A Dealer's Mistake?

Over the years I have tried to cover many different aspects of decision-making, from difficult decisions to funny decisions, and even some of my own personal experiences. What I have found is that readers seem to enjoy the difficult decisions the most, and love to send me their own. This enables me to analyze different scenarios from different poker rooms all over the world.

A player by the name of Jesse recently sent me the following scenario:

It's a no-limit hold'em tournament.

The blinds are $300-$600 with a $75 ante.

The table is ninehanded and I am two off the button.

I raise to a total of $1,800, or a $1,200 raise, tossing my chips in an uncountable manner.

The dealer announces, "Raise one thousand," in an unsure manner.

The action gets to the big blind, who throws in another $1,000 before he receives notice of the error.

Now, he and the dealer are informed the raise was $1,200, not $1,000 as the dealer had stated. May he take back his $1,000 or is it trapped as a call?

This is actually a pretty interesting situation. In this scenario, I will always rule that the player must either:

a. Call the additional $200, or

b. Forfeit the $1,000 and throw away his hand.

The problem in this situation is that the dealer actually announced a raise of a specific amount. The dealer definitely made an error, but a dealer's job is to provide a pleasant atmosphere and deal the cards in a professional manner. It is never the dealer's responsibility to ensure that each player does the right thing. In this case, the discrepancy is the dealer's "announcement." To put it into perspective, take the same situation with a twist:

The blinds are $300-$600 with a $75 ante.

The table is ninehanded and I am two off the button.

I raise to a total of $1,800, or a $1,200 raise, putting my chips into the pot in a large, uncounted messy pile.

The dealer announces, "Raise three thousand," but I don't hear her because I am concentrating on whether I will be called.

The action gets to the big blind, who throws in another $3,000 before he receives notice of the error.

All I see is his $3,600 in the pot, and since this is a raise, I throw my hand away.

Should I get my hand back because the dealer didn't announce my raise correctly? The answer is no. Action will always take precedent over a verbal declaration or announcement.

Jesse responded to my ruling:

Both incidents can be prevented simply by dealers never announcing the amount of raises or bets. Only when requested by a player should they announce the amount, after having counted the chips. A simple statement of raise or bet is substantial and prevents these situations from occurring.

Both of the above situations were in reference to no-limit hold'em, and in that game (pot-limit also), I agree with Jesse. There is no reason for a dealer to announce the amount of a raise or a bet unless someone asks him to do so. When asked for an amount, the dealer should count down the bet (or raise) by placing the chips in easy-to-count stacks or amounts. This way, the player questioning the amount of the bet can see for himself how much it is and make a decision from there.

As poker becomes more popular, the rulebooks that govern the game are going to become more scrutinized. Although I think there will never be a "standard rulebook," I do believe there will be uniformity in areas in which it is needed. A rule that would limit the type of information a dealer is "supposed" to announce would be good. It would clearly outline what a player should expect from a dealer in terms of announcing bets, and so on. Today, you would find many different rules on what a dealer is supposed to say while dealing when it comes to bets. I have seen everything from "announce everything" to "say nothing." Each game/limit/tournament has specific needs, and uniformity in this area is not only possible, but attainable.

Editor's note: Michael O'Malley can usually be found playing online at partypoker.com as Rzitup. To learn more about him, go to www.rzitup.com.