Asking how much money is in the pot??

thirteen · #1 08-10-2006, 09:04 AM

I'm a B&M n00b, so bear with me. Are you allowed to ask the dealer how much is in the pot?

Will he give you a ballpark and will it be accurate?

I know the dealer can't count out the pot as it would slow the game but being an internet player i'm not used to having to keep track of what's in the pot.

Precept2 · #2 08-10-2006, 09:11 AM

I think the dealer can only count it (or give you a count) for your if you're playing Pot Limit.

Otherwise, you can ask him to spread the pot so you can estimate it on your own.

ungarop · #3 08-10-2006, 09:13 AM

I think they can tell you in a pot-limit game.

In limit or no-limit, the dealer should not be telling you how much is in the pot, nor should any other player for that matter.

I played in a game once where a player went into the tank facing a pretty big bet from me on the turn and was visibly trying to count the pot and do the math. Without prompting, the dealer blurted out the pot size. That deserved a swift kick in the nuts.

youtalkfunny · #4 08-10-2006, 09:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Otherwise, you can ask him to spread the pot so you can estimate it on your own.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure! Be sure to invite him to palm a few chips, since his hands are in there for no good reason!

aggie · #5 08-10-2006, 09:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Sure! Be sure to invite him to palm a few chips, since his hands are in there for no good reason!

[/ QUOTE ]

The worst time a dealer could possibly attempt to palm chips is when everybody is watching him spread the chips.

RR · #6 08-10-2006, 10:08 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Sure! Be sure to invite him to palm a few chips, since his hands are in there for no good reason!

[/ QUOTE ]

The worst time a dealer could possibly attempt to palm chips is when everybody is watching him spread the chips.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good procedures are for the dealer to not spread the pot, anytime he puts his hands in there he coudl palm some chips.

The ones that are good at palming chips could do it with everyone watching him. This is an area where a lot of live games are protected because both the people playing and supervising greatly underestimate the abilities of an experienced thief/cheat. In the old days a lot of players in the largest games understood this and colelctively the table would make sure procedures were followed. Today sometimes people are playing live poker for the first time and playing games where a single chip can represent anhours wages (or more) to the dealer, so that gives the dealer a lot of incentive to steal a chip or two. The only way to be certain the dealer isn't taking chips is to make sure his hande never "cover" the pot. When he pushed chips into the pot he should slide them so they push into the side of the pot, he should never pick htem up and put them in the pot etc.

AKQJ10 · #7 08-10-2006, 12:33 PM

The other day at some cardroom, I forget where but probably in AC, I saw a player ask the dealer to count the pot, and the dealer complied. I knew from threads on here that this was wrong but kept quiet for to prevent nittiness detection.

Kevin1962 · #8 08-10-2006, 01:03 PM

In limit you don't really need to ask ---- the dealer anounces the number of players before dealing the flop, turn and river. 6 players preflop in a 2/4 game is $12-13 (depending on what the SB does)minimum unless there are raises. This is why you should pay attention regardless of whether you are in the hand or not. Keep track of the pot size and the bets, figure out the nuts hand would be after the flop, turn, etc and whether the pot odds justify a call is major part of playing poker. Yes, its a game and its supposed to be fun, but games are alot more fun when you are winning versus losing so work at it.

Photoc · #9 08-10-2006, 03:53 PM

To the OP.

Here is the discussion we had about 3 weeks ago. It's a nice 2 pages of informaion.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1

thirteen · #10 08-10-2006, 04:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
To the OP.

Here is the discussion we had about 3 weeks ago. It's a nice 2 pages of informaion.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you. I admittedly did not do a thorough search before posting. This looks like a good thread.

Thank you to everyone for the reply. I figured the dealer was not supposed count the pot as it would slow the game.

I play primarily NLHE, but other than online play I only play in an occasional home game. So my live experience is very limited and I'm not great at being able to count up the pot on the fly.

I'm concerned that during my first experience at a casino I'll be too distracted trying to follow the action to keep track of the pot amount and wasn't sure if it's acceptable to ask the dealer.