Playing 1/2 at the Sands in PA when this situation came up:

I had just switched tables and for a full two hours I am completely card dead, playing zero hands, and of course people are noticing. Finally I pick up AK suited in middle position following two limpers including the table calling station on my immediate right.

I raise to 50. Folds around to the first caller. He laughs, says "raise" and mucks!
Of course he's just kidding around, but I enforce the raise and the floor agreed. So he puts in his 100 (actually only 98 for the min raise) with no cards.

What would you have done here?

By the way, calling station calls the 100 cold with J5, I jam and he calls off his last 75 and I win a nice pot.

I think you already know the answer here. Seems like a jerk move to me.

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As a general rule don't nit pick about the poker rules unless somebody is angle shooting or holding up the game. In this case, unless he is making joke bets a lot just let it go. The last thing you should want to do is irritate the people who are just having some fun, they are the easy money.

This is a really bad joke to make. It could have cause the next guy to fold before realizing it was a joke. Joker got a cheap lesson to be careful with his jokes.

The guy did something silly. Potentially disruptive , But he did muck right after the "joke raise" right? I would have let it go. You chose to do something different. That's your right. You also likely changed the table vibe negatively , at least against you. Maybe you don't care. Again that's your right. Sometimes you should not do something just because you can. IMHO this was a time to let something go , but that's just me.

Agreed. OP you know you don't need to ask, and so the question becomes: Why are you asking?

Meh, I wouldn't enforce the raise unless I had a gripe with the guy but I don't care if someone else does. That's how you learn not to make "jokes" which are actually enforceable actions.

EDIT

It's profitable in the short term to rules-nit here. I would advise against it in a room you're going to stick around in because it's probably not worth the ill-will. If you're just visiting somewhere for a day, it's going to be hard to say it's not profitable to enforce the action.

Either way, you're within your rights and it's not unethical, just don't be surprised if the villain in question watches you like a hawk and screams 'string bet!' the exact nanosecond he gets the chance.

More like don't be surprised if the whole table does this.

Great way to put a bigger target on your stack ... Right next to this one ...

HU to River with 89K42 board ... Player 1 hesitates to show...
Player 2 says "I have a King ........................... on the board."

Of course Player 1 has already mucked and Player 2 insists on keeping the pot.

While technically not an incorrect statement it certainly was misleading based on typically 'poker speak'. GL

I honestly don't understand why you created this thread.

Sometimes, people turn a total **** move like that and come here for some kind of justification because they are in denial and think they might have done the right thing. But based on how you worded your posting, it's pretty clear you are 100% aware of what you did. I wouldn't even totally rule out that I might do something like that out of total frustration and (in a big game) maybe even desperation, but I would be way too ashamed to admit to it here.

FWIW, that might be a situation where the floor is really disgusted but decides to stick with the rules anyway instead of using rule #1. Hard to blame him, he's trying to avoid getting himself into potential trouble.

Would any of floors here rule differently?

yes the guy is an idiot for saying raise then folding his hand, what he was probably joking about is a guy who's been tight all of a sudden open raises to $50 in a 1/2 game after two limps which you don't see too often (if at all in a $300 cap game).

So it's a catch 22... you want him to put the money in, but you're also announcing to everyone else still in the hand "I have a premium hand, and I WANT him to raise!" (in case they weren't already aware).

You could have played the hand out and then asked for the floor to come and warn him, instead of calling him out immediately to put in the raise he bindingly announced.

If it was me, I would probably say "Hey buddy, you gotta watch that - I could hold you to it" but I don't think I would go as far as demanding he put in the raise after I raised to 25x pre with AKs

I don't get the joke.

If I am dealing its not up to the players to hold the player to it .... I'm telling him he has to raise. If his cards are identifiable he is getting them back.

If you're making a financial decision you need to take into consideration how often you play there, whether the fish are going to care and how much you stand to lose in the future by potentially killing the mood. If you're never coming back take them for all they have.

Emotionally I'd say **** that guy and his "joke". Even if he waits a second to fold his hand he can pick up a tell by announcing a raise. He might have meant it as a joke, see your face going "motherfu...." and actually change his mind and just shove. **** that. Of course if there is no doubt that he isn't capable of ****ing me over I let him off the hook.

If players are to be given a break from rules making action binding .... those breaks should be for accidents and misunderstandings ... not for intentional conduct

I would have done nothing. If it happened again later, I would do what you did for the 2nd offense.

This was a misunderstanding. The player clearly was under the impression that his action would not be binding.

Otherwise, he would have told the floor that he announced "fold" before saying "raise" and a couple other players would have backed him up, telling the floor they heard him say "fold" first.

Nobody forced him to make his stupid "joke". That makes it intentional. Obviously he didn't think he would be held to a raise but it's his own stupidity that caused all this.

Thats not what I would call a misunderstanding. He fully understood the circumstances ....

Apparently he did not understand his action would be binding. If he was an experienced player he would know how easy it would be for him to get out of it by claiming he announced a fold first.

I don't think we are on the same page as to a misunderstanding. I don't care if he misunderstands the rules.

Sounds like a pretty crappy game, the guy is really dumb for saying raise with cards though.. I mean he set himself up pretty bad and only has himself to blame.

But I would probably let it go one time

+1. Dealer should have enforced the raise, player should not have to be the "bad guy".

Why in every other thread people insist that verbal is binding,
Or even enforce bets that the player clearly didn't mean to make, like with an accidentally large chip, but here people think someone should be allowed to joke about making a raise and then take it back? This guy is deliberately messing with the action, and he OP in particular. Joker is the douchebag here, not the OP.

I had a big write-up here, but then realized that joker wasn't last to act this round, there was still one caller behind him. That doesn't change much, but it does make me much less angry at the ruling.

I would still probably rule it non-binding if the fold was commensurate with or just after the joking raise, and would give joker a stern one-time warning, but I have much less sympathy for forcing him to make the raise now that I realize there was another player behind who could well have folded to the "joke". I would much prefer doing it only if his hand is retrievable though.

Still think OP is a jerk for calling for this ruling, though, in the absence of having the second caller react to the fake raise. OP is definitely on my long term angling ****list going forward.

I deliberately left out a part of the incident that may make you naysayers change your mind. I did so, because in all honesty, it really didn't affect my action...

When the raise was made, the jokester immediately announced (accurately too) my probable holding aloud before any further action occurred. This is way horrible.

As far betting $50 into two limpers in a 1/2 game, did you read the part about the calling station??

Still don't like it. I doubt anybody at the table thought the guy that hadn't played a hand in hours is going 25x pre with garbage. Him calling out your hand doesn't make much difference to your raising range.

We weren't at the table, so maybe there are elements we're not aware of. To me it seems like a guy having fun making a joke and you exploited it. Poker is a social game, and this seems to be taking the fun out of it.

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