should i speak up or keep quiet

[Mikey]

I witnessed this in a hand at the poker table at the Tropican in AC.

I'm not involved in the hand but the player to my right is.

3 people were involved in the hand and the player to my right is in the middle of the action. We'll call that player JOHN.

Now this is what happened.

On the river Seat 1 bet out(an elderly lady), John was in seat 5 and called.
Seat 10 raised, Seat 1 reraised, now the dealers head is on a complete 180 degree swivle, back and forth watching seat 10 as he raised and counting out his chips since he didn't put in enough, now the dealer looks back at Seat 1 (an elderly lady) who reraised and then back to seat 10.

As her head is going back and forth Seat 5 (JOHN) grabs his chips back and folds his hand. He takes his chips and puts them back on his stack and flicks his cards towards the dealer.

That money that he called with on the river shold have obviously stayed in there and I'm the only one who saw it.
I wanted to say something, but I didn't.

As I watched the elderly lady stack her chips I felt bad but I didn't say anything since the pot was now $15 short.

I wanted to say something but I wasn't sure if it was my place to say it.

I think i did something wrong.

What do you think?

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Mikey:

I would have spoken up. The reason for this is that you don't want that person playing poker where you do. If he has taken that type of shot once, he's probably done it many times. Not only would I speak up, but I would demand that he be thrown out of the poker room.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Mikey]

Mason I agree completely with what you say, but there is a flip side to the coin.

The man


1) sees about 95% of the flops
2) sees about 85% of the turn
3) sees the river 75% of the time
4) calls with something, nothing, or close to nothing about 75% of the time on the river.

Although he is a complete donator would you still recommend he be thrown out of the room or should we keep him so we can feed off of him, I should have included this in the oringinal post.

Would you say that the above changes anything or should we still boot him since he has a low standard of ethics.

I'm still confused.

Keep him or boot him?

[Schmed]

Why wouldn't you say something???? This guy is angling an old lady. Not only should you have said something you should have called the floor over and had him removed from your table.

[Dynasty]

You should consider the possibility that it was an absent-minded mistake. On a couple occassions, I've folded my big blind to a raise (nobody else in the pot besides the raiser) and have grabbed my chips to put them back in the stack as if it were a chop. Of course, I quickly realized that the chips didn't belong to me.

[Schmed]

Absolutely, but certainly if you see someone even make the mistake you should say something. I guess my response was assuming that I was sure the guy was angling.

[bernie]

i wouldve said something. your not helping anyone in a hand, but you are helping police the cardroom.

you can also tell the floorman off to the side so they can check the tapes. that way they can make it look like the camera picked it up and the guy wont suspect you. if your worried about that.

speak up man...it couldve been done in your pot

b

[Easy E]

If you were the lady, wouldn't YOU want to know when someone was stealing from YOUR pot?

[Easy E]

Mikey, just because he's a donor (while, admittedly, I would address this problem differently than if I KNEW he was a tight angle-shooter), doesn't mean that you can allow this to happen.

Mention to the guy that he "accidently" took out his bet. If he doesn't react properly, drop the hammer.

If he's a donor, you can always find him at another table. But this kind of thing in others' hands, assuming John's was an innocent mistake, should be squashed.

Either way, speak up.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I've done it, too. Pulled my cards out from under the card protector, tossed them in the muck and without looking, grabbed my bet instead of the card protector. Pretty embarassing.