Interesting situation in $100 nightly. Blinds are 500/100 and I have 50k. I raise to 3k with 55 in middle. Guy with 40k rr to 8k in bb. I think a bit and call.

Flop comes 239 rainbow. BB shoves.

I think for 10 seconds and then start talking. I say "I called pre just to" I was going to finish with "set mine, so I fold" However as soon as I get to the word just, the better says "that's a call"

Is my statement a call??

LOL he's an ass. You didn't say "call" you said "called" so you can't be held to a decision you didn't announce.

Pretty absurd claim imo, but I'm not a live reg, so IDK. But whatever way the floor ruled, take this as a lesson.

Don't talk unless you have to. Why tell the table you were setmining? Why give up information unnecessarily?-Just pass your cards face down to the dealer and wait for the next hand

For more informed replies, I'm going to move this to B&M from SSMTT.


Incidentally, don't play just to setmine when you don't have the implied odds to do so. And be especially wary of setmining small pairs in 3bet pots

Can be a tough spot. Depends what the dealer heard, and how he communicates it to the floor. If he heard you correctly, and can clarify that you were not calling, and not attempting to angle, then the floor may let you off. On the other hand, he might not.

Not telling you anything you don't already know, but as stated above, the best way to protect yourself is not to say anything. If you must talk, be sure not to use words that have poker action meaning, or even words that sound like other words which have such a meaning.

It doesn't matter what villain thinks you said. It matters what the dealer thinks you said.

If the dealer thinks the word "call" came out of your mouth, you called.

No, your statement should not be a call. I've seen this done as table talk, but if he actually called the floor to make a ruling, then he's angling you.

If you mean that if the dealer heard the word call .... in a context that indicates ppoker action then yes (though if the dealer misheard the floor can rule otherwiose after hearing from other witnesses)

If you suggest that the dealer hearing the word call in any context is a call though this is not correct.

Suppose the player was obviously talking to his friend walking away from the table and saying "I will call you when I'm done here." that would not constitute a call.

Likewise "I called you preflop ...." doesn;t constitute a call.


However you always run the risk of being misunderstood so it would be best of you did use the word "call" unless you intend to call the bet.

You're right, but the problem still lies with the speaker. Don't say anything that can be construed as an action.

So say, "I only stuck around pre flop...."

Or say "what's the action?" not "is he all-in?"

It gets old in saying this, but it still applies to all of these types of situations.

NEVER use an action word while speaking out loud when you are not intending to do that action at that moment. Never use the words 'call', 'bet', 'raise', 'fold', etc. while speaking unless that is exactly what you want to do at that moment.

The biggest problem this usually causes is when someone asks 'Did he CHECK?', or 'Was it CHECKED to me?'. This causes an argument, that this person also checked because that is what others heard, at least once or twice a night. You really need to get used to saying things like 'Where is the ACTION?', or 'Is the ACTION on me?', 'Did he already ACT?', etc.

In your specific situation, like someone else mentioned, say something like 'My PLAN pre was to set mine, so I guess I will FOLD now.', although as others stated, you should just be folding here anyway without speaking out loud. No need to give away info.

Anything other than doing this can set you up to interpretation whether right or wrong, your actions being misunderstood, being angled, etc. It is just not a good habit to get into. If you force yourself to speak like I mentioned above, it will start to become routine and save you a whole lot of trouble in the future.

IF the dealer hear you correctly and then accurately relayed that information to the TD/Floor, you should not be held to a call.

But, to repeat what has been said above and will be repeated after this, never say anything that remotely comes close to Call, Raise, Fold, etc unless you mean it.

Do not say "Hi Carl!" to your friend. Dealer will hear "I call"
Do not say "That's Ray's and Allen's..." Dealer will hear "Thats a raise and all in"

Lastly, why are you telling an opponent/the table that you called to set mine?

The guy who said you called will likely not win this situation very often, but he might or could get a favorable ruling (being a reg or something) from time to time. So it is best not to use the word call or called at all. Actually no reason to explain anything here, just quietly fold and play on.

Even worse (and far more common then it should be is "Check?", "Raise?", "All-in?" because in these cases you are relying solely on intonation to relay that this is a question and not a statement. And its not just the dealers understanding you need to be concerned about. If the next player misunderstands you and acts upon your statement we have a problem as well. Now factor in that not everyone at the table may be a native english speaker, and even among native english speakers, different accents and dialects can make things really confusing.

Good one last night ... Guy claims he said "I don't call" into a River bet and wont pay $35 in a 1/2 game. Floor called, rules a call and guy still wont pay. He racks up and goes to cash out and is met by security. They talked him into paying. GL

If you feel that you must tell everyone that you set mined, or feel the need to do or say anything out of the ordinary when it's your turn, first say " I fold". Then once that is out of the way you can blab about set mining, Carl, Ray, Allen, or anything you want.

Would likely not be binding, but you never know when the dealer isn't paying attention to back you up and when the worst floor in history is going to make the ruling. So CYA and don't say any poker action in any way unless that's what you want to do.

Its absolutely silly that players have to be scared of being held to a call in a situation like this. Rules like this is what drives fish away. How can you expect a new player to know that he shouldnt talk aloud and say stuff like "so you go all in on this flop?", "did he go all in?" etc. If I were a new player and were held to a "verbal action" after a misunderstanding like this I would never come back.

Its terrible when the advice you get from dealers and floorpeople is "just dont talk unless you absolutely have to". Sounds like real good fun.

Wow that's what you took away from this. People aren't saying haha you said the word call so you have to call. They are saying ... be careful because you may be misunserstood.

How do you propose we make poker so you can't be misunderstood?

The need to be careful about speaking comes down to that phrase being the easiest angle shoot ever. Angler starts off with "I call" and watches the face of the victim; if he looks at all defeated, the angler stops there and leaves it at a call. If the victim looks eager or indifferent, the angler just continues with a sentence like the one in the OP.

Anybody care that hes calling 20% of the effective stack pf to "setmine"?

Sent from my LG-D321 using 2+2 Forums

Not really but are you dividing 8/40 to arrive at .2?

I don't. His skill level is not relevant. The post is about something else not this

I find your posts to be contradictory thread to thread. In the thread on string bets, you disagreed with me when I argued that only action words were binding, and that action words should be used and intepreted with exactness.

Here, it seems like you are arguing the exact same point, that language should be used clearly in order to avoid misunderstanding.

He is calling 5K, not 8K.

Those two thoughts are not contradictory.

Lets spell this out for him.

1. There are many ways a player can verbalize an action, and this is not limited to an official set of action words.

2. Speaking clearly and being aware of the words you are using and how other people may understand them is important in not being misunderstood.

Not really seeing those to thoughts as inconsistent. In fact it would seem to me that #2 is going to be true regardless of whether you are using your "official action words" or not, but is especially true when using you are using those words in a context where you do not intend to act.