Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Betting and Raising

1. Check-raise is permitted in all games, except in certain forms of lowball.

2. In no-limit and pot-limit games, unlimited raising is allowed.

3. In limit poker, for a pot involving three or more players who are not all-in, there is a maximum of a bet and three raises all owed.

4. Unlimited raising for money games is allowed in heads-up play. This applies any time the action becomes heads-up before the ra ising has been capped. Once the raising is capped on a betting round, it cannot be uncapped by a subsequent fold that leaves two pla yers heads-up. For tournament play, the three raise maximum for limit poker applies when heads-up as well.

5. In limit play, an all-in wager of less than half a bet does not reopen the betting for any player who has already acted and is in the pot for all previous bets. A player facing less than half a bet can fold, call, or complete the wager. An all-in wager of a half a bet or more is treated as a full bet, and a player may fold, call, or make a full raise. (An example of a full raise is on a $20 betting round, raising a $15 all-in bet to $35).

6. Any wager must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise in that round, unless a player is going all-in.

7. The smallest chip that can be wagered in a game is the smallest chip used in the antes or blinds. Smaller chips than this do n ot play even in quantity, so a player wanting action on such chips must change them up between deals. If betting is in dollar units or greater, a fraction of a dollar does not play. A player going all-in must put all chips that play into the pot.

8. A verbal statement in turn denotes your action and is binding. If in turn you verbally declare a fold, check, bet, call, or ra ise, you are forced to take that action.

9. Rapping the table in turn with your hand is a pass.

10. Deliberately acting out of turn is not tolerated. A player who checks out of turn may not bet or raise on the next turn to ac t. An action or verbal declaration out of turn may be ruled binding if there is no bet, call, or raise by an intervening player acti ng after the infraction has been committed.

11. To retain the right to act, a player must stop the action by announcing ?time? (or an equivalent word). Failure to stop the act ion before three or more players have acted behind you may cause you to lose the right to act. You cannot forfeit your right to act if any player in front of you has not acted, only if you fail to act when it legally becomes your turn. Therefore, if you wait for s omeone whose turn comes before you, and three or more players act behind you, this still does not hinder your right to act.

12. A player who bets or calls by releasing chips into the pot is bound by that action. However, if you are unaware that the pot has been raised, you may withdraw that money and reconsider your action, provided that no one else has acted after you.

13. In limit poker, if you make a forward motion into the pot area with chips and thus cause another player to act, you may be fo rced to complete your action.

14. String raises are not allowed. To protect your right to raise, you should either declare your intention verbally or place the proper amount of chips into the pot. Putting a full bet plus a half-bet or more into the pot is considered to be the same as announ cing a raise, and the raise must be completed. (This does not apply in the use of a single chip of greater value.)

15. If you put a single chip in the pot that is larger than the bet, but do not announce a raise, you are assumed to have only ca lled. Example: In a $3-$6 game, when a player bets $6 and the next player puts a $25 chip in the pot without saying anything, that p layer has merely called the $6 bet.

16. All wagers and calls of an improperly low amount must be brought up to proper size if the error is discovered before the bett ing round has been completed. This includes actions such as betting a lower amount than the minimum bring-in (other than going all-i n) and betting the lower limit on an upper limit betting round. If a wager is supposed to be made in a rounded off amount, is not, a nd must be corrected, it shall be changed to the proper amount nearest in size. No one who has acted can change a call to a raise be cause the wager size has been changed.

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