Betting the pot.

Seb86 · #1 10-04-2007, 10:32 PM

Turning stone 1/2 NL.

On the turn I annonce that I am betting the pot and put a stack of 100$ (pot was arround 70 - 80) and says after having already said "pot" "I am betting whatever there is in the pot".

Dealer annonces a bet of 100$ and I say that I did say pot clearly and loudly twice. He answered that its a NL game and a pot bet is not valid so the bet is what I put in front of me which was 100$.

Well by the time we talked about it the others players folded so I didnt care to ask the floor but what do you think would have been his rulling ?

redfisher · #2 10-04-2007, 10:41 PM

AFAIK, declaring a pot bet is meaningless in an NL game. For that matter, if you put a $100 bet into an $80 pot some rooms will allow the bet to stand if your opponent accepts the action. The pot limit rule is to protect me from you, not you from yourself.

Rottersod · #3 10-04-2007, 10:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Turning stone 1/2 NL.

On the turn I annonce that I am betting the pot and put a stack of 100$ (pot was arround 70 - 80) and says after having already said "pot" "I am betting whatever there is in the pot".

Dealer annonces a bet of 100$ and I say that I did say pot clearly and loudly twice. He answered that its a NL game and a pot bet is not valid so the bet is what I put in front of me which was 100$.

Well by the time we talked about it the others players folded so I didnt care to ask the floor but what do you think would have been his rulling ?

[/ QUOTE ]

The dealer got it right. You want to bet the pot then go play PL where they will count the pot for you.

MarkGritter · #4 10-04-2007, 10:50 PM

I'm certain he would have ruled that you're not entitled to a count of the pot. Whether he lets you specify another bet size or not might vary.

Suppose you had said "I raise to a bajillion" and put out $100. Your bet would probably be ruled to be $100; you couldn't claim that "a bajillion" was a legal declaration of intent to raise, say, $80, or $1000.

In my mind, saying "I bet the pot" in a NL game is close to as meaningless as "I raise to a bajillion".

Seb86 · #5 10-04-2007, 10:54 PM

Well if you say "I raise 200$" and only put 100$ you still have to bet 200$ as what you say is more important than what you put in front of you.

So I figured it would be the same here. Btw how come you cant ask for the dealer to count the pot ? I asked for it once and he just shuffled the pot for me to see what chips was in but refused to count.

NickMPK · #6 10-04-2007, 11:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Well if you say "I raise 200$" and only put 100$ you still have to bet 200$ as what you say is more important than what you put in front of you.

So I figured it would be the same here. Btw how come you cant ask for the dealer to count the pot ? I asked for it once and he just shuffled the pot for me to see what chips was in but refused to count.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's just the rule. The dealer is only allowed to count the pot in a pot limit game. And how could you expect the dealer to know how much you were betting if he couldn't count the pot? (I suppose he would also be permitted to count the pot if there were an irregularity in order to ensure that the correct amount was in it.)

We allow counting the pot/making pot bets in my home game. Typically the bettor just reaches into the pot and stacks it himself if he want a count. But you can't do that in a casino.

Seb86 · #7 10-04-2007, 11:02 PM

Well I didnt knew at that time he couldnt count the pot.

esch · #8 10-04-2007, 11:24 PM

Damn BM newbie.

j/k. But yeah, "Pot" is not a meaningful bet in NL. And you can't ask for a count of the pot. The dealer can only spread it around so you can get a better look. So it's important for you to keep track of what goes in.

As to how this rule arose... no idea. I'm going to guess that all games are originally like this, and they made the adjustment to allow a pot count for PL games.

A little bit arbitrary, but nothing close to unfair. I think the dealer handled it correctly. Glad the lesson didn't cost you anything.

RR · #9 10-04-2007, 11:35 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The dealer can only spread it around so you can get a better look.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do not allow dealers to spread the pot. The dealer should not be touching the pot.

allbad · #10 10-04-2007, 11:53 PM

i've occasionally heard players say "i bet the pot" but follow it up with a "how much is in there, dealer?" and dealer usually responds with a quick "probably about 50" without even looking. It doesn't really matter how off the guess is either since 1.8 or 2.3 to 1 on your opponent's pot odds isn't that big a deal.