Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord_Crispen
putting zero chips out and just declaring "all in" is better than putting out an amount that does not equal the size of the bet.
While I agree with the sentiment, I think people are getting lost in the mechanics rather than asking what the purpose of the rules is.
The purpose is to be clear.
To that end, any action that makes clear what is going on should be accepted. If you say "all in" and the dealer repeats, "Seat 3 is all in," you don't need to push out all 17 stacks at once - even just the gesture of preparing your stack to be pushed is sufficient. If the dealer tosses you an all-in button, tapping the button or any other action suggesting you agree that's your intended action is fine.
The part that is unclear, the part that breaks the spirit of the rules even if it somehow doesn't break the letter of the rules, is to silently toss a single chip forward and expect that everyone knows what that means.
If I call with an unwieldy stack, I look the dealer in the eye, say, "I call," and wait for a good dealer to say something like, "Seat 3 calls. Action is complete." If I bet with an unwieldy stack, I look yhe dealer in the eye, say, "I'm all in," and wait for a good dealer to say, "Seat 3 is all-in."
Either way, as a gesture of good will, I push my stack forward (pushing up to 10 stacks is not that hard, guys) or prep mt stack to be pushed (a triangle of 10 with a triangle of 6 on top will allow you to push 16 stacks at once) and then break down one stack to show it's 20 even.
The single time this has not worked out (in terms of being clear) is when someone had a hidden $100 chip. I declared all-in but didn't wait for the dealer to confirm and put out $200, which covered all his visible chips (~$105); he complained that I had only put out $200 so he could call $200. The dealer was going to call the floor but I said, "No, it's fine, he can call $200." So he called $200 and I dark bet $563 before the river came out and watched with amusement as he decided whether he was going to call his last $5 in a $600 pot.