This happened in a room that doesn't enforce the betting line. e.g. you can come over the line with 100, but count out 50 or say 50 and the bet will be 50. But if you count out 50 behind the line and didn't make any forward movement or say anything, it's not a bet/call yet.

So the situation is I bet out 75 on the flop. Got raised to 260 by super tight nit villain in LP, all folded back to me. I had a tough decision and thought for a 10-20 seconds or so. I separated out 200 to the side of my stack, and was about to call. So with my left hand I went and took back 15 from the 75 bet that was in front of me and my right hand was about to push the 200 in. But at the last moment I decided to fold. So I dropped the 15 from my left hand back in the pot and folded. I didn't say anything during all this and the dealer just accepted it as fold without any issue.

Immediately after the hand, another guy not involved in the hand was complaining that I shouldn't have touched the 15 in the pot. Something along the line of once it's in the pot it's not my chip anymore. Not sure if his point was that I just shouldn't touch any chip in the pot, or if he wanted my temporarily removing the 15 to be counted as a call.

At least I appreciate his not saying anything during the hand, since he wasn't involved. But does anyone take issue with how I handled the chips here? What is the problem?

this room sounds like angleshoot city lol

No big deal. Obviously players touching chips in a manner where they could easily or accidentally pull back money bet previously is a bad idea, but pulling back an existing bet to replace with bigger chips is pretty normal and makes the game move quicker.

Pulling chips back from a bet when facing a raise binds you to either a call or a raise. It's a pretty rare situation to the point where I can't remember a case where it had to be enforced, but that's the rule. Be careful in the future.

He is right.
Where is this a specific rule?

I don't how common the rule is but it is the rule in my room. It almost never comes up

Poker TDA 2017 Rules Version 3.0

51: Prior Bet Chips Not Pulled In
...
B: If facing action, clearly pulling back a prior bet chip binds a player to call or raise; he or she may not put the chip(s) back out and fold.

Technically, the guy is correct. Once you put chips in the pot, they aren't your chips any longer. It is bad etiquette to touch other peoples's chips in any circumstance.

While you were honest and most people are honest, there are people out there that will pull chips out as if to make change, then decide to fold instead and "forget" they took the chips out. If caught, they apologize and put the chips back in. If not, it is free money.

it absolutely should be a call and the rule listed above makes total sense.

the reason being people do that specifically to call.you took 15 back to throw in 200 more. anyone watching you assumes you've called and this prevents you from angling your opponent.

It is likely most wise to not touch chips that are in the pot , regardless of your intent. I would just ask the dealer to do it. This is at a casino table. At a home game the rules could be looser , but you should not assume those same practices are welcome in the room.

I disagree. There is nothing wrong with putting out a call here and pulling back your own change from your bet.

The problem here is he changed his mind in the middle not that he was taking back change.

I assume you wouldn't carry this as far as preventing players in the blinds from pulling back their one or two white chips so that they can call $5 with a red chip?

that should be a call or raise... and the first comment angleshoot city makes no sense.

Once chips have been pulled into the central pot, they should only ever be touched by the dealer.
But if your original bet is still in front of you ("in the pot"), there's nothing wrong with making change for yourself -- IF you intend to call or raise, and if you then do so. People do this all the time with no problem. But pulling chips out of your previous bet, and then deciding to fold and put them back, is at least bad etiquette. I don't think there's any written rule in cash games making this a forced call or raise, but probably there should be.

Yep. Definitely gonna be more careful from now on. Actually don't remember ever having done this (changing my mind at the last second) before neither. The villain in this case is a stickler for rules. Apparently he used to be a floor somewhere. Since neither he nor the dealer said anything, I was just wondering if there's a rule or etiquette I wasn't aware of. Now I know.

Just think it is wiser not to, so as to avoid possible problems. I prefer to let the dealer make change. It's not a capital offence LOL

I wouldn't (can't) prevent anything or complain at all. I just don't do it myself for personal preference. Once the chips are out of my hands I think it is up to the dealer to make change and so on. I am sure there are rooms where other methods are common.

If it is done in a single motion, I don't see an issue with it. I put out 25, it gets raised to 100, I pull in my 25 and toss out a hindred at the same time, no issue.

Fiddling with chips already committed while conisdering action, though, is problematic. Not only could it be seen as angling, since it implies action, other players cannot really track what you are doing. If I pull chips in, then put different chips out, etc, it is very easy for people to lose track of what is out there.

With regards to messing with chips from your previous bet, I am not sure if I fault it from the standpoint of 'it is the pots chips'. I fault it from the standpoint of creating confusion.

If someone were to limp/call a $10 bet with two red chips in a $1/2 game and make the dealer push back the $2, I would be totally fine with him getting a stern and final warning to cut the ****. I am confident in my sample size: This has literally never been a problem.

I have likely not played anywhere near as often or at as many different places as you have, just regionally Indiana, Ohio, so what you say is likely your experience. Personally I just don't touch chips that I have pushed forward. I have had a dealer say take back X chips a few times , and I do. Sorry, but I have never recieved any "stern and final warning" over this. I have seen comments made to players for touching chips by dealers , but usually polite ones like " excuse me sir , but that's my job" or something similar. This is actually a rare occurance , but again I have likely not spent anywhere near your time at casino tables so MY sample size may be too small

I would never warn a player over this. I would just think to myself that he is a PITA.

I don’t think you deserve a warning over this, but you are going to make life easier for the dealer if you take back your $2 big blind after you put in 2 red chips to call from the big blind.

It’s always a good approach to be overly cautious to avoid potential confusion, but everyone at the table knows why you have $12 in front of you after another players raise to $10 and nobody is going to wonder what happened after you take back your two $1 chips.

I can see this certainly , and if the dealer shows (says) he is OK with it I would. From my limited experience some dealers don't want players to do this and let them know very directly that they control the chips. Again my experience is limited to regional casinos and it is likely different in other more sophisticated venues.

Didn't spot anything in Robert's about pulling back chips. As shown above TDA clearly has an opinion on the matter.

I don't think a 'betting line' really matters in this case .. I think picking up chips and 'actually' pulling them back towards your stack is enough to enforce at least a call here.

I don't really like the idea of reaching out and picking up chips ... stopping to maybe get a read on the opponent without pulling them back ... and then 'changing your mind'. But I probably would allow the fold if asked and follow that up with a 'please avoid this practice going forward' comment. GL

As far as I'm concerned if a Player can make things happen in one motion (or an obvious faux pas) ... in and out .. then let's move on.

But I was watching an EPT tournament stream where a Player wanted to 3-bet raise and pushed out a bunch of chips and then took some chips off his opening bet to 'adjust' the total and they made him keep them in the pot. (Please, let's avoid the 'just verbally announce your intentions' comments)

In the case of the $2 pull back, that's not a raise anyway since pulling back the smallest chip doesn't constitute a raise. So the timing of pulling back the $2 isn't relevant, just a hic up in keeping the hand moving along. GL