A very interesting ethics situation and a Bellagio Floor ruling

[jsmith5]

2 things happen in this hand:

1. Player 1 bets more chips than he holds in his hand
At least once a round in this game you see people who think they have 180 but only have 140 verbally declare 180 as they start cutting their chips for a preflop raise. No one ever says anything about this. How is 180 different than them saying 500? It's not. Verbal is binding as long as their bet is still in progress. So 2000 on the river is perfectly OK.

2. Another player calls out of turn
If he pushed 400 chips to the middle before the other player was done betting, then he would have the option of calling the additional 1600 or letting go of the 400. Because he verbally declared "call" he is held to any amount. Player 2 is OBVIOUSLY shooting an angle by trying to make Player 1 bet less. Player 1 is merely using the rules to his advantage. It sucks for Player 2, but if you are going to play the biggest regular NL game in Vegas, you better know the rules.