[sejje]

I was playing with some older guy at Tampa HR and he kept whining about this exact thing.

He would try to limp, and the dealer would say "It's four dollars, sir." "What!? There's a straddle? I didn't hear you say that."

He would go on and on, apparently trying to be able to limp just because he didn't hear the dealer announce straddle. Really slowed up the game. Saddest part was that I heard every dealer announce every straddle.

FWIW, I agree with the above. It doesn't matter whether they announce it or not. It's action on the table, you should be able to keep up with the bets in front of players. And if you make a mistake and don't notice, big deal, take back your limp.