Oversized chip rule when big blind has the option

[brec]

[Of interest primarily to poker tournament rules aficionados. Everything below in square brackets is my own annotations.]

Matt Savage is one of the principals of the Poker Tournament Directors Association. On Twitter, where he is @SavagePoker, Matt is the go-to guy for poker tournament rules issues and questions. Recently Matt tweeted:#

Comments

[adbploink]

I agree with Matt that it is ambiguous and perhaps the wording of the oversized chip rule needs to be changed. I think the biggest issue here is the potential for angle shoot. What about this scenario where it is folded to SB who completes and BB then does the action you purport (changes T200 to a single T500 chip). The SB goes to check raise and the BB then says "No, I only wanted change" and now has gained additional information about the relative strength of SB's hand. Worse still the, the SB could muck thinking it was a raise while the BB has not risked any additional chips at all. Wouldn't you then try this angle every time

[brec]

On the angle shoot: It's clear to me that the BB cannot change his/her action from a raise (which it clearly is) to a call by a statement made after the physical action. This is the same principle that requires a player who is facing a bet or blind and who wants to raise with a single oversized chip to verbalize before the chip hits the felt.

Your situation with Warren is dissimilar because you were subject to the Oversized Chip Betting rule as you were facing a bet, i.e., Warren's raise. I would say it was a call, but I agree that your retrieving the 100 muddies the water and I'm less certain about this case. Which reminds me that...

More generally (H/T to Jack Fox on this) the practice of players (blinds) removing chips from the pot should be banned, but good luck on accomplishing that. It's routine for a blind to put out a raise-multi-chip, no question it's a raise-and bring back the blind amount. The pull-back, if allowed, should be required to be done first. But again, good luck enforcing that.

[adbploink]

I would agree with you on the angle shoot, but without clarity it will happen and will cause delays and uncertainty. It should be obvious that the better solution is to clarify the rule wording, as you suggested

[brec]

As an aside...once the bet was in front of me it was two chips
It's well-established that the Oversized Chip Betting rule applies to the small blind. That is, it's not how many chips end up in front, but how many are placed into the pot by the action. The action of a blind is what is done in turn, not including posting the blind.