Ohhh ok, then ill ask the dealer for a count of their stack. They dont need to say anything. Its the dealers job to run the game essentially. Yeah ok you know me too well except I have contacts and my eyes are ****. You see, when your eyes start to get bad you get a new prescription and MIRACLES HAPPEN! But again, you know bessst.

Unless there's an All-in, Dealer shouldn't be counting stacks either. Yeah, its Dealer's job to "run the game", not help you make a decision.

You wont hate card protectors when a dealer mucks your unprotected hand !!! They are used for a reason.

You have been greatly misinformed about the rules of poker.

Sure, but when you have big hands like I do, it's difficult to keep your hands on the cards without obscuring some of your chips, and there isn't a lot of space on the felt anyway. I don't carry anything fancy as a chip protector and usually just use one of those oversize gold $1 tokens from some random casino that will never be confused with a chip, but I certainly find it far more convenient and comfortable to have something on the cards than to constantly keep my hands on my cards. Actually, in general I don't like having my hands on the felt in case someone tries to argue I checked because my hand made some tiny, barely perceptible movement.

I do agree though that chips shouldn't be allowed as card protectors unless it's a chip that obviously isn't in play because it looks nothing like that casino's chip.

Do you really believe the dealer will count their stack ( or should) if you ask?

Dealers should never counts players' stacks. If there's an all in, the dealer can count it because an all in is a bet or raise.

Where I play it's not uncommon to see black chips in the 1/2 game. There's usually several floating around the table.


--klez

That is really bizarre! I wonder why that is. Do people go up to the cage and say "I'll take $100 red... and gimme a black because it looks cool"? Or does your casino have some sort of high hand jackpot and people just add that to their stacks if they win it?

My guess is that when people leave they just chip up to blacks rather than cash if they're coming back soon so they don't have to wait in line at the cashier when they return (the line can suck). When they sit with the blacks chips, someone is usually happy to trade a stack of red or some green for them.

A lot of green chips play in this game, as well.


--klez

I suppose some players think it looks cool, but they do bounce back and forth between 1/2 and 2/5 (and other games), may also color up when they go for a meal, or they come to poker from playing table games. But I have regularly seen $100 chips at 1/2, and $500 and (rarely) $1000 chips at 2/5.
It pays to check or ask.

Sometimes players ask for blacks when they hit 10 or 15 stacks of red.

Sometimes players get $200 or $300 in red to buy in and ask for a couple blacks to put in their pocket for rebuys.

Sometimes players are coming from pit games and bring their craps colorup with 'em to the poker table to play, so they sit with $20 in red, $50 in green, and two blacks. And we definitely don't want to inconvenience these sorts of players by asking 'em to color down their blacks--nono, please, DO sit down at the open seat, and sorry, the cap is $300 so you'll have to wait to put those yellow $1000 chips into play (but keep 'em handy).

Never?


How about if they are dealing in my room which has a rulebook which says otherwise?

I don't even understand why you would think that's bizarre. I buy in for three stacks of red at my $1/2 game and keep the rest in greens and blacks. If I got my whole $800 or whatever from the cage in reds, I'd have to wear cargo pants to hold them, and it'd be pretty uncomfortable.

It's actually bizarre not to have blacks (or greens) if you have much more than the max buyin in chips. Why not carry all whites if you're into punishing yourself like that?

Blacks are fairly common at $1/2 games in the Connecticut casinos.

I'm curious: how common are those rooms in your experience? Which way does the rule usually swing?

I don't know what most rooms rules are. Of all the rooms I have worked in this is the only room I have seen that has a rule in the rulebook that addresses the issue. In another room I had a floorman tell me he would not have the dealer count the chips but would require the owner of the stack to count it (and throw him out of the room if he refused) - but there was nothing specifically mentioned in the rule book.

I believe in No Limit a player should be entitled to a count, and that an exact count is rarely ever needed so that a player should not insist on an exact count unless he needs an exact count...

In reality my experience is that it is not a real issue. What happens is a player asks "how much?" and the owner of the chips either moves his hands so they can be, seen, gives an estimate, or counts the chips, and if he doesn't three other players at the table pipe up with an estimate and the player who asked is made happy and there is no issue .......

If a decision is needed .... it will probably vary by floor person....

(The room I deal in indicates a player is entitled to a count ..... but the dealers are instructed only to count the stack if the owner refuses to do it, and then if we count it we are supposed to get the owner of the stack to verify the count.)