I think if you clarify that it's 200, you roll the action back to the guy that threw out two 2k chips and let him act on the correct information.

I'm of the mind that this is not my decision to determine the outcome here and I'm letting the floor make this ruling.

There's something to be said about there not needing to be a reason to state "bet" if he's just throwing out the single chip, and that leads me to be okay with letting it be 2K if I ask the player what he meant and he says 2K, but there can be an argument that people say "raise" when they are first to act and people say "call all in" when they are shoving over top of a previous all in, so do we really know what the guy meant? No.

I'm letting the floor decide this one in almost all settings.

Pot size is relevant here...

Yes, yes, yes ... stop action and Dealer can make a judgement. If 'any' resistance is met then call the Floor immediately.

More than likely 200 and action is backed up. Then maybe give Mr. 5K a look about betting with that chip, especially if he has chips behind. GL

No reason to give him a look if he was intending to make it 2K and it is ruled as 200

He was playing 9 ball, shooting the 5-7 combo and the 5 went two rails in the other corner.

Instead of pot-size-based, I strongly advocate for a rule that unclear bet sizes are the maximum that that chip would cover. So in this instance, the bet would be 2000.

The reason is the "thousand" is already implicit in the chip denomination. Also, no one throws a 5k chip and says "2" and means "200" rather than "2000" except for someone trying to shoot an angle where if the defendant folds, awesome, and if he calls he says "oh no I mean 200".

I assure you, as a dealer who deals casual nightly tournaments, the statement "no one throws a 5k chip and says "2" and means "200" rather than "2000" except for someone trying to shoot an angle" isn't true.

If you see a player throw a 5000 chip and say "2", what % of the time do you think they mean 200 versus 2000? What % of the time do you think a casual player facing that action thinks they are facing 200 versus 2000?

This used to be the rule. That rule has since evolved to its current incarnation, as described by others here.

For each of these questions, I'd make the line "pick-em".

Really? I would bet every penny I have on the over on 50% meaning/thinking "2" as 2k. I have played thousands of tournaments, and only seen this mean the smallest amount about 4 times. Twice the player was angling, and twice the player got ruled a smaller amount than they meant and were really upset.

I also momentarily considered using it against an opponent when he threw a 5k and said "three" or the equivalent, and I didn't want to call a big bet. It felt too greasy though, so I just called the 3000 like every player at the table knew he meant.

EDIT to add: I know you guys are both dealers and have seen more hands than I have, I wasn't trying to trump you by saying I've played lots of tourneys.

I think the totality of the circumstances often fills in the blanks.....

It's not about decoding what the player meant, it's about cutting off angle shooters from using unclear wording to their advantage. Angler throws out a 5k and says "two", before it can be clarified there is a re-raise and an all in. Angler then says they actually meant 200. It can go the other way as well when the pot was only 500 and they have the nuts so they try and force the next player to put in 2k after they call thinking it's 200.

The current TDA works well in my opinion. If the pot is at least 2k then the bet is automatically 2k, if below then it's 200. The old rule was it was always 200 which led to a lot of frustration.

But why make it where you have to count the pot? So if the pot is 1975 I meant 200 and if it's 2000 I meant 2000? Just make it the BIGGEST value, instead of the lowest. That cuts off angle shooters as well, and the face value of the chip gives context to everyone.

If we generally bet sports, with bets in the 100s, and I say "Give me 5 on Golden State tonight", we both know I mean $500, not $5. Because of the context.

I think the face value of the chip is much better context than the amount of chips in the pot, which may not be immediately clear, and shouldn't have to be counted down to determine what a bet is.

People often use larger chips because they are out of smaller ones, they want change back, or they want to get a reaction. Are you going to force someone to bet 2k into a 500 pot because they happened to only have 5k chips? The only context in play here is the size of the pot.

Up until a couple of months ago I dealt almost exclusively tournaments full time and I think I had to count the pot in that situation twice since the rule went into effect a couple of years ago. It's only going to unclear if they bet right at 10% or 100% of the pot which doesn't happen a lot. Most bets are closer to the middle of those two amounts. If I can glance down and see that there is clearly over 2k in the pot I simply announce the bet as 2000 and the play continues smoothly.

The old rule dictated it be 200 which led to arguments and floor calls to confirm. Forcing it at 2000 might cause problems less often but when someone does make a mistake it hurts them for a larger portion of their stack.

No I just want them to say "two hundred" instead of "two" if they are betting 1/25 the value of the chip they are throwing into the pot, which doesn't seem excessive.

So you're saying you want them to be considerate?

Do you even poker, bro?

What's wrong with just having the dealer say "two what?"?

I mean, this is the REAL answer that I wish we could just go with, where we just hold up action while we clarify. If we let the player always fix their bet, there is no REAL angle possible because they are never 'being forced' to make it the opposite of what they want.

So is clarifying "is that a call?" when someone throws out a 1K and 100 chip to call a 600 chip bet because they see there aren't 100 chips in the pot and they want a 500 chip for change and are trying to be genuinely helpful.


But I can't see that actually changing any time soon so....

Given the people in poker games I can't see "Let's just all be courteous and sensible ok?" ever gaining traction.

It really is too bad that rules need to be formulated to cover the most extreme cases.

There is even an angle to clarifying a bet in that the player may know the rule and be looking for a reaction from the players facing action. Sad stretch but true.

The 50% rule is fine but not uniformly enforced.

The 'looking for/making change' bet should be announced before the chips are put out and/or just wait until action closes to help out. In most rooms that would be a forced full raise if put out silently .. unless you have a super sharp Dealer! GL

My personal favorite is when some raises to 1200 and then a player will throw in a 5k and 2 hundreds to call without saying call. So helpful!

That is a raise.

[His point]










[Your head]

I can't hear 'two what?' without picturing the judge in My Cousin Vinny.

The bet is two yutes, action is on you seat eight