At the movies, maybe, but it's still illegal
26 April 2004
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
At our newly formed Thursday night poker club, I
was informed that I couldn't call a bet, and
then raise. I used these words; "I'll call your
$20, and raise you another $20." Someone
objected and said that I couldn't do that. I
have seen this form of betting many times
before, so enlighten me, am I wrong? Jeb S.
Where you have seen "I'll call your twenty,
partner, then after a swig of JD, the gambler
utters, I'll raise you another twenty" is most
likely at the movies. You wouldn't witness "I'll
call you twenty, and raise you another twenty"
on Travel Channel's World Poker Tour or ESPN's
World Series of Poker.
Calling a bet, then digging back into your chip
pile and declaring a raise is called a
string-raise. String-raising is never permitted
in the above-mentioned tournaments nor public
poker games.
String-raising allows a player to read the
reactions of anyone already in the pot, or the
feedback of active players yet to bet. No
legitimate poker game would allow a player to
put some chips in the pot, then decide to raise
if he feels he has a better hand by how he just
read his opponent(s). The hesitation in the
betting action is the illegal part of the move.
If someone makes a string-raise, a dealer will
inform the player that a string-raise has just
occurred, and that player will have to withdraw
their raise and just call the bet.
If you want to raise, Jeb, just declare "raise,"
then go to your stack of chips and count the
correct amount of chips needed and make the
wager in one continuous motion.
Here's a tip for string-raises at a kitchen
table game. If someone states "string-raise,"
but another player says, "It's okay by me, let
it stand," you'll first want to agree with no
string-raising, but you'll also want to FOLD.
Even the two pair you might be sitting on is
probably DOA. The player who allowed the
string-raise in all probability has the nuts; an
absolute cinch hand.
Dear Mark,
Can the casino change the odds of getting
certain hands in video poker? For example, a
player never being able to get a royal flush.
Roger H.
Many players, Roger, erroneously believe that
the casino can change the odds of video poker by
changing an internal chip so that the player
cannot acquire a royal flush, or even limit how
many four-of-a-kinds and straight flushes they
get. Nothing, Roger, could be further from the
truth. If a casino was ever caught doing what
your question suggests, they would probably lose
their gaming license faster than you can say,
"lose their gaming license."
In Nevada, where you play, all the chips are
encrypted with a source code that's controlled
by the gaming control board and the
manufacturer, not casino management. The slot
manager has no access to the source code to
change the odds of the game.
The reason a royal flush is elusive, Roger, is
because the odds of hitting one are almost
50,000 to one.
Gambling quote of the week: "A lot of good
players never get to the top because when they
get ahead in a game they start to feel sorry for
their opponent. They ease up on him instead of
kicking him when he is down. You've got to look
at it this way: If you are playing your
grandmother a fifty-point game, try to beat her
fifty to nothing." Dan McGoorty, as told to
Robert Bryne, McGoorty (1972)
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