Pet Peeves

OK, stop. Before you read any further, let me warn you right now that this is possibly the most boring column I have ever written. However, if I don't get these gripes about dealers off my chest, I'm going to burst!

There are three points I would like to cover in this column, and they all involve situations in which I believe tournament dealers are either not instructed correctly or are instructed correctly but do not do a very good job of following the instructions.

The first point I would like to address is the problem of dealers stacking the chips when they are passing a pot to the winning player. I know it must usually be done in split games. It never ceases to amaze me, however, that even in other games, dealers stack a pot instead of just shoving it to the winner. Having been a dealer myself, I know that in side games, since the dealers rely on tips, they try to accommodate the players as much as possible. If they are like I was, they are in a subtle way saying, "See how nice I am, I will stack the chips for you." The problem is that no matter whether it's in tournaments or side action, all of that unnecessary stacking takes time. I have even seen dealers stack a pot of about 20 chips and then, as unbelievable as it sounds, shove it in such a way that it becomes unstacked. When I was playing on one particular occasion, a dealer stacked every pot before passing it to the winner. I asked him not to stack the pots and just push them to the winner. He looked me straight in the face and said, "It's quicker this way." I'm not a time-and-motion expert, but I will bet anything that's not true. Sometimes when I see a "stacking dealer," I ask him not to stack my pots because one of the reasons I play poker is that it's fun to stack my own chips after I win a big pot.

My second point has to do with dealers announcing the amount of a raise or an all in during no-limit hold'em tournaments. This should not be done unless somebody specifically asks. I have asked all of the foremost tournament directors, such as Bob Thompson, Jack McClelland, Matt Savage, Denny Williams, Cheri Dokken, and David Lamb, and they all concur. Yet, in every no-limit tournament I play, I hear dealers saying, "Raise - $1,500," or something similar. The main reason for not giving the amount of a raise or an all in is that many times the bettor doesn't want the other player to wake up and say, "Oh, I thought you had more in there."

Another reason is consistency. I was playing in a no-limit tournament recently when someone moved in. Without anyone asking, the dealer reached over and counted the all-in bet, which was about $1,800. After the hand was over, I expressed to the dealer that I didn't think he should have counted down the bet unless someone had requested it to be counted. He bristled a little and replied, "Why not?" I explained that there were a few reasons, but that it was not appropriate to discuss them then. A few hours later, I was fortunate enough to get to the final table, and, coincidentally, the same dealer came into the box. I was sitting in seat No. 1, right next to him. After a few minutes of play, one of the players who had about eight zillion dollars in chips moved his chips into the pot and said, "All in." There was a pause as the other player pondered what to do, at which point I leaned toward the dealer and quietly said, "Well?" He thought for a second and then smiled at me, indicating that he "got it." He realized that if you count the little all ins, you also have to count the big ones.

The last point I'd like to make concerns when an oversized chip is thrown into the pot. This is an occurrence about which I know the dealers as well as the players are instructed correctly before every tournament. An announcement is made, such as, "An oversized chip thrown into a pot will count only as a call." The problem that occurs in every tournament is that even though most players and the dealer know that the player has just called, someone, usually after at least two or more players have passed, will ask, "What is that? Was that a call?" Then, the dealer - or more frequently, one of the players - will say, "It's just a call if he didn't say raise." The player who threw in the chip will then say, "I said raise." Inevitably, a discussion ensues, and sometimes the player who bet will be rescued by somebody who says he heard the player say "raise." More often than not, however, no one heard the raise that the player insists he made. Then, the floorman is called over and tries to get to the bottom of the situation.

Very simply, this situation can be eliminated if dealers consistently say "call" when they see an oversized chip thrown into the pot and the player did not say "raise." When the dealer hears "raise" from a player, he should repeat it so that everyone knows what happened. The bottom line is that even though there will still be arguments, they will be dealt with much better if no one has acted behind the player who threw the oversized chip in.

My friend Jack Fox, who sometimes reads my columns before I submit them, agrees with my second and third points, and even advocates going further. He said, "I believe a dealer should always say raise, call, or check with every player action. It keeps him focused on the action and not looking around the room. More importantly, it provides a natural pace to the game. In no-limit games, the amount of a raise or an all in should never be provided by the dealer unless specifically requested by a player. In limit games, I prefer to hear the amount of a raise, and I am convinced that this leads to fewer disputes at the table."

For what it's worth …