VERBAL DECLARATIONS AND TABLE BANTER
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009It seems in a game of poker any player can land in themselves into trouble if they do not differentiate between what is table banter and what is actually their own next move. It seems that there has been a reported incident during the GUKPT poker tournament that was held in Brighton, that has incidentally caused a lot of controversy about whether that particular poker tournaments rules should change or not.
The incident that occurred was between players Ian Frazer and Priyan De Mel. It seems that during a hand the two players had been dealt the one river card and what happened afterwards became somewhat questionable. After the card had been dealt both players picked up a number of chips at the same time, not one of them verbally made a bet and incidentally the picked up chips did not cross any line. However has the tension rose and the testosterone came into full swing Priyan then said I got to call. Frazer then stopped and asked the dealer if the verbal remark stood as an actual action. The dealer did question whether it did or not, but eventually agreed that the remark did stand and therefore Priyans bet was forced into the pot.
However the controversy is, was that Frazer then, whether sincere or not, over bet the pot to 37000 chips. Priyan was then forced to call and put his chips into the pot as well. Furthermore, Frazer then won the pot and the hand then ended. When playing online poker, this kind of occurance is avoided.
It seems despite the online casinos tournaments rules that many people felt that because verbal banter was on going throughout this game, it could have been an easy remark made out of turn and/or perhaps an outspoken thought. However it has been reported that there is a rule that has been taken from the GUKPT website in which it states,
rule 44 Verbal declarations in turn are binding, verbal declarations out of turn will be binding if the action to that player has not changed when it is their turn to act, check, call or fold is not considered an action change.
Due to this incident many players and avid poker supporters are now arguing whether or not this rule should still stand as it is very easy to outwardly make remarks in the heat of the moment that in effect do not mean anything of substance.
