You Make the Call

This year's World Series of Poker was another exciting and record-breaking event that provided all of us players something to remember. For me, the most memorable event was the rematch between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel. What a gutsy performance by both players, two of the best ever.

As is the case with all major tournaments, the WSOP provided me more information for a future "You Make the Call" than I would like. Writing this column is exciting for me, but it usually means that I have witnessed a mistake by a dealer, floorperson, or even a player.

During the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event, a situation occurred that was resolved quickly and with no harm, but it gave me an idea that I have thought about.

Here's the scenario:

The blinds are $50-$100 and I have $3,300 in chips.

From middle position, I open the pot for $400. The button debates for a few minutes, grabs a stack of $100 and $500 chips, moves them forward, and says, "Raise." I immediately move all in. The dealer burned a card and put the flop on the table. Before the action went any further, I asked the dealer if the other player had called my all-in raise. The dealer, as well as the other player, had assumed that his stack of chips covered mine. A count was done and the other player's stack contained $3,100. The other player tossed another $200 in and the dealer dealt the rest of the hand out. My aces held up and I won a nice pot. After the hand was over, there was some talk about the situation. Technically, the other player had not called my raise. If we had called for a ruling, what should the decision have been?

1. Should the flop have been brought back and dealt with as a premature burn and turn?

2. Should the other player's hand have been dead?

3. Was the best scenario the one that we used without a floorperson's ruling?

Talking about this scenario with some other players was interesting, as I was told a story of almost the exact same thing happening at another tournament. The following is how that situation was described to me: Player A raises, Player B reraises, Player A moves all in. The dealer pauses for a minute, then deals the flop, turn, and river. The hands are turned over and Player B has the best hand. However, after counting the chips, Player B is found to have had fewer chips in the pot. In other words, he hadn't called the all-in raise. Player A asks for a ruling. The ruling is made that since Player B never called the raise, his hand is dead and Player A gets the pot.

To me, this seems like too harsh a penalty for such a small crime. In my situation, taking $200 off the other player's stack seemed reasonable, as it was obvious that he would have called my bet. In the situation just related, I am not sure what the difference was in chip counts. The problem I have with the ruling is that there is no fine line to be drawn in making a decision that is "good for the game" or one that is according to the rules. At what point, and at what amount, would you have to declare the hand dead because the player did not call the raise? If the difference is minor (such as the $200 in my case), can you make a decision to continue with the hand with no penalty and then declare the hand dead if the difference is significant? What if the player who technically didn't call the all-in raise now states that he wouldn't have called the raise had he known the amount?

The correct decision in both of the above cases is to bring the cards back, allow the player to either call the reraise or fold his hand, and then deal with it as a premature burn and turn. This is a lesson learned for me, and let's hope that it's a reminder to all of you to protect your hand, your chips, and your investment in a tournament.

Editor's note: Michael O'Malley's website is http://members.home.net/rzitup.