1st time ever calling a string bet.

[bernie]

i've never done it before as usually i dont really care. especially with newer players. hell, theyre just trying to get chips in the pot without spraying them all over the table.

but today, i was in a pissy mood. it was one of those sessions where you win the 1st pot, then lose for 2 hours. then get moved to the main game, win the 1st pot, then lose for another hour and a half. getting snapped off and all. it sucked.

so im stuffing my yap with rice, get a hand, bet it the whole way and get raised by a guy on the end who'se been defiantly putting his chips in calling me. this guy is also a frickin slob. up to his wrist pickin his nose and then trying to discreetly wipe it on his pants or flick it on the floor behind him. it was gross!!! im talking digging for gold here. the 'cover the first knuckle and rotate in the nostril' move. he wasnt a A-hole or anything, but cmon man, call for a tissue or take 2 hands off and go blow your frickin nose. sick bastard.

well, when he raised the river, he used 2 hands to put his chips in, joining them together in 2 neat little piles. sitting all proud of his great catch on the river. god knows what's on those chips. i know he has me beat, but i dont feel like paying an extra bet to see his kicker. (i wanted to see what he coldcalled my preflop raise with)

he'd been doing this quite a bit too. making a show of his raising prowess. maybe got the idea from WPT, who knows.

so as soon as the 2 little stacks of chips click, i call it, 'string bet!'. the dealer was kind of miffed as he never had seen that called as a string bet. a floorperson had clued me in on it long ago. everyone was like, WTF? string bet? floor was called, mostly just to confirm it as again, no one had heard that before. yes, it was a string bet, here's why, blah blah. one guy claimed in his 40 years of playing he's never seen or heard of that being a stinger.

guy starts bemoaning how he's been doing it all day and no one called him on it. i calmly said, 'well, i just did.'

he seemed to keep an eye on me for quite awhile after that. i didnt have anything against him personally, other than his hygiene habit, he seemed like an ok guy. i just happen to be in a dark mood.

didnt really make me feel any better afterward either. actually, i felt like kind of a dick as the next hand got underway.

oh well. screw 'em. it was just one of those days.

thank god i busted out and got to leave early. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

b

[The Dude]

I think calling out a string raise when it is obvious angle shooting is not happening is inappropriate. Especially when it's on a technicality - not even the prototypical string raise.

Just because your frustrated you haven't won a hand in 2 hours doesn't mean you have the right to not be raised on the river.

[Ulysses]

bernie, I've read many posts from you about how important you think it is to be nice to the fishy new players at the table. And many posts about how much you dislike players who try to educate the table.

I think taking advantage of a new player who is putting in what is a clear raise to be worse behavior and worse for the game than those two things.

[LetsRock]

Just because he used 2 hands, doesn't make it astring bet. If he moved both hands out at the same time, it's a legal raise. (I'm just going by YOUR description.)

Get over yourself.

[bernie]

by the definition of a couple floormen, he'd have to say raise as he uses both hands. it may be different in other rooms.

[ QUOTE ]
Get over yourself.


[/ QUOTE ]

whatever, this means...
ive already admonished myself for it.

b

[bernie]

you're right. which is why i felt like an A-Hole about it later on. as i said, i have never called a stringer before for the reason you state. i see it as petty for the most part. im usually the one defending the new guys and donators.

i slipped a little. i doubt if ill ever call it again for a long while, if i ever do again. as i mentioned, i didnt gain any satisfaction out of it.

b

[bernie]

dead on. and i couldnt agree more.

what i shouldve done is call for some kleenex.

b

[Runner Runner]

C'mon you gotta love the string bet!!! In the room I normally play in that stuff is not allowed so when someone does it to me in a homegame, or even in a poker room where the rules are a little more lax, I always take the opportunity to do it right back to someone when I get the chance. Saying "call and raise" makes me feel like Paul Newman in "The Sting", or you could do the old western movie move: " I see your 5, (big pause for effect) and raise you another 5!" Great stuff!!!

[youtalkfunny]

I've worked in the pit, in the sports book, and in the poker room, and I've concluded...

...that for some reason, the poker room attracts all the mental cases!

Glad to see you in the psych forum, Bernie. I take that as a sign that you KNOW you need help.

BTW, any floorman who rules two handfuls of chips moving forward together as a string bet doesn't know what he's talking about. What *is* a string bet?

--"You can't bring some chips out, and then go back to your stack for more."

--"You've got to bring all your chips out at once, or else announce how many chips you plan to bring in."

The action you described doesn't violate either of these commonly accepted definitions.

And in any event, in this "WPT Era" of poker, more leeway should be given to beginners with these obscure rules. What's wrong with a warning the first time?

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
im usually the one defending the new guys and donators.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was why I was so surprised. Looks like you agree, though, so don't sweat it. You got frustrated at the poker table. It happens.