I was playing in the Aria, and something happened to me that I never saw before:

Hand full of chips, cutting out a bet over the line. I hesitated in mid-cut (hand with chips still out there), and the dealer immediately said "Bet 15". I said I wasn't done yet, and he said that since I had "stopped" for a second, that was the bet. (My bet was certainly going to be more along the lines of 45.) .

I didn't really argue it very much, but it's something I've never seen called out.

Thoughts?

Your bet isn't complete until you pull your hand back (without declaring the size of your bet) or you've exhausted the # of chips in your hand.

room/region dependent. There are rooms where you can't cross anything over in your hand at all without betting it.

I'd have to see the action in person in order to have an opinion. I don't agree with the post above me... the dealer could well be in the right here depending on how much of a hesitation there was. If it was actually about a second as OP suggests then I'm thinking the dealer is in the wrong.

And, of course, there are rooms where all chips over the line must play, so that would nullify the dealer's point entirely, although I'm guessing the Aria doesn't use that rule.

Correct about Aria, as is the case for most or all Vegas rooms.

A second could be enough to think you're done, but I don't understand why the dealer wouldn't just wait to see where your hands go. It sounds like he jumped the gun and then didn't want to admit that he made a very minor mistake.

It's even worse if there was no action behind you because a) his very minor mistake could have easily been rectified by simply stopping the action and waiting for you to finish, and b) it makes it more likely that everyone else understood you weren't done. (Was there action behind?) The dealer sounds like a jerk or a baby or both.

Sounds like a room specific rule. And it's a terrible one.

Agree with this. It's really tough to provide decent insight without really being there. That being said, the best thing you can do is to protect yourself. Hesitating mid-cut puts you at risk to be forced to bet an amount you didn't want to. The first place I ever played live poker hand a strictly enforced betting line, so I taught myself to figure out what I'm betting, cut it out behind the line, and move forward with it.

Another thing about this dealer, which I actually liked a lot, is that he dealt VERY fast. He didn't waste any time, and really tossed the cards out there. I appreciated that. But I think in this manner, it's partly what caused the problem.

Yes, I agree with you on this. I'm going to work on always cutting out my bet and THEN put it out all the time now. It's better practice anyways.

Perhaps if you had announced " raise " while the action was on you that the dealer would've allowed you to place as many chips across the betting line as you had originally intended.

Im thinking this rule must be used in many rooms across the country because I always have players losing their heads when i don't call that a string bet........ I assumed it was a string bet back home where they usually play ...

Or maybe he wasn't facing action? Your post makes it seem like he did something egregiously wrong.

I see this all the time, dealers and players who think the string bet rule is a referendum on how smoothly someone can cut chips, and every little bobble needs to be nitted.

As a dealer, this is how I typically rule on string bets:

Did the player reach forward with chips, drop them, and then return to his stack for more chips, all without verbalizing an amount ahead of time? String bet.

Did the player grab chips, accidentally get clumsy and drop one or more of them as he was crossing the line, then regather himself and complete his bet? Not a string bet.

Did the player awkwardly cut out chips with unnecessary pauses? Not a string bet, as long as he wasn't obviously pausing to try to get reads on players and as long as his pauses didn't obviously affect the action behind him.

In the last few years, I've probably called a string bet at most once or twice because a player was acting in a way that at all resembled the OP in this thread.

i mean im sure if you cut in 25s he would have given you more time but cutting in 15s is kinda weird for a bet > 30. just kinda adding to why the confusion would exist along with the hesitation.

I've always been taught that unless the rule in the room is whatever goes forward in your hand has to stay that until you bring your hand back it is still considered one motion and a betting motion so you can complete the action however you want until you finish your motion (start bringing your hand back).

Correct. I wasn't facing any action. It was checked to me.

This is my "One Chip Rule" where I just don't see why people do it except to look cool. Cut out your bet/raise first, and then move only those chips forward. Or, announce the amount of the bet/raise first, and then put that amount of chips forward however you like. But don't bring chips forward past the betting line if you're planning on taking some of them back. Sheesh.

lol what a fantastically weird gripe. You don't see how one motion that is clear to everyone and goes smoothly everywhere except for this exact table where this exact ****ty dealer is working is better than two motions?

"I just don't see why people do [some seemingly innocuous thing I don't understand] except to look cool." That describes a lot of things, Mat!

Regardless of what transpired during the play of that hand before it got to OP , the action ( his turn to now act ) is on him. He can act in three ways and if its his intent to raise, a simple verbal announcement would have prevented this unintended consequence.

My point was that he wasn't facing action. He can't raise. Saying anything other than the amount he wants to bet is not going to solve the problem at hand.

The whole 'grab a stack and cut over the table' has always seemed like an angle-shooting effort. OP could have avoided this situation by having had the bet ready behind the line and then cut for ease of counting.

Really looking forward to hearing what you think the three ways are.

michelle...no. Stop.

Not even close. It's a time saving effort.

I want to bet 40 - I grab a stack of about 10-12 chips - carry them forward, drop 8 (usually in 2 stacks of 4) and carry the rest back.

Or sometimes I want to bet somewhere between 30-50. I grab a stack of 12-15 chips, carry them forward and figure out my exact size.

To my recollection no one has ever acted prematurely behind me based on the way I bet. Once I lady suggested it might be a string - dealer verified it was perfectly fine. Once I got called for a string but it was my fault because I partially pulled my hand with chips back.

Wouldn't it be quicker to verbalize the bet THEN cut the chips over the line?

Also, cutting it behind the line and sliding it forward takes an additional 0.25 seconds.

I've seen players cut over the line while staring at their opponent's eyeballs. Seems like it could easily be used for evil.

This is among the most perfect examples of Poe's law I have ever read.