Calling the clock
Reading the WPT updates I see that Gabe Thaler has called the clock on at least 2 occasions, neither of which he was even in the hand when he called it.
Should a player who is not involved in the hand be allowed to call the clock? I think it's etiquette that if you are merely watching the hand, then you stfu and let it play out. If the other player(s) in the hand calls the clock then that is entirely different, they have a right to do it because of their involvement.
Especially at the payout levels of this particular tournament, every decision is potentially a very huge $$ amount should you decide wrong.
Choron, you were there, what do you think? Was Gabe Thaler justified in calling the clock both times?
Should a player who is not involved in the hand be allowed to call the clock? I think it's etiquette that if you are merely watching the hand, then you stfu and let it play out. If the other player(s) in the hand calls the clock then that is entirely different, they have a right to do it because of their involvement.
Especially at the payout levels of this particular tournament, every decision is potentially a very huge $$ amount should you decide wrong.
Choron, you were there, what do you think? Was Gabe Thaler justified in calling the clock both times?
Comments
anyone in the hand, can, and should feel good about calling the clock when the player abuses time. i think most decisions can be made in 30 seconds or less. anything more than that, the guy is hoping to get some kind of sign - sweat, breathing, pulse, i don't know, to see how confident the opponent is.
i read something in one of the hand histories against sirwatts, a player took 10 minutes to make a decision. that is just stupid.
as best i can recall, i have only called the clock once. the player was a drunken idiot who wasn't following the action, couldn't count his chips, etc. and was slowing the game down drastically. ideally, the TD would have taken his chips off the table (just like they did to that guy on the wsop circuit). another guy at the table was annoyed that i did it (one of those 'you should never call the clock' things) but at that point i didn't care. this guy was eating up 2 or 3 minutes on every action and we were playing with 20 minute blinds near the end of the tourney so everyone was fairly shortstacked.
Some players just don't know when to stop slow play though. I know one player who purposefully waits 20secs before he even looks at his cards when action is on him, then another minute or longer before he makes his move, regardless of what his hole cards are. Says that way, no one can get a read on him. That's just bull shit, but he doesn't listen, so everytime the action gets to him, SOMEONE at the table calls time right away. Pisses him off, but his slow play is just bull.
Calling the clock on themselves, now that is something new... neat idea though.