The hands and floor's decision here are irrelevant, but I am wondering who thinks I protected my action here. I am not posting this as a bad beat story, but simply would like to know what people think or what I could have done differently.

5 people in the pot on the flop, I am in middle position. First 2 guys check, I think for about 5 seconds and the guy behind me checks and the guy behind him also check. I turn to him and say I didn't check and the dealer was on top of it (he didn't think I checked either) and looked right at me like it was my action. I then, thinking this matter was resolved since the dealer looked right at me for my action, look down at my chips to count out a $35 raise. The dealer, in this period, has put out the turn. We call the floor over because I never checked and thought he knew that to which the dealer responded "I thought that you hadn't checked but when you didn't react when I looked at you I assumed that I missed something."

Did I protect my action here? If not, is there anything I possibly could have done differently?

Do you think the dealer is telepathic?

Say "time," or stop the dealer when he raps the table, or stop the dealer when he burns a card.

"I didn't check"

Dealer looks at you.

"Bet, $35"

I was actually not sure what I was going to bet when I looked down at my chips which is part of the reason I didn't verbalize that. I pulled a handful of chips from my stack and started to count some out and $35 is what I ended up on

Why did you say anything to the people behind you?

If someone acts out of turn behind me I immediately look at the dealer and loudly say, "It's my action." That way you get the attention of the only person that matters and you don't say any of the magic words, like "check".

Ok

"I didn't check"

Dealer looks at you.

"I Bet."

Say something. Or act quickly.

Quite clearly the dealer was willing to give you a second chance. You blew it.

yup

When it checks around the dealer always bangs the table a couple times before dealing the next card. Thats your cue to speak up if somethings not right.

It wasn't a second chance tho, he thought it was still my action too that's the point. If you thought it was your action and the dealer indicated that it was still your action, why would you feel the need to act quickly?

"I didn't check" is not "*W*A*I*T* WAIT wait waitwait! I haven't acted yet! Hold the action and gimme a moment." "I didn't check" is a classic nit's way of saying "you screwed up and I caught you screwing up, and even though I don't intend to bet I find it necessary to point out to everyone that you screwed up, nanner nanner." I see that a lot. People just love glaring at the folks behind them and telling them that they haven't checked, and then they check (or sometimes they just continue to sit like a bump on a stump and don't do anything, because they want to be the center of attention and want the dealer to prompt them before they act on each and every round). Which is why the dealer probably went ahead and put out the turn--he figured you were doing one of those "just so you know, you screwed up but I'm still checking" things.

So no, OP didn't really protect his action very well since the dealer put out the next card. Doesn't mean we can't undo what the dealer did since OP did give it a half-hearted try.

Try to maintain situational awareness all the time, even when contemplating your action. Hard to do, sometimes, I know.

These were assumptions on your part.
All the dealer did was look at you.
Apparently he took your silence at that point as agreement with the checks behind you, shifted his attention from you (while you shifted yours from him) and went on to burning and turning. You didn't need to act quickly, but you could have said something quickly (like, "I'm still thinking, wait a sec"), and confirmed that you wanted him to roll the action back to you. (Could he have asked you this? Sure, and maybe he should have, but he didn't, and you could have spoken up to protect your action.)

If the dealer "Thought is was still your action", why would he burn and turn?

Could've been more verbal. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Hold up, I didn't act yet. OK, now I'm thinking" gets the table and the dealer's attention much better than "I didn't act." Also clarifies your intentions. Don't make a scene but make yourself noticeable.

Just say "It's my action" at minimum. Never leave a silent moment up for interpretation.

So you say "Bet.", then count out some chips, and then say "35." and release them into the pot.

It's not hard.

Obviously you didn't protect your action here. It's not really a question as to whether you did or didn't, you just didn't. If you had, you would not have been in a situation such as this. Speak up, speak up LOUDLY, and speak up IMMEDIATELY. Make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that you are aware of the fact it's on you and that you are deciding what you wish to do. Saying "TIME" is a good way to give yourself a few seconds to decide on an amount to bet. Either way, you are the one who needs to protect your own action and there's no way to do that unless you're assertive and timely in doing so.

I think you should give yourself a KITN for this one. It'll help you remember what to do next time this type of situation comes up.

Huh? How is everyone blaming OP here? He protected his action by letting the dealer know he didn't check, which the dealer acknowledged. If he hasn't decided what his action will be, how can he possibly say "bet $35?" Assuming he didn't actually know what he wanted to do when he says "I didn't check", that should be all that's required. Yes, it was a mistake not verbally clarifying that it was his action with the dealer, but he did all that should be required.

Welcome to live poker.

The world does not stop for a player. The world does not revolve around a player.

Stop the action with "I didn't check" and then sit there like the Sphinx while he is contemplating the square root of the standard deviation of the median of the ranges of his opponents in order to make the perfect bet.

House makes money per hand. Dealer makes money per hand. Those not in the hand want it to be over and the next one dealt.

"I didn't check". Ok. What do you want to do? <<crickets chirping>>. Ok, guess you wanted to check after all and was just being a prick about it.

Just say "Bet" and then do your partial differential equations in your head to size your bet.

fwiw, I do agree that I probably did the minimum here to protect my action but part of that was driven by the fact that the dealer had acknowledged that it was my action (which he admitted doing) even if it didn't seem like much.

As a side note, floor was called and ruled that action was still on me and the turn was going to be brought back (which was an ace), and I bet my $35 and everyone folded. Had the floor ruled the turn would count I actually probably would have gotten a call, either way probably wasn't a big deal but I thought it was an interesting scenerio

I also don't understand how everyone is blaming OP. How is it that since he sits quietly to think that equals check? The dealer was aware that action was on him after the confusion of others acting out of turn was cleared up. Dealer should not assume sitting quietly means check.

I think it's funny that people expect OP to verbalize that he is thinking about betting. So whenever it's my action, I should say, "OK, it's my action. I'm thinking. I'm still thinking, please don't pass my action yet. I must not be quiet so you don't think I checked. OK, now I bet."

No one is blaming OP much for doing anything very wrong.
But his question was, Could he have done anything more to protect his action? And the answer, obviously, is Yes.
Should he have needed to? In a perfect world, No. But in a live cardroom, at least in this case, obviously he did need to.
In a perfect world, protecting your hand/action wouldn't be necessary. In the real world, it's a pretty good idea, whether we like it or not.

FWIW, being willing to call the floor to fight to get a decision made so that you could make a bet probably didn't help to get you action....
I've been in a comparable situation (on a different rules issue) in which we had to wait 5 min to get a decision from the floor so that I could shove re-raise with the nuts on the flop. People do tend to notice and to fold when you do this....

OP did nothing wrong. He should have zero blame here. In hindsight, it appears he should have made a speech about it being his turn to act, but that's results-oriented thinking.

If nobody acted out of turn behind him, the dealer still could have thought his silence means check and move the action past him. So in your world, every time the action is on you, you need to make a speech about it being your action. This way the dealer will never make that mistake of thinking silence means check. Also, if you bet "35", you need to be clear that you say "35 dollars" so the dealer doesn't think it's $3500, and make you put out that bet (or go all in if you don't have that much.) This way mistakes cannot be made and you will be free of all blame when they happen.

Of course you can always do more to prevent mistakes, more in most cases, such as here, they should be unnecessary. OP did what should have been enough to prevent mistakes, but the dealer stilled screwed it up.

When people start to act behind you, just say "time". It is that simple.
And it is hard to blame the dealer here. He looks at you for you to do something, and you do nothing. But, a good dealer would have asked, "Check or bet?"

grunch

"TIME"

It's that easy.

No, not at all what I was saying. Let me try again.
Obviously you don't have to say anything "every time the action is on you". But when people start to act after you, thinking you have checked, you do need to speak up (as OP did). And when the dealer looked at him, he could have said something more (as he didn't).
Should he have had to? No. But he could have, and it would have prevented a problem (which wasn't his fault, but still happened).
Of course the dealer made a mistake. But the question OP asked was not who was at fault, but could he have done anything more to protect his action? (Which is actually a better question.)
In most cases, you shouldn't need to protect your hand or your action. But in the real world of live poker ("my world", I guess), you often do need to do "more", in order to protect yourself against mistakes made by others. It may not be your fault, but you can still lose out by not doing "more" than "should be" necessary. (Just as you can get killed by crossing a street with the right-of-way without looking for a driver making a mistake. You shouldn't have to look, but you do look, I hope.) OK?