Hello I am new to playing casino cash NL hold’em and last time I was at the casino there were a couple instances where the dealer answered a question in a way that made me wonder what information they are restricted from sharing.

1. I made a bet and player across the table raised me. I couldn’t see how much it was and asked how much more it was. Dealer told me the total in a way that implied he couldn’t say how much more it was to call.

2. A player went all in but the all in was not enough for a full raise and a player asked the dealer if it was a raise and he said he couldn’t say. I may be missing a detail here.

3. Can a dealer say how much is in the pot?

What other things are dealers not able to announce or answer?

1. The dealer should tell you how much more it is to call. He might have thought or hoped that the total was enough to satisfy you.
2. The dealer should divulge whether a raise is a full raise, but only once requested, and (I believe) only if action is on the requesting player.
3. In a NLHE game, the dealer should not say how much is in the pot.

The dealer is REQUIRED to tell you what the bet is to you, but the total bet should be fine if your bet is still in front of you.

What opens the betting varies from casino, to casino and type of game. The dealer is supposed to know the local rules - but frequently doesn't.

The rule that surprised me was when a player (in a hand) asked if a flush beat a straight. I wasn't in the hand and referred him to the dealer. The dealer (to my surprise) called the floor. The floor said that answering that question would violate the "one player to a hand" rule.

And no, the dealer doesn't count the pot, but some places will allow him to spread it out.

Some dealers were taught strict interpretation of rules about what information they can give out and they choose to stick to them. Most of us get more relaxed over time because it's what players want and it keeps the game moving.

You should always get an answer when asking what the total bet is to you. A few people will argue that they can't tell you how much MORE it is to you or whether it's enough to re-open betting.

It's pretty universally accepted that you can't ask how much is in the pot unless you're playing pot limit.

They cannot recap the action from a previous street, ie if you are on the Flop, they can't tell you who raised pre-Flop.

Can’t/Shouldn’t tell you the player to your right checked DARK!

they can't say "any ace-jacks, jack-nines out there, any sets?" after a player shows top two pair in a multiway omaha-8 showdown on KQT52 (which I actually saw recently and was shocked)

when a player tables his hand at showdown, and the players best hand is all 5 cards on the board, he should not announce "plays the board". Eg if player tables KK, and board is 23456, he should announce "straight" and not "plays the board".

Agree, happens a ton though where the dealer eventually just says "Player is playing the board..."

Like someone is all in with like 88 and gets called by AJ

99TQQ

Nobody wants to show and finally the guy tables 88, and everyone sits there... The idiot with AJ sits there looking at the board and the hand, looks some more, and the dealer pushes up the board and is like "Uh... playing the board... 8 high? No, playing the board"

Annoying

I personally don't like when the dealer emphasizes that someone blind raised.
Like 2/5/15 straddle and a guy makes it $40 in the dark UTG+2

So it's on the next guy and he's like "It's $40?" and the dealer goes "Yeah, $15 straddle and a blind raise"

Don't say anything. If people are paying attention they know, if not screw em'

The pot re-opening locally is pretty dumb in my opinion.
Does that reopen?
I can't say
Is it enough to reopen or not? What it is 100% of the bet

And the floor comes over and say "You can do whatever you want, and the dealer can say after if you can do it" basically

So, let's say it's not open, but the moron can't do math. He can do whatever he wants... "I'm all in then"
And at that point the dealer can inform him he can't

Usually when someone asks about a pot being re-opened, they're asking whether another player can raise after they call. It's not just about being bad at math, a lot of players simply don't know the rule. Some people think it has to be 50%, some people think it has to be double the current bet rather than just matching the raise amount, some think you can go all in at any time.

I've never been backed up by a floor when trying to not answer the question and it just winds up generating arguments and confusion. I just answer it now and deal with the one guy who immediately rages out saying I'm not allowed. Too late, feel free to fill out a comment card on your way out.

In the room I dealt at we were allowed to answer the question about whether an all-in reopened the betting, but only if it was the turn of the person asking the question. I'm not sure how it works at other casinos, but I think that should be the rule.

I also think a dealer should be allowed to answer "how much more" the bet is, again if it's your turn.

The dealer should not answer any question about the previous betting round. They should be able to answer about previous betting on the same betting round.

And in any game that is not pot-limit, a dealer should not answer how much is in the pot. In no limit games, the pot should be in a pile. If a player asks, a dealer can spread the pot to make it easier to count. That rule may not be true in every casino though.

I’ve heard people argue about the MORE part. Pretty sure a player is entitled to that information by gaming regulations in most jurisdictions, at least in cash games.

No matter what game you play in the casino, an integral part of responsible gaming is that a player should always have the right to know exactly what options he has and how much money he has to wager when action is on him.

FWIW, from very early in my live poker days I remember a situation where a player asked the dealer if flush beats straight. When the floor told the player he couldn’t tell him while he had cards, another player said something to the effect of “well, that information is in the rule book and you’re entitled to see the rules at any given time. Just ask for the rule book and we sit here and wait until you found out on your own”. After that the floor just told the player. For some reason that situation stuck with me because I had no idea somebody would come to play poker without being 100% sure about hand rankings. I also didn’t know they had to have a printed rule set that you could check at all times.

There is usually a 'lawyerly' way to get almost any information you want from a Dealer. You just need to ask the right way.

1) Can Player 1 raise? .. 'I can't tell you that.'

2) What did Player 1 bet? .. '20'
2A) What did Player 2 bet? .. 'Player 2 is all-in for 38'
2B) Is that considered a full raise? .. 'No'

A lot of Dealers know these 'backdoor' info scenarios and just offer up some of the answers so it keeps the game going. It's very difficult to train every Dealer in a room to handle these types of spots exactly the same.

Always wait until action is on you to make queries .. unless you think a mistake has happened, then speak up before more action occurs.

In NL a Dealer should never tell you what's in the middle, but they can 'spread the pot' so you can get a better view of all the chips and do your own assessment.

A Dealer shouldn't offer any information regarding action on previous streets.

There really shouldn't be an issue with the 'more' speak.

Dealers shouldn't answer 'Who raised' but they should answer 'How much did that Player bet' which is essentially the same thing. This is most common when a Player has a large chip in front of them, but it was only a call .. and the next Player is actually the one who raised. Some Dealers will say you need to pay attention, but IMO it's all information that should be offered if requested in the correct manner. GL

That's interesting about the rule book. Where I dealt no player had the right to request to see the rulebook, whether in a hand or not, ever. And our rule book didnt list hand rankings anyway, just as RROP Or TDA rules don't.

We were never allowed to spread the pot. But we could answer who raised as long as it was concerning the current street.

What constitutes a raise varies. However, a typical ruling for a complete bet is 1/2 the raise amount in limit and the full bet size in NL.

1) Dealer tells you the total bet, not how much more it is to you. You have to do that math yourself. You can ask the dealer to pull in the bets and break down the raise for you to count easily yourself.

2) This seems consistent with other rulings I have experienced although it doesn't make sense to me. I think they should be able to tell you whether or not the action is open in a spot like this, but I always get the same answer from floors. "We cant provide you with information that would affect your decision" not even a rule clarification.

3) Dealers can't tell you how much is in the pot unless you are playing a pot limit game. They can spread it out for you to count yourself.

This is not typical btw, and neither is it required that you are in the hand to answer it. This is silly.

I've never been in a room where this is allowed.

They exist.

Just like most stuff in poker the nuances of dealing procedure are variable by room (and sometimes by shift!). Which is why most of these discussions are circular and because everyone states that the procedure they are familiar with is the correct one.

No idea where you play and what your local gaming regulations are. If you’re in the US, there’s a good chance that you’re entitled to that information. Not only in poker but any game at the casino. Same way you’re entitled to know what the minimum and maximum bets are. The latter is important in PLO.

I didn't answer about the ranking of hands because I started playing in the 1970s and learned etiquette from a relative that had been in it much longer. I know most people don't apply this sort of thing now, but I still believe a lot of the old-school unwritten rules. Specifically:

Never interfere in another man's game.

Unfortunately that consideration has in large part disappeared today. Most of these questions, like who raised, how much does he have left, can he reraise, how much more is it, etc will be answered by 2-3 players before the dealer even has a chance to say he can't answer that question.

True. Sometimes I think we lost something. But then again, the games then were a shadow of the games now.

I also wouldn’t answer unless I knew for sure what the rules were in the casino.

However I was trained that we can answer about hand rankings, but we can’t answer if for instance there is a possible straight, flush, or full house on the board. We could answer what cards are on the board though, because that would be an issue of compliance with the ADA.