It would be much different if you indicated that the joke affected action, could have been an angle shoot, or could have been interpreted as something other than a joke. If you indicated that the joker was being rude or a jerk or douchebag or tool or something... anything else, it would be different.

Based off the OP my impression is that a frustrated, card dead player with a big hand exploited a dumb joke from a rec player. If you want to run off every rec player, by all means, chase away the people that will make you profitable.

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Wait so why did you ask what we would have done? I don't get it. And why are you avoiding answering this question?

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Not avoiding answering- obviously there are other opinions on this and I wanted to find out what other players thought. Why is that not clear?

Those saying this is a joke ....

How do you know its a joke.....It certainly isn't funny.
So the only way you can know its a joke is to accept the explanation of the player after the fact.

When he said raise nobody would know it was a joke because saying raise isn;t a joke.

How about if a player opens the action by saying "Bet" "no I'm just joking" should that not be binding.

OP said it was clearly a joke. Going off of that information. Any ambiguity on that would change my opinion.

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So now, not only are you making the assumption this was a fun, joking table, prior to the action in OP, but you're assuming I am against fun, joking tables?

Actually I'm all for a light mood at the table, but I don't think someone joking about raising or joking speculating about someone else's hand is funny. And again, there was nothing in OP indicating there was any fun mood to table that could be spoiled, so it is ridiculous to assume that. Sure, I guess "that guy" was trying to have a good time. Some poker players have a good time by ruining the game for the other players. Some people have a good time by bullying those smaller than them. (Usually the same kind of person does both.) I don't see any reason to enable that.

I think this much is apparent from the description of what the guy did.

I would say his joke was lame, but didn't get the impression he was a douche canoe. The OP doesn't provide a lot of context.

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No extra content required - the tone of the table or any of his previous actions are irrelevant.

By the way, I did make the jokester very happy...

Following the incident, I'm in the BB. Jokester raises me in an apparent steal attempt. However I have JJ. I Reraise and he folds. Very next hand, same thing happens. Only this time I have 9J and fold. He turns over 23 and is beaming with happiness that he "got me" !! LOL

No, but the poster later added that the guy also called out his hand. I think these two actions together are enough to elevate the guy to DB status.

That is pretty douchey, although it isn't hard to put the card-dead player raising 25x on a big hand.

I let it slide with a warning that no further douchebaggery will be tolerated. To each their own.

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That is where you simply wrong. There are lots of fun table and they are often the best to make real money at because the other players are more concerned with having fun then maximizing EV. Among the least profitable tables you can play are are tables full of nitty grinders who are taking the game very serious.

You're going to have a much tougher time "making real money" in those kinds of games if, every time another player makes a mistake, you let him take it back.

Because fifty comments later you're telling us what the correct opinion is? You asked us our thoughts just to tell us we're wrong. Not sure why you think you had answered the question along the way.

I also have no problem enforcing the raise. Joker is the offender, OP did nothing wrong. This is just a line that shouldn't be crossed. There are certain "jokes" - and this isn't even a funny one, who laughed? - that you simply don't make at the table. If you don't draw the line somewhere then you let people get away with more and more. If I'd been a new player at the table and it was the case that this player had gotten away with this, I would not only have been annoyed but wondered what other kind of "jokes" does this room tolerate? Exactly how long do I get to hold on to my cards after announcing raise before it becomes binding? No well-trained staff in any poker room should allow this to slide. This should be a raise every time and a player shouldn't even have to say anything.

The interesting question here is, if you're the dealer and a player announces raise and tries to muck his cards, what do you do? Do you muck them and then call the floor? Do you keep them under your hand and then call the floor? Do you pass them back to the player and tell them that they have to put money in the pot? It seems heavy-handed to enforce the raise without cards.

^ Yes I can see enforcing the raise as legitimate if they choose to go that way. Does seem like the "joker" should have had his cards back. Maybe they were too mixed up. It seems the floor "fined" him $100 for his actions. The OP asked the forum what we would do about him insisting on the raise even though he admitted the "joker" was "just kidding around"! He got a whole range of opinions. Forums seem to work well.

Last night, a guy was telling a story as the hand was being dealt. Action had started (though was not on him) when he got to the part where he was describing how another player said 'I'm all in' in an odd way. I joked with him that his imitation of th guy was binding. Table laughed, and no one took it seriously.

If the inicident the OP described was clearly and obviously a joke, holding him to it is an angle just as much as holding someone to a call if they ask 'Did he call?'. Yes, you can do it. Yes, the ruling will likely be in your favor. yes, in the short term, it can make you a little extra money. But it is scummy.

Now, if the player wasn't obviously joking, or if his joke affected action, or if he was angling to try and get a read, then that is a different case. But in the case where it was an obvious joke that didn't affect action, I think it is pretty bad to hold him to it. You are within your rights, but it is a jerk move.

That being said, I would definitely give him a warning and tell him that he could have easily been held to the action.

Context is important ..... in your story the player was actively telling a story about another hand as he made his statement ..... nobody should have understood his statement as action because in the full context it is clear he was not acting when he made his statement. Much like if he stood up and waved to his friend leaving the poker room and yelled "I'll call you tomorrow." it would be clear his words were action.

but in the case at hand the full context of the words stated were action. That is what the player wanted people to think he wanted people to think he was calling the bet (even if only for a moment).

Now suppose in your example an hour later while facing a bet the player decides it would be funny to revisit that earlier story ..... but he isn't retelling the story, he just waits until the action gets to him and then announces "I'm all in" in the odd manner which he had previously described. Now in context this appears to be him acting (poker acting not thespian acting) just because he thinks its funny doesn't make it non action. He should be bound in this case.

The context described in the OP was 'Of course he was kidding'. It did not seem that the jokester ever meant for anyone to consider his action serious, even for a moment. I get entirely the sense from OP that he knew it wasn't a real action, no one mistook it for a real action, it did not affect the hand at all, but because he muttered those magic words, he should be held to action. This is exactly equivalent to my story.

Again, I stick by the stance that while legal, this is scummy, and is no different than an angle shoot. Jokester did not intend to raise, his intent was clear, no one mistook his intended action, but he is being held to it on a technicality. While correct within the rules, this is unethical.

If someone calls out my hand in a multiway pot I'd gladly make him pay $100 for it.

Spewing, would you feel the same if he had said this exactly? "Ha ha, this rock sits there for 2 hours and doesn't play a hand, and then he raises a few $2 limpers to $50. He must have a premium hand. Probably AK, maybe Aces or Kings. Anyone would have to be an idiot to call his bet. So I'm all in. (Mucks his hand). Just kidding."

Because effectively, he said and did the same thing.

^ If you as a dealer or floor insist on ruling the raise valid, then that's it. Totally reasonable. There is not a need to question it further. The OP was about what folks thought about his insisting the floor make a ruling. I personally would not have pressed it in this situation. You and some others obviously would have. It's nothing but different opinions on what was best or appropriate behavior by the OP. The behavior of the "joker" is NOT the question actually. It was silly and potentially disruptive. It needed to be nipped in the bud. It was.

Seriously?

He both laughed as he said raise and he mucked his cards at the same time. I think that's a pretty good indication that he was joking.

Now you may be right as a dealer to hold him to the raise, but to say that you had no idea he was joking is disingenuous at best.

That is not context. That is merely OP's conclusion. (perhaps drawn from context perhaps drawn from offender's explanation)

Of course he meant for someone to consider it serious .... that's why he did it. he thinks it's funny because he wanted someone to think he was raising .. perhaps he wanted them to only think this momentarily ... but he wanted them to think this.

he might think its funny because he wanted the bettor to be scared or excited by the raise only to be deflated later (ha ha ha). Or he might think its funny because he thinks its other players are thinking .... he has to be an idiot to raise into the rocks oversized raise ha ha ... made you think I was an idiot but I';m really not "ha ha ha"


I get entirely the sense from OP that he knew it wasn't a real action, no one mistook it for a real action, it did not affect the hand at all, but because he muttered those magic words, he should be held to action. This is exactly equivalent to my story.

Again, I stick by the stance that while legal, this is scummy, and is no different than an angle shoot. Jokester did not intend to raise, his intent was clear, no one mistook his intended action, but he is being held to it on a technicality. While correct within the rules, this is unethical.[/QUOTE]