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You are the Tournament Director: Chips in Play or Not?

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Situation: a player sits down in a NLH cash game with a walkman, a Starbucks coffee and a packet of cigarettes. He puts his chips on the table and plays a few hands. The chips in front of him amount to about $1500. He passes for a few minutes until he gets involved in a big pot heads up. He bets $500 and his opponent raises $1000 announcing that he wants to set him in. The new player, who has the nuts by the way, now produces a $5000 chip that was behind his cigarette packet. His opponent objects. How do you rule?

Matt:
One of the reasons why I never allow all these walk mans, even napkins on the tables, you know or all these things, especially in a cash game. I would not allow that chip to play because it was out of vision of the players and again that’s another good rule we’ve made in tournaments is that you must keep your largest chip, you know, visible so I would not allow that to play. 

Thomas:
If the 5000 chip was behind the cigarette packet, I would not allow to play it in this hand. I would ask him to remove everything but the chips from the table.

Jack:
$5000 chip does not play. New player did not have chip in plain sight or announce its presence. 

Liam:
I haven’t been a poker room manager so I don’t run cash games. If it was me just from a personal point of view the 5000 chips shouldn’t play but I don’t play cash games and don’t rule on cash games.

Mel:
All chips must be at the front in view for other people to see how much they are playing. I would rule that as it’s not in view the other person is all in and the $5000 chip is not in play.

Marty:
It’s a stroke from the player with the cigs, but the other guy should have checked with him first how many chips he had. This is a thing that happens regularly, it’s a form of cheating from the guy with the 5K chip but if he’d been asked he would have had to declare it in play. I would allow the 5000 to play but the dealer be reminded to ensure players keep their chips in view. If he’s announced “I’ll set you all” in he must set him all in – the verbal declaration is binding. It’s the dealer’s job to make sure the chips are in view and this has been happening for years. This is negligence from the dealer I think.

The Mob Verdict

In tournament play tournament directors and floor men, as well as dealers and other players, are constantly asking for all big chips to be in clear view. In the WSOP 2006 it was a rule that the biggest denomination chips were actually placed on the top of the chip stack. In cash games this rule is not so often enforced but maybe it should be. All of our TD’s agree here that the chip doesn’t play, all of them that is except Marty.

Marty acknowledges that the player is pulling a ‘stroke’ but says that the chip plays because had he been asked he would have had to ‘declare it in play’. It is a little unfair to push the burden of one player making all his chips visible to everyone else having to ask if there are any more in play.

The most sensible rule is that the chip doesn’t play and we would watch this player in the future as well as make sure that he doesn’t clutter the table up with personal belongings.

There is even an argument that nothing, except for the chips and the cards, should be allowed on top of the poker table.

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