- Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament Rules. Calling the Clock - A player can request the pit boss to force a player to choose an action in a set amount of time (typically 90 seconds). If the player fails to act in that time, his or her hand is folded.
- In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing.Different games are played using different types of bets, and small variations in etiquette exist between cardrooms, but for the most part the following rules and protocol are observed by the majority of poker.
- Poker Rules Calling The Clock Online
- Poker Rules Calling The Clock 2017
- Poker Rules Calling The Clock Lyrics
- Poker Rules Calling The Clock Game
David Sands has retired, and yet, the poker tournament shot clock debate rages on.
During last week’s World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event, the players in the field were asked whether or not they felt that poker tournaments should implement a shot clock into the game, speeding up the decision making process and preventing the rampant Hollywooding that’s flooding the circuit today. The result was surprising. An overwhelming 80 percent of those polled believed that a shot clock should be used.
A round of betting takes place, beginning with the player to the left of the two who posted the blinds. Players can call, raise, or fold when it's their turn to bet. After the first betting round, the dealer discards the top card of the deck.
The WPT’s own Mike Sexton, a long-time advocate of a shot clock, believes that the tour may put them into service as early as 2015.
The benefits of a shot clock are obvious. When players make their decisions faster, the table is able to see more hands and as a result, the structure of the tournament improves. Short stacks can afford to breathe a little easier and be more patient. Players will no longer be forced to call the clock on their opponents and stalling, especially close to the money bubble, will be minimal.
The downside of a shot clock is the logistics involved with implementing them into the game and the initial cost for the casino or tour. Dealers will need to be trained to handle the additional job responsibilities, or more floor staff will be needed to police the time banks. Amateur players may also be intimidated by the new rules and avoid playing live poker as a result.
A poker purist would argue that the game has always and should always be self policed. After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? An optimist, however, may believe that a shot clock could spark the next mini poker boom. Here, were take a look at some of the pros and cons of the shot clock debate.
30-Second Shot Clock With Two 60-Second Time Banks
According to the WPT, the proposed shot clock would give players 30 seconds to act every turn, with an additional 60 seconds given for difficult decisions.
Pros: Players who learned the game online will be very comfortable with this process. The game is sped up and by the time the field has reached the money, the stacks will be deep enough to support more than just preflop poker.
Cons: Whose job is it to make sure a player doesn’t exceed their time limit? Is the dealer watching a tournament clock or does each player have a timer in front of them? Can a dealer declare a hand dead or will the floor have to get involved?
Shot Clock During Re-Entry Period Only
The shot clock would only be used during the registration period of re-entry and re-buy tournaments exclusively. Play would resume normally after the field is set.
Pros: Players looking to build a big stack or bust during the re-entry period would be able to see more hands and more entries may occur as a result, inflating the prize pool. Decisions made at the smaller blind levels shouldn’t take a long time anyway.
Cons: Players looking to avoid the shot clock may wait until just before the registration period ends, creating a flood of new players for tournament staff to seat.
Shot Clock In Major Tournaments Only
Poker Rules Calling The Clock Online
This idea would limit the shot clock to only participating big buy-in tournaments.
Pros: The players in these events are more seasoned professionals who could easily adapt to the rule change. Time is money and players who routinely put up thousands of dollars in buy-ins don’t want to waste theirs.
Cons: Amateur players who would have otherwise played in a major event are now intimidated and decide to stick to the lower stakes. As a result, the game experiences little growth at the higher stakes.
Shot Clock In Televised Events Only
Only televised events, or televised final tables would implement the shot clock.
Pros: Anyone who has watched an unedited, full live stream or broadcast of a poker tournament knows that 95 percent of the hands can be a little boring to even a poker savvy individual, let alone a newcomer. Throwing a shot clock into the mix would at least keep the action moving and might attract some new eyeballs.
Cons: A shot clock added into a tournament only when the cameras show up, which is generally late in the event or at the final table, would be putting pressure on the players at the worst possible time, when the big money is up for grabs.
What do you think? Should poker tournaments implement a shot clock? Let us know in the comments section below.
Most players learn poker’s explicit rules pretty quickly: the “one-chip rule,” for example, or “verbal declarations are binding.” But not everyone seems to have digested the game’s vast book of unwritten rules, admonitions like “don’t berate other players (particularly bad ones)” or “say ‘nice hand’ even when you mean something entirely different.”
Enter “The Rules Guy.” TRG believes that civility and sportsmanship are never wrong, and that bad behavior (even when you’re simply trying to get an edge) is bad for the game. What’s wrong? What’s right? What’s an angle? Got a question about how to behave at the poker table (or a comment about a column)? Email TRG at editor@cardplayer.com.
We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges
Dear The Rules Guy:
No one likes stalling poker players – not even the stallers like stalling poker players – but am I the only one who feels like a complete d-bag when it comes to calling the clock? How should I handle this? What’s the etiquette here, TRG?
—The Quintessentially Nice Guy
Dear TQNG:
As a quintessentially nice guy, TRG feels your pain, knows your pain, and wants to unburden you of your pain. The pain comes from fear of confrontation, and unless you’re a super-aggressive person, situations that smack of confrontation can be challenging in poker and in life.
Of course, at one level, poker is all about confrontation. We “attack” the blinds. We “force” players to make tough decisions for all their chips or for their tournament lives. Poker rewards aggressive confrontation and those of us not predisposed to it can find it decidedly uncomfortable. To some players, even a standard raise or a straightforward position move can feel uncomfortably aggressive. But we learn to function this way in order to play the game; it comes easier for some.
Still, calling the clock can be over-the-top confrontational, and very “in your face.” It’s pretty easy to say, “That’s a string bet” or “Could you not show your cards to your neighbor?”—but calling the clock? Feels pretty aggro.
Poker Rules Calling The Clock 2017
It should not be. It need not be. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Keith Lehr has it exactly right in the Tweet posted above, heartily endorsed by Tournament Director extraordinaire Matt Savage. Poker doesn’t need a shot clock. Poker doesn’t need dealers checking the tournament clock, their watch, or their iPhone. Poker needs other players to step up and speak out.
Calling the clock is not a taboo; it’s a tool. Use it. Policing ourselves is part of the game.
There are lots of precedents for the notion of self-policing in poker. Players are expected to point out errors and call out misdeals, incomplete bets and string bets – and this is widely practiced and generally accepted. Players are even expected to point out the winning hand (among tabled hands) if the dealer misreads the cards. Calling the clock should be no more aggro than pointing out a string-bet. In fact, TRG believes it’s our obligation as players to make the game run smoothly and fairly; letting errors in dealing or betting go unnoticed does neither.
If we let players string-bet, we damage the game by opening an angle (of course, some players are just guilty of cluelessness; it won’t take them long to learn how to make a proper raise and take a step towards having a clue).
When we let players stall, by not saying anything, we facilitate their ability to slow the game down, which hurts winning players in the short-term and hurts the game as a whole in the long-term. How can poker attract new players in the “Twitch Era” when it’s played at a shuffleboard pace? Stalling may be good for the staller, but it’s horrible for poker, so call the damn clock, already.
But you must demonstrate judgment. You should call a string-bet 100 percent of the time if you see it (if you’re wrong, no real harm done), but you should not call the clock 100 percent of the time, because it won’t always be obvious that someone is stalling. Compare these two scenarios:
OK to call a clock: Level 2 of a deep stack tournament with blinds at 25-50, and the under-the-gun player has tanked for a full minute before folding in three consecutive orbits. This time: Call the clock after one minute (which is more slack than he deserves, but is clearly reasonable and completely justified).
Not OK to call a clock: On the final table bubble of a televised event, and the big blind is facing an all-in bet. If the big blind is tanking, there’s probably a good reason, and you should respect that.
Obviously, the right course of action at these extreme ends of the spectrum should be obvious to anyone. So TRG will clarify:
1. Give every player the benefit of the doubt for one or two hands or orbits. Trust TRG on this: This will give you a very clear sense of whether someone could be tanking.
2. Give every player in every hand one minute before you even consider calling the clock – and longer in the later stages of an event or at inflection points like the money bubble, the final table bubble, or big money jumps. Even in the early stages, you don’t want to be calling the clock all the time, which is a slow process itself. (TDA Rule #27: “A clock will be approved only after reasonable time passes.” “Reasonable” is reasonably vague.)
Poker Rules Calling The Clock Lyrics
3. Be polite, not confrontational. Just ask the dealer for a clock or, if you must, say, “I’m sorry, but I’m going to ask for a clock here.” (Not that you have anything to apologize for! It’s just easier for quintessentially nice guys to say sorry first; you know, like the English who apologize for everything: Someone smashes their car in a parking lot. Posh English guy: “Sorry, was my motor in your way?”)
Poker Rules Calling The Clock Game
4. Don’t abuse the responsibility. Again: You’d call out a string-bet 100 percent of the time. You won’t be calling for a clock anywhere near that often.
Note that these guidelines suggest a reasonable length of time to wait before calling the clock. This does not and cannot mean you should take anywhere near a full 60 seconds to act in routine situations. Acting quickly – say from 10 to 15 seconds for routine decisions – is not only good for the game, it’s also good for you when you do need extra time. You’ll have banked some goodwill. If you’re a slow player or a particularly deliberate one, choose your tanking spots wisely. Concerned about timing tells? Learn how to make reasonable actions in 20–30 seconds. Most players will then give you whatever time you need (within reason); if you routinely use a minute or more, expect to have the clock called on you. Daniel Negreanu has said, in effect, he gives players one free pass, but then calls the clock quickly and often if they routinely tank.
We don’t need no stinking badges, and we don’t need no shot clock – if we all exercise our judgment and responsibility in keeping the game moving at a reasonable pace.
And finally, to players who tank in order to tilt other players: That’s just wrong. You will succeed in tilting people, surely, but you’ll never be invited to TRG’s home game. ♠