What is the proper way to raise?

[mayday4379]

I played NL at the Wynn a few weeks ago and whenever I raised I would say "raise" then count out my chips in front of me and then either declare the value or push them a little forward signaling that my raise was complete. I played 33 hours, so I have a full rotation of dealers and this seemed to be acceptable.

I recently played at a boat in Indiana and their poker tables have one of those racetrack white lines in front of you. I stacked my chips behind the line and there's no room left between my chips and the line.

So in indiana we get to the river and the player bets into me. I say "raise" and take a stack of chips in my hand. As I begin to count the chips to myself and contemplate how much to raise, I start to stack them infront of the white line. While about half of my chips are on the table and the other half are still in my hand, the player says "call." I look at him confused and I say to the dealer that i haven't finished my raised. The player said "whatever you have pass the line is your raise and i call it." the dealer and the table all agreed.

I'm an online donk, so I guess I'm confused on the proper way to raise in live play. Is whatever crosses the line fair game whether it leaves the hand or not?