in the moment, it's an a-hole seeing how much he can get away with, and if the dealer won't clear this up, the host (as floor manager) has to step in. (Maybe the guy isn't actually this much of a jerk, he's simply seen too much poker on TV. Entirely possible.) Short answer is yes, if it's not the expectation that the dealer will count out the bet then the bettor has to say how much his bet is.

Long term, even friendly self-dealt home games need to have a good culture built up in order to keep the game smooth. In my game (mostly same cast of characters for a few years) it's expected that the dealer has to keep up with the hand. It's one time in 8 they have to pay attention, so not really a burden, and as you can see here, it keeps friendly games friendly. It also get more hands in, and everyone wants that. Final point is the dealer is then a neutral party making sure the correct amount of chips go in the middle.

The other long term thing is the jerk needs to be politely told that we're not looking for Tom Dwan clones. Hopefully it's merely a misunderstanding of the atmoshpere and the difference between a casino game and a home game, but most hosts with long running games have an A list, B list, and "a whale wants a game and I need to fill seats asap" C list. If there's any pushback from this dude the invites would soon dry up.

Already covered, the better is an ass.
If I'm the other table, I'm carefully protecting my cards. Announcing that I'm not acting, but leaving my cards under a protector or chips and getting up to see what the action to me is. Not rushing or going slowly, but protecting my action and my cards and moving to a spot where I can count the chips.



The better does not have to reply.
Anyone else that replies may or may not be accurate, and even the dealer in a casino isn't usually responsible for small errors of a couple of chips (I've never seen one make an error counting, and a larger error would be cause for calling the floor).



I'm not a fan of games without rules/expectations. I expect, like SW, that for one round an orbit the player acting as dealer should run/manage the hand until it's conclusion. The host also has a responsibility to run/manage the game, which includes the rotating dealer and even stepping in.

Someone has the responsibility, even if the dealer passes that responsibility to the host or another player in case of emergency.


Your welcome.

Just curious, how was it resolved in the game?

If I can't see across the table, I might stand up and lean over a little for a better view in a situation like this.