Had a player go all in today during a tournament.

I had top top with dry board and was thinking of calling, H 46k V 20k

During the all in the V was using word play, and then he did something I have never seen before in a tournament.

He grabbed his stack and started to slide is back towards him, then back out. He did this awhile saying
You know if you call you win, I have nothing
You call you win
I have two pair
I have Ace high
You have to call now, you know I have middle pair (states a random hand)

I do not mind the word play, just the grabbling of his chips after all in and chip count has been make. Imo it was an angle shot trying to induce or detour action.



Is this allowed, if so then I’m in the wrong.

I did ask the dealer why he was allowing the player to touch and slide his chips like that. Dealer said the player is all in, since no more action the player can do what ever he wants. Floor came over but was a pit floor breaking the poker room floor and had no idea.


I have never seen anyone do this before, have you?

It's a little weird to let the V play with "his" chips after he has bet them, it could prevent you from estimating the amount he bet for example. Or he could be palming chips for some reason.

But the dealer is kinda right, he has already bet them, it's not like he can unbet them.

If it was bothering you, I would ask the player or dealer to count the bet, and if that didn't work ask him to stop playing with the bet chips, but it's a pretty minor thing so I wouldn't bother calling a floor. Just maybe talk to one afterwards.

You know how much the bet is. You hoping to get his hand killed?

Sounds like part of his table talk.
As long as he doesn't palm some chips it seems alright to me.

It was heads up...right?
If there were other players with cards, the talk of his holding was out of line.

It isn't an angle because it doesn't lead you to believe anything, like whether he is folding or not. His action is complete. It's no different than word play. That said, it's weird and I don't like it.

Funny. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this in theory, as long as it’s already counted. However, I could be convinced otherwise quite easily, I would imagine.

It's just annoying I guess but sounds like it's not against the rules in that room.

In some rooms, in tournaments even heads-up you should not be talking about your hands, since you're playing against more than just that player. In my room I would tell the player to knock it off.

Not sure what you mean when you say you're playing against more than just that player when heads-up? Affecting the action of others is only a concern when they're still in the hand. You mean for future hands? Why does that matter?

He means that in tournament play, the outcome of a single hand affects the whole tournament dynamic.

Here is an obvious extreme example. On the bubble, player 1 goes all in on the flop and it folds to the button. Player 1 , who covers the button, says 'I have a set, go ahead and fold', and the bubble folds top two face up. Player 1 shows his set.

Obviously, talking about the hand effected other players, especially the short stacks.

OK. I can see how in that sense it affects others, but I don't like the rule. Just because someone says they have a set doesn't mean they have it. People have been known to lie in poker, and determining if someone is bluffing/lying is part of the game, imo.

Let's say he was lying about his set in your example and the shorter stack lays it down. In that case, the other short stacks were helped by what was said because it kept another shorter stack from doubling up. Whether they were helped or hurt was based on the guy's read on the player (taking everything into account) leading to his call or fold, which is how it should be.

I understand the rule that a lot of rooms have regarding not telling someone your actual holding, like in your example, to avoid collusion. But if he says stuff like "I have a really strong hand" then it's up to the other player whether he wants to believe it or how strong it really is if he really is strong.

I don't really care that much either way, but that rule seems like it's going a little too far.

It's pretty rare for a Player to touch/play with chips in the betting area but in this spot I agree they really aren't going anywhere until you act. I don't really see a big issue with it and the Dealer should certainly step in if you need more specific information about the amount.

It appears this room has a 'comfortable' home game feel to it when it comes to what they allow and it's something you will just have to get used to and not let it affect your game. GL

After the player had made the bet, the chips were no longer his, and he should not have been touching chips that were in the pot.

I think the REAL basis for the rule is to stop all the annoying antics of all the wannabes' banter all ****ing night. It's a colossal waste of time and I wish they'd say "no table talk" is a rule specifically because it's a waste of everyone's time and not because "it affects everyone in the tournament"

The chips aren't in the pot yet, although they are not the player's any more either. Since the chips have left the player's stack and are now an as of yet uncalled bet, I think the player should be forbidden from touching them, just as we are forbidden from touching another person's stack or the pot.

So something I see a lot, and have done, is a player declaring all-in without moving any chips to the middle. While the other player is tanking, the all-in player will start counting\stacking his chips into the betting area, usually as a way of posturing and showing how large the bet is. While no one has ever complained about this (and I bet most of you guys have seen the same behavior and hardly noticed it), it is functionally the same as what the villain is doing here with his chips.

I see people touching their chips all the time, though it's usually in a "normal" way so it probably doesn't draw much attention. They stack and count them, they separate the call and raise amounts, they announce all in and push one stack then later push more in while the other player is thinking.

I typically do this though not as posturing. I just do it so the following players can easily count my bet while the tanking player is taking up time. That way they won't have to ask for a count.

Also, I do it when a player asks for a count. Typically the dealer will start with the bigger chips and I will do the lower denomination chips to speed things up.

I typically do this always so there is no tell one way or the other. Personally I hate it when players don't move any chips out or move some part of their stack out and say all in because it may be confusing about the exact amount bet if the "all in" is not heard by everybody, even if repeated by the dealer.

In this case though, moving the chips is almost always an attempt to disrupt what it seems Hero is going to do in order for him to do the opposite. So if you are leaning towards folding then this is to get you to call and if you are taking chips out to call or at least to see how it would affect your stack, this is likely an attempt to get you to fold. I appreciate my opponents attempts to get me to do things because for the most part it helps me make my decision. Here villain's action does not change anything so it is an opportunity to get a read. And even if I am not in the hand I am looking to see what happens so that next time villain does it, I have a behavioral baseline.

If someone did it I wouldn't even notice, let alone call the floor. What is your concern here?

I do this on occasion, but then again, I don't really care.

As others have said, the action is over, and it's up to you to figure out if you want to call. If all that "play" affects you, then I guess it's working. But there's nothing too egregious on V's part.

What if he announced AI, but then didn't push his chips in, but just started shuffling a stack. Same thing.