Strange ruling at Tulalip regarding "single-chip rule"

[dtbog]

So I went to Tulalip for the first time last night, to check it out and see how live poker works in the Seattle area.

I'm sitting at a 3/5, $200 max game, and I'm in the big blind. The UTG player silently tosses out a green ($25) chip, and the dealer says "raise".

I'm not sure if UTG actually wants to raise, but I see this happen and I see the two players behind UTG sigh and prepare to fold. I quickly say "no no, dealer, I think he meant to call" before anyone inadvertently mucks their hand.

The dealer corrects me: "no, " he says, "that rule only applies in tournaments." I give him a confused look. "Oh, and in fixed-limit games."

I shake my head, but don't argue; I have no personal interest in the hand anyway. The player with the green chip had indeed wanted to raise, so everybody lets it go. The others at the table tell me that those are standard Washington State rules for NL* cash games.

Very curious, I wait until a break in the action and go check the rules posted on the wall. Sure enough, I was correct: the wall states that a single chip counts as a "call" unless the player specifically announces, "raise".

It's a new down now, but I ask the new dealer about it and she gives me an ambiguous response (indicating that she doesn't know.) I mention what it says on the wall, and she nods.

On the next down, I ask the next dealer during an uneventful hand what HE would do if this happened and someone wanted to actually enforce the player's action as a call.

He says he doesn't know either. While we're discussing it, the dealer from the previous down comes over saying that she's talked to the floor manager. Apparently, these rules on the wall are outdated (by at least two years) to the days before they had no-limit games... and the last rule on the wall indeed does say "floor manager has final discretion"... so they didn't feel the need to update the rules on the wall.

Is this totally bogus? Have you ever heard of a cardroom that has outdated and blatantly incorrect rules posted on the wall for more than a couple of days?

Also, what the hell? Why would any poker room manager specifically stipulate that this rule applies in tournaments and fixed-limit cash games, but not in NL?

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* yes, i know, it's spread-limit and not NL in WA. we don't need to have a thread about it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]