[bav]

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It is true that people keep their chips in front of their cards all of the time, even in places with no official "betting" line, and it is almost never enforced except on the most nittish occasions.

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Oddly enough, in a cash game last weekend an AC player made a remark about such bets. I've gone all in with da nutz, and a youngin' whom I have covered is contemplating whether or not he'll call. His cards are against the rail so he has no room to work beside or behind 'em and he counts out his stack to see if he wants to call (in front of his cards, but still very close to him). I sit quietly and wait and so does the table. Eventually he does call.

After the hand a guy says "why wasn't that called a bet as soon as he counted his chips out? He counted them in front of his cards and in Atlantic City where I play that's always a bet and the dealer always calls it."

So this guy claims it's always a rule. The guy in the tournament in the original tale claims it's never a rule. And in reality it's sometimes a rule.

So what happens if you have your cards forward, count out chips beside and slightly behind 'em, then grab your cards to look at 'em again and bring 'em in closer to you. Now you didn't push your chips forward, rather you moved your cards back. Did the betting line recede in the process?

If you tuck your cards again the rail and your entire chip stack is in front of 'em, did you just go all-in?

I'm not real fond of the "in front of your cards" rule, myself. But I'm less fond of betting lines.