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You are the Tournament Director Series 2: Is His Hand Dead?

This was posted on the Gutshot poker forum:

Recently at my poker society I had to give a difficult ruling:
6 handed at the moment
Players 1 and 2 are in the blinds
Player 6 on the button

Player 3 and 4 fold
Player 5 does not act
Player 6 folds
Player 1 completes the SB
Player 2 moves in from the BB
RULING!
Player 5 wants to call

I gave the ruling that his hand is dead, as so much action has taken place where he has not mentioned to everyone on the table that he is still has cards

What is the correct ruling?

Danny
Given the lapse in time prior to the player acting I would bring back the actions of the small and big blind and go back to Player 5 and allow him all options.

Thomas
More than 2 actions have taken place and Player 5 has not said anything to protect his right to act – Dead hand!

Matt
CORRECT………Dead hand, if the player that had not spoken up to announce that he has not acted before two people acted than his hand is dead.

Roy
His hand's dead. He's got to let the dealer know as soon as it's passed him by. He can't let it go round three players.

Luke
The ruling here would be very situational. I would ask the dealer if the action had occurred too fast for Player 5 to act, if yes I would allow Player 5 to call but if Player 5 had sufficient time to act then his hand would be folded.

Mel
The ruling is, if two or more players have acted and the player in seat 5 has not tried to stop the action in time, or if he is on the button and the big blind has completed his action, his hand is now dead.

Mob Verdict

Most of our Tournament Directors agree here that the player in seat 5 has taken too long to say anything and that with three players completing action after him his hand is now dead. Luke makes a good point saying that it would be ‘situational’ and the time factor is important which is fair enough.

Danny brings the action back and we assume that if the action is the same to Players 6, 1 and 2 that they have to act the same. If the action is different then the players can change their action. This would be fair only if the three players acted so quickly that the player in seat 5 had no real opportunity to act which in reality is unlikely.

Although it is always good to have a clear and consistent rule there are situations where two or three actions can happen simultaneously particularly if say players are either side of a dealer. Two or three players to act is a good rule of thumb but as Luke points out all situations are different.

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