Is this an action you have seen?
I apologize that I don't remember the exact details, but I hope the summary is enough.
I'm in a low stakes tournament and we're in one of the early rounds (maybe round 5).
I'm the Big Blind and there are a few limpers to the Small Blind. S/He puts out a couple of chips and I have a brain fart and see it as completing the bet. In reality it was a raise. As I said, I had had a brain fart.
UTG acted, Dealer wanted to clarify my action and wound up allowing me to fold and the hand continued (results irrelevant)
A couple of rounds later I was talking with UTG and he indicated that he interpreted my tapping of the table to be a call of the raise.
Is that a valid assumption? Have you ever seen anybody tap the table to indicate accepting action? Especially when that would not close the action for that betting round?
My total tournament experience is, at most, 2000 hands so the fact that I've never seen it isn't at all indicative of anything
Thanks ............
17 Replies
Nope. Tapping the table is considered a check as far as I've ever seen.
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The more veteran players might be able to confirm, but I have heard that waaaaay back in the day, verbalizing "check" while facing a bet was synonymous with a call. It evolved to be distinct. Maybe that was his reasoning.
Regardless, nearly zero players in a modern context would interpret your tapping as being aware of and calling the action. Nearly everyone would assume that you were attempting to check your option. UTG is being weird.
If you already had a big chip out that was enough to cover the raise, I would also think you're calling. Players do that a lot to indicate a call.
If you check, not knowing there had been a raise, you would still have the option to call or fold, but not raise. TDA added that rule recently. Previously, you would have all options.
If there had been significant action after your check, you'd be subject to a random ruling.
I'm pretty sure I just had the amount of the blind if front of me but .......
Egregious omission or not, In all likelihood I WOULD have forgotten to include that detail since I never would have realized its relevance.
Thanks to everyone who posted. I appreciate the information.
Yes, if your BB chip(s) covered the raise, I'd 100% consider your tap to be a call. Otherwise, no.
What kind of checker are you? Tap table or loudly say CHECK
So there's a rule that anything you say verbally is equivalent to you putting that amount of chips out in front of you. If you say "check" when your chip covers the raise, is that the equivalent of putting your hand out on the felt over the chip and tapping the table?
Verbal rules
Toss out calling chips then a second later say raise and see how well that works for your verbal rules.
So there's a rule that anything you say verbally is equivalent to you putting that amount of chips out in front of you. If you say "check" when your chip covers the raise, is that the equivalent of putting your hand out on the felt over the chip and tapping the table?
No. Tapping the table can have multiple meanings, but saying "check" can only mean one thing. The dealer should stop the action and point out that you are facing a raise.
So tapping the table can mean something else than "check"?
Yes, as noted above, it can mean "call" when you have an oversize chip out there already that covers a raise made since you put it out (as a blind, or as a call of an earlier bet or raise).
Ok, but if the BB put the exact blind amount and, come back his turn, just tap the table because he didn't notice there was a raise, he isn't forced to call, is he?
No, because it only has one meaning in that scenario, and the action that it means is invalid.
