Interesting ruling..

[Chipr777]

Player "A", at the turn, bets 5 stacks of red into a $1600 pot. Player "B" asks the dealer how much. The dealer replies with $500. Player "B" goes into the tank for a while and calls. As the river is dealt another player speaks up and says the stacks don't look right. The 5 stacks the dealer said was $500 was actually $625, the stacks were 25 high. Chaos ensues as player "A" say's he never said an amount when he pushed the chips in and it was the dealers responsibility to COUNT the stacks before stating an amount. Does the $500 "stated" bet stand or should player "B" have to put the other $125 in the pot? My ruling to follow after discussion.

[img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]
I think it's an angle shot. When the dealer didn't count/verify the chips and the bettor didn't correct the dealer's guess, the bet stands at $500.

BTW, this is purely a stab in the dark. I don't know where the hell you'd find the answer and I've never seen it happen.

[Chipr777]

There's no poker rulebook that can run through every situation you come across. You can learn the basics but the rest is common sence.

I was using what common sense I have when I made the call I did. It seemed, to me, fair and in keeping with the rules I do know.

If you were a lawyerly type and had access to all the casino's Procedures Books, you could probably put together a series of arguments. I agree with the OP about the dealer's laxity in not noticing the heighth of the stack.

Good post.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

First off, I made my decision assuming no angle shot was being taken.

Second, you are right, a lawyerly type could complicate this situation greatly. That's why the detailed rules of a cardroom are a protected internal document that only supervisors have access to. Dealers are usually given a copy of the rules, but the version the floor has is often more detailed. Few rooms make any of this available to players, and they are smart not to do so.

al

[IceKing]

I would say the bet is $500. A player is responsible to protect his action. If dealer says its 500, and bettor doesnt say a word, then the bet is 500. If he wanted to bet 625, then he should have said something.

BTW - How is this possible? Is the dealer half blind? Difference between 20 and 25 chips is HUGE. And dealer should always open one stack, unless he is 100% sure its 20.

[Chipr777]

Bingo. The player is responsible for protecting his action. Period. The time the other player went into the tank was ample time for him to notice.

[CardSharpCook]

The player is also obliged to keep his chips in 20 chip stacks. The FAQ told me so. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Last guy at my table who tried to stack them in anything other than stacks of 20, well...

I kicked him in the nuts. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

al

Its a tough call to make. Obviously the biggest mistake made here was by the dealer. People here seem to place the second blame on player A for not correcting the dealer. I agree that he has a responsibility to do this. But no one here seems to place any blame on player B. It seems to me that Player B shares some blame as well, after all he asked how much the bet was and then accepted the dealers answer even though it had to be obvious that the dealer had not actually counted the chips. he may be least blameworthy but he does have to share in the blame.

Since the consensus here is that the original bet should be reduced to the amount announced by the dealer, let me ask you if you make the same ruling in this scenario.

Player A announces pushes out a single stack of red. Dealer does not break down the stack, but announces the bet as "$100" Player B calls. It turns out that Player As stack in fact was $105.

Should the bet now be reduced to $100?

If not? why should this be handled any different than the original case? Is it based on the amount of of money? If so how much is the limit? Would it make a difference if the chips were $1000 chips instead of $5 chips?