Quote:
Originally Posted by Suit
…. keep in mind every room may have their own specific variation of these rules and it is important to know them wherever you are playing. …..If you always have the amount you want to bet in your hand before you make any motion at all or simply verbalize your bet then you will never have an issue.
This is excellent advice.
I would also point out that the old, old rule was "continuous motion", not "one motion". As long as your hand(s) kept moving in the betting area, you were assumed not to have finished acting. Pretty much out of date now. Today's poker is much more impatient, has lots of new rooms with new rules (not even to mention differing rules outside of the USA), and obsessed with anything which might somehow be considered a string bet. But if you follow the advice above, you shouldn't ever have a problem.
As far as others are concerned, you should definitely learn the local rules in whatever rooms you play in, but also learn to be patient and let others finish acting before jumping to act yourself. As far as calling string bets on others, personally I wouldn't rush to call them unless they're glaringly obvious or actually affect action.