When someone bets $30 on the flop and then says "same bet" as they toss in 2 green chips on the turn, their intent is clear. It's also, by rule, a $50 bet.

Similarly, when a player says, "I'm putting him all-in" we know their intent... and that's not a legal bet.

I get that we're in the service industry and we have to give leeway from time to time. But players have to realize that they're in a casino that is governed by rules and that they're not in the basement of their frat house.

These are all 'teaching' moments but typically should 'hold' unless someone at the table steps in. GL

I'm generally accommodating in moments like this, particularly when it's a low-limit, friendly game.

Someone says, "I'm putting him all-in" when they're heads up? I announce all-in and then explain the rule afterwards.

Someone says "Yo" and then tosses out 3 red chips? I announce that the bet is 11.

Someone bets all of their reds and greens at a 1-2 table and then finishes a string bet by tossing in their last 2 white chips? I announce all-in.

But when someone says "same bet" and tosses out 2 green chips? This isn't a teaching moment. It's time to enforce the rule.

Someone says "I bet the pot" at a no-limit table. Am I letting them get away with that? Nope.

As I stated before, there are rules, and I'm okay with bending some rules and ignoring some rules, but I'm not going to let players run rampant just because they're the customer.

Typo, or does "Yo" have a meaning I was not aware of?

it's a craps term for 11.

Just trying to test something, please ignore.

And that would really be considered a valid verbal poker bet?

No, but at a friendly low-limit game I'd allow it. If someone objected they'd have a valid claim. Or if someone pushes in $265 chips in one motion and then puts in their last 2 dollars afterwards for a total of $267, I'd declare an all-in, but if someone objected and said it was a string bet, they'd be right.

Same here, though if someone says "same bet" before throwing anything in, I'm asking "How much is the bet?" to try and get them to say a number first. They sometimes snap back "I said same bet!" then throw out an oversized chip anyway. I'm not sure if this is over-stepping, but so far nobody has objected.

Curious why you feel "yo" is sufficient when "same bet" is not, when a much higher percentage of the table will know what "same bet" means than "yo"?

If a player asked "How much did I bet on the last street?" we aren't allowed to tell them. Announcing "same bet" requires that we tell them how much they had bet.

There's also some ambiguity at times - which bet are they referring to? What if there had been a raise-reraise situation? Or they weren't the one to bet on the previous round?

doesn't sound like there's any ambiguity, every time a player said "same bet" he meant whatever he bet on the previous street without facing aggressive action

never in my life I've seen someone say "same bet" and then bet a different amount or not even remember what the amount was in the first place

also if we allow 3 red chip "yo" to be $11, then a black chip (or 4 green chips) "ocho cinco" bet should be $85 every single time

Don’t want to butt into the dealer thread but my understanding is that you may or may not be held binding for the use of non-standard or regional terms at the floor’s discretion. They are highly discouraged but may be binding.

I don’t like yo but same bet means dealer is sharing information across streets.

Suspect you would be surprised at low limits how many other players don’t remember the amount.

Technically neither is legal.

We are in an ugly grey area where dealers are weighing the difference between enforcing technical rules and providing good customer service.

There are no good answers. Every answer is the presumed lesser of two evils.

My answer is to always not only make the best of the situation, but also let the player know where they are in a grey area. For example, in the situation of a player throwing in 3 red chips and saying "Yo". As long as it was in the spirit of the game and didn't affect the action, I would probably announce it as $11. However, after the hand, I would explain to the player that if he throws in 2 red and a white, saying "yo" is fine. But if he throws in 3 reds, he should say "Yo 11" just to be clear. I would follow with something like "It was fine this time, but technically Yo isn't a legal bet so if someone made a big deal of it that a floor would probably rule it a $15 bet."

My biggest issue with "Same bet". Is that it requires memory accross streets. Sure most of us know the amount in question, but it is vague and opens up the game to all sort of angles. For example, I used to deal to a player who had a fetish for prime numbers. So often he would bet $37 on the flop. It was his signature move. Occasionally he would use the phrase "Same bet" on the flop to refer to the $37 bet that everyone knew him for despite the fact that his preflop bet wasn't $37. Another example, 4 players to a flop. Someone bets $30 and gets a caller. Turn comes and player declares "same bet" while throwing out a black chip. Calling player throws out $10 and says call.

When the confusion is sorted out, the calling player says that in the previous hand they played together, the turn bet was $10. That is what he was calling. Saying "same bet" is just too vague and open to abuse by all players.

Similarly, the consequences of the confusion matter to me. If a player throws out 3 reds and says "Yo", the two options are $11 or $15. Not a large difference and probably irrelevant to anyone interested in continuing in the hand. However if a player throws out a black chip and says "Yo". I am probably immediately calling the floor. That is stretching it too far. There is a big difference between $11 and $100.

Sometimes it is tough to be a dealer.

Similarly I used to know a player who used to bet by calling out sports stars jersey numbers. He would throw out 5 red chips and say "Michael Jordan" meaning a $23 bet.

Obviously this led to all sorts of confusion.

It is one thing to say "Michael Jordan 23", it is another to just say his name.

Multiple floorpeople would call him on it all of the time and make him bet whatever he threw out. There was some back of house discussion on whether he was semi-angling or not. For example, if he had a borderline hand, he might throw out some small number of chips and call out a lesser known jersey number hoping that the resulting confusion would stop any raise. Or if he had a monster hand he would throw out a black chip and say "Mickey Mantle" despite having plenty of red chips in front of him, hoping that he would get called out on it and make the $100 bet stand.

Personally, I don't really think he was angling. I think he had more than enough money that he didn't care about the rulings on his vague bets and just got off on figuring out who else knew jersey numbers. To him, the back and forth on the jersey numbers was more interesting than the poker itself.

When a player bets $45, I like to announce "Michael Jordan" just for the amusement of seeing the confused look on most of the players' faces.

Sorry, but one of my peeves is when people fold after they hear the word "raise" but no amount was spoken and chips have not moved. The second the first person even looks like they may fold I am stopping that. I have done this enough that I have a standard explanation when someone gets confused why they cannot fold before the raise amount is announced. But seriously, it's a pet peeve of mine and there has never been a "fold train" on my watch because the second the first person tries to fold I am already yelling at them.

Yeah, min-raise is not an ambiguous term.

Honestly when you posted it I thought it was the other way around - he thought the bet was $10 and you made it $8. I deal with confused players all the time when someone just tosses chips out which is enough to legally raise but not fully doubling the full bet in front of them.

When someone bets $23 I say Don Mattingly. Overwhelmingly I am told "You mean Michael Jordan."

Nope. Born in the Bronx. Take your game to Chicago if you want it to be Jordan. At my table, it's Donnie Baseball, thank you very much!

Same, but I muck their cards and stop everyone else and say "hold up, action is still back here". People get really defensive sometimes, but I have my reasons.

It could change how much they raise to if they're suddenly up against 1 player instead of 5.

I haven't had it happen, but it's definitely possible someone could raise a stink and get a floor to agree to limit their options due to significant action happening after them.

Someone not paying attention could not know there's a raise and say "call" or throw out chips to call the previous amount.

I agree 100% with your intent, I really do, but i also recognize that there is a tension between playing technically to the rules, but also playing fast. Players want to play correctly, but they also want to get back to their conversations and their phones. Also, as a dealer, we want them to play cleanly, but also play fast (more hands =more tip. The house also wants faster games because more hands equals more rake.

So when it comes to announcing a raise without the amount, and further action, I am a eh, it depends, type of person. Sure, the remaining players should wait to see the amount. No doubt. However, I also recognize that there are competing interests.

A game can be kept moving without allowing players influencing action, which I am constantly told is the thing we never want to do.

Here's a hypothetical that for sure can happen: Someone with a relatively small stack leads out on a flop in multiway action, next guy says raise, a bunch of stacks that cover him all fold before he announces the raise size, and suddenly he sees all he has to fade is the original better so he shoves.

I fully agree that partial action (an announced raise without an amount) is problematic, especially when other action quickly follows. I am just saying that I understand where it comes from. There is some tension for players to play faster. Whether they just want to be known as a fast player or they want to get back to their phones.

I wish it wouldn't happen, but I also know that any serious enforcement would be a net negative for the game overall. Players need to learn to not announce any action unless it is complete.

Weird question that I have never encountered before.

If there is no action to a player post flop and the first thing he says is "call", can he then bet?

It was a tournament (meaning stricter rules), but he was an obvious newerish player. He had never played in a casino before, only a local bars (his words).

He had made multiple mistakes during my down and was very open to explanation why he couldn't do what he wanted to do. For example, one time he tried to string bet by calling a bet and then tried to put out a raise.

He didn't complain and genuinely took the corrections to heart. Great.

Then there was a hand with 5 players to the flop. Flop comes and the first two players check. It gets to the new player and he clearly and loudly says "Call.", but starts reaching for his chips. There is no further action because the next player clearly sees thr new player wants to bet.

The new player throws out a bet and the next two players insta fold. Almost immediately the first player who checked complains that the player clearly said "call" (which he clearly did), and since he was facing a zero dollar bet a call would be a check.

My brain locked up. I am ashamed to admit this. I didn't know what to do. I called the floor. Even after thinking this over while the floor asked his questions I don't know what I would rule.

I have lots of thoughts, but I want to hear the thoughts of people more well versed in the rules than me.