Hi ive been a winning MSNL player online for awhile now mostly grinding out 8 tables of 400nl, but i occasionally play live at private games once or twice a week. I was wondering what effect calling time when its your opponents turn to make a decision generally has in your experience, imo i think it usually makes them look you up lighter, but honestly when i play live its like 1/3nl or 2/5nl so im not really giving it my full attention, and not really caring much about the money involved. Im just wondering because people are calling time all over the place and im not really sure how to react to it, or when i should use it.

Are you sure you understand what's going on? Calling "time" is something a player does for him/herself. It says, "I know it's my turn, I need a bit of time to consider my action." Calling a clock on somebody is when they've taken too long and you want them to hurry up.

I see people call "time" dozens of times a day every day. In two years of dealing, I've never had anybody call the clock. If it's happening so often in your limited B&M experience, I'd say that cardroom has gone crazy.

This is a bit off on a tangent, and I've probably told it before. But whatever, if you don't like it, I can arrange a kitn instead.
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Dealing 2-4 one day long ago. Kid barely 21 has headphones, parka, hat down low, and sunglasses. Facing a $2 bet, he calls for time before the flop.
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It should be noted that shortly before, he insta cold called an utg raise + 2nd utg reraise with Q3s. So given this info, what hand requires time to decide for one bet before the flop?
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I'm sorry, but someone's been watching too much tv.
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I tell this dude "this is 2-4, not the world poker tour. You don't get time."
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Sheesh.
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Al

na im talking about calling clock on a player who is taking too long to make a decision and slowing down the game

I find that time is more frequently called by the players not in the hand (who are eager to move on -- particularly if they are paying time charges) and not your opponent in the hand. I don't play NL very much anymore (and anyone taking more than 20 seconds to make a decision in limit poker is a douche), but I don't think I was ever the person calling for the clock when I was in the hand.

I had an all-in player once whisper to me "ask for a clock" as we were waiting for his opponent to make a decision (about 10 seconds into the decision). I do nothing. Again "c'mon, call for the clock--if I do it he'll fold, if you do it he'll call." I declined to participate. So there you have one person's point of view on the psychology of clock callage. I have no significant opinion myself since I see clocks called too rarely to have found any pattern.

Then you should use the proper term.

call time on anyone you dont like... count loudly to five... and then declare you own hand dead

My favorite thing in the wrold is when a player calls for a clock and I call the floor over and tell them of the request. The floor tells the player who the action is on that they have 1 minute and then a 10 second countdown and the player spends the first minute arguing about the clock.

I think its rude to put someone on the clock, its not WSOP
its only like 1/2 , unless everyone is paying by time instead of rake

That's a whole different issue. Rude or not, it IS a ploy available to the players if they think doing so gives them an advantage by forcing their opponent into an incorrect decision.

And at some point in the process, it's the player who cannot make up his mind who is being rude, not the person calling the clock. Where that point is depends on the exact situation. Taking 60 seconds to decide what you're gonna do preflop UTG is rude. Taking 60 seconds to decide whether or not to call an all-in at the WSOP final table... not rude.

I think its very rude to take more than 2 minutes on any low limit NL decision. I'm will call a clock on any player who does it more than once in a session.

This is a situational thing. I would not be inclined to put a player on the clock while they were facing a large bet (large by the standards of the particular game), but if you have a player who is constantly taking excessive time when faced with bets in situations that really don't call for it, and especially if you think the he is showboating it may be quite reasonable to call for the clock.

Although it is rare, even I will occasionally call for time and take more than 20 seconds in a limit game (tho not much longer). This is most likely to happen on the turn or river when working out in my head the range of hands of an opponent and comparing my various odds to my chances of winning. So 20 seconds is not the magical number for the threshold of douchedom. Whether they regularly hold up the game is what matters.

In my experience (Florida $1/$2 NL), calling the clock on someone makes them do what they are prone to do in most situations (the nits fold, and the calling stations call). Also, when I try to call for the clock quietly, players seem to assume that my hand is stronger than than when I call for the clock loudly.

I have only called the clock at events at the WSOP, or other important tournaments.

I have had a Binions DEALER call the clock on ME, boy was I pissed at that!

T

The only times I've seen the clock called resulted in the player obnoxiously using every last second of the given time and then folding.

I've seen a dealer get removed from the box mid-down for merely suggesting to a player that maybe he might like to call the clock on an opponent. Floor yanked him outta the chair, and then came back in 5 minutes and semi-interviewed the table without the complaining player present to ask EXACTLY what happened since the dealer was apparently giving a different story than the player. I'd say not many rooms are ok with dealers calling clocks on players, though I think a lotta rooms will give the dealers some leeway to prod the game along.

I think what I saw happen in the above was a player said something about the clock, without actually saying "call the clock". The dealer asked "are you asking for the clock to be called" and the guy said "uhhh...sure, why not". The player who was pondering a call got white hot over that, and leaped outta his chair soon as the hand was over to grab a suit to tattle on the dealer. I didn't see this as a dealer oops, and I don't think the supervisor did, either...just one of those things. Yes, sorta technically, the dealer did ask the player if he'd like to call the clock. But he was sorta prompted to do so. The dealer was back to dealing for his next down.

Once as a dealer I sort of called for the clock, actually I called the floor and the floor put the clock on the player (which had been my intent).

We had had a clock called on the player earlier in the down and he was angry about it. He announced to the table that whenever it was his turn to act he was going to take forever to act. As soon he he said this I called the floor who put the clock on him. I did not wait for a player to call a clock, because the player had already announced his intent was to disrupt the game out of spite.

In my situation, the dealer was just in a really REALLY bad mood, and he got annoyed at me because I had called "Time", not even 30-45 seconds, he then called out CLOCK, I was pissed, called floor over, said a dealer can't call clock, he said correct, but I can, so you have 1 minute.

I apologized profusely to the table, but I took the full minute out of spite. They actually all understood, or just said they understood, but noone got mad at me.

Well, except the dealer, and usually dealers LOVE me!!

T