Declaring "Raise" and then deciding not to raise

[MonarchDon]

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[quote}I don't recall his exact words. But I understood him to mean that he was going to call any raise that I was going to make.

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You're obligated anyway, but if you want to avoid this, call out your exact bet amount/

BTW to all viewers; if his opponent says "I'm calling whatever it is," is he now obligated to call any bet???

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So he can't raise at that point? He may only call?

[Jeebus]

i do believe if you say i call anything before chips are placed out but after someone says raise, you are obligated to call anything with no raise. but i could be wrong.

[Stew]

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i do believe if you say i call anything before chips are placed out but after someone says raise, you are obligated to call anything with no raise. but i could be wrong.

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That's true, but he verbally announced his intent to Raise first, so he is bound to make at least the minimum raise possible.

So, in summary: Definitely inappropriate and someone should have forced you to stick by your originally announced intention.

[Drac]

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i do believe if you say i call anything before chips are placed out but after someone says raise, you are obligated to call anything with no raise. but i could be wrong.

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I don't think anything that comes out of his mouth is binding at that point as the action is not on him. It's like a guy with barely more than the BB left saying "I'm going to be all in this hand" as the cards are dealt and when the action gets to him he looks down at 7 2 off. He doesn't have to put his chips in. The exception to this is if he clearly says "I call" after the other player says raise, not "I'm going to call any raise" yada, yada, yada.

BTW, the initial issue clearly dictates the minimum raise be put in by the poster.

[Socrates]

You are required to raise. However, if you did not announce an amount, you are only obligated to raise the minimum. This is handy if you have a fast acting player to your left who acts before you put your chips out or declare the amount.

[Lottery Larry]

Yes, you were obligated to at least the minimum raise. What happened is a classic angle-shooting technique as I understand it.
The player behind you would be obligated to call any raised amount, if he said "I call your raise" If he said something about "we'll, I'm going to call you" then his action might be open to interpretation (and could be his own angle-shot)

[Lottery Larry]

What did he say exactly?

I think it barely mattered
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I think it mattered a LOT, as to whether the "caller" was committed to his action as well.

[Lottery Larry]

" if his opponent says "I'm calling whatever it is," is he now obligated to call any bet??? "

That would be my ruling, yes, if there is a house rule that verbal actions are binding.

[Lottery Larry]

"The exception to this is if he clearly says "I call" after the other player says raise, not "I'm going to call any raise" yada, yada, yada. "

I'm interested in your dividing line here. Is this true in any case, including this one where the verbal caller is next to act behind the verbal raiser?

Out of turn, I would say the verbal action isn't binding, unless this person was a regular problem with this (or trying to angle shoot on a regular basis). However, in-turn as it was here- a verbal "Raise" and a verbal "I'll call any raise"- I would say the caller's action IS binding, no matter what the raise amount is.

These types of out-of-turn or inappropriate verbal declarations need to be cut off IMHO. Punishing someone for part of their stack is a good way to kill off this problem.

edit- I might cut a newtimer or first-offender a break, but they'd definately be warned. The "raiser" would still be committed to a raise regardless.

[warewulf]

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" if his opponent says "I'm calling whatever it is," is he now obligated to call any bet??? "

That would be my ruling, yes, if there is a house rule that verbal actions are binding.

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Verbal action is binding in my game. If you say raise, you must raise the min. If he said I'm going to call or I call before you raise, not binding because you could push all in. If you say raise and he says all in immediately, you are required to raise the min. and he is required to go all in.

I also allow straddling which is cool action and screws with people -- straddling the big blind basically takes over the big blind. If the big blind is $1 and you straddle one left of the big blind with $2 (before cards are dealt), you have the option to raise when it comes back around. I think this is allowed in most casinos.