The first (hopefully last) time that I had my cards mucked in seat 1, I had KK and was about to raise. The dealer would not let me because he had scooped up my cards before the flop (along with my $1 chip, presumably). The flop had a king of course. Then the rest of the hand ran out and two players were firing all the way. Aces over tens, and a king high flush would have beaten me. The dealer leans over and says "I bet you are glad I took your cards now, aren't you?" I said "Hell no, keep your hands off them. Seat change please."

It was entirely my fault for not paying enough attention, but it still sucks to look down and not have your hand anymore. I have since learned to better protect my cards, but I don't want any help determining when to let my hand go.

I tell newbs who fail to heed my warnings about protecting their cards, "It's one of those lessons in life where the only way you learn it, is the hard way. That's how I learned it. They warned me 1000 times, and I said, 'yeah, yeah, yeah...'"

Why is that in quotes? Is there an implication that I'm missing?

It's in quotes because it's a lead pipe cinch that you'll be hearing the player say it. Probably multiple times.

Actually, I do agree with you that the string bet rule evolved mostly to define the end of an action (Betting), but I believe that eliminating a particular type of angle was also part of it.
Obviously, under whatever rule, if you do something which makes your bet "final", and then try to add more, then it's a string under that rule. Otherwise, we'd have chaos, regardless of the bettor's intent.

In the olden days, as I remember, there were always some things you could do, and some which you couldn't. All sorts of table talk and funny betting motions were pretty normal, and people tried various ways to to get reactions much more than is common today. It was clearly understood that table talk was not action (except for binding words like "Call" and "Raise" in turn). Likewise, people tended to dribble out bets or make pump-fakes or multiple betting motions (in PL and NL); sometimes they were observing reactions, and this was actually pretty normal and ok. (Announcing a raise, without specifying an amount, came under the "continuous action" rule, which is pretty much gone today, and has been mostly replaced by a variety of different house rules on when a physical bet is binding and/or final.) But 40 years ago, most people knew enough (usually) to simply wait until the raiser had finished dropping his chips in the betting area, AND had stopped moving.
But it was always important to know whose action it was, which required knowing (defining clearly) when someone else's action was complete and final. And then any further attempt to increase the bet was indeed a string, regardless of intent. (As in the fictional westerns, "I'll see your $5000 [long pause to observe]........... and I'll raise you $30,000 more!". This was always a string, and not allowed in serious games.)
The game moves faster today (!), and no one has this kind of patience anymore, and the modern rules reflect this.
But the kind of reaction you describe above, of any slight hitch or bobble being possibly called as a string bet, is just silly.

I dealt out a BBJ today...almost.

AA, QQ, JJ and 55.

AA raises PF,

QQ goes all in,

55 folds,

JJ goes all in.

AA has everyone covered and calls.

Flop is A,A 5

Turn is the 5

River, who the hell cares!

No one did anything "wrong" I would have folded 55 there myself facing two all in and a possible third. BBJ was over $52K which is big for our room since it hits pretty often.

I like to shake my head in this situation and say, "folding a jackpot hand.".

That player was still muttering to himself about the $26K payday he missed when I left the table 10 minutes later.

He will be muttering to himself for months.

If not years even

My favorite exposed card griping was a tourney hand. Guy went from cursing me out for exposing his J that was no longer JJ to being my best friend after AA and KK got it all in before he could get to his good insults.

VACATION!

I resisted the urge to shout "So long suckers" as I left the room.

I just got a week off approved, for Christmas time. I'm going home for the holiday. Man, I need a vacation! Can't wait.

EDIT TO ADD: If I fly back Christmas night, instead of the next day, I save 50% on airfare. Woo hoo!

Whenever the TD gives his/her usual speech at the start, the oversized chip rule is always mentioned. "If you put out a single oversized chip and don't say anything, that is a call, blahblahblah..."

I motion that we need to add the words, "EVEN IF YOU'RE THE SMALL BLIND!!!"

(Yes, it happened again the other day. I'll never understand why people get thrown off by the small blind in this spot.)

The reason people get thrown off by he small blind here is because we desc ribe the rule badly. We tell them if they put out a single oversized chip ..... well its not unreasonable for them to count the blind as a chip and thus say but I put out two chips.

And even if we add your caveat there are still issues. you end up with this thread http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27...ement-1256642/

Or when the blinds are 100 200 someone raises to 600 and the next player throws out two 500 chips. Thats a call but its not single chip.

The common language we use to describe the rule is a shortcut. But if you have people who aren;t familiar with the rules they don;t see it as a shortcut ... they see it as a complete declaration of the rule.

Whether it's the single oversize chip rule or the multiple chips rule this is my shortcut.

Dealers, what is the ideal number of downs you would like to deal before taking your first break of the shift? I realize this answer will differ from person to person, and perhaps even for the same person from day-to-day, but I'm just looking for some feedback from folks outside of my own poker room.

5. More is fine just please don't start me on break.

Couple of weeks ago I had a perfect day. 6 tables, break, 6 tables, break, 2 tables, go home.

Starting on break then going long stretches? Is that even legal for an hourly employee?

I'll take four 3-balls and a bustout, plz. thx.

Please note that I'm probably the laziest dealer here.

(We're all talking about 30-minute downs, right?)

I start on break 99% of all shifts. Brilliant scheduling where I work. HA.

I think, ideally, I prefer 4 game pushes. After that, my body gets tired and sore. The chairs at my work are worthless.

I'm a fan of 4 and outs also.

16

Actually I think the best job would be 10 ball then go home.

3 downs break 16 downs. Hey you asked!

I like 4-5 downs on a normal day. Last night I did 8 in a row but I asked to keep going. I was money motivated last night!