Rule Check for Mr. Spell Check
Richard Brodie, the inventor of Microsoft Word and the red squiggly line for spelling errors, had the floor called over to his table just a few hands into the tournament. He was in the big blind and the action had folded to the small blind. His opponent had attempted to raise by throwing out a 100 chip on top of his two 25 chips that represented his small blind.
The ruling, however, is that since the small blind had not yet completed a call before the over-chip entered the pot and he had not announced a raise, his action was considered a call. Brodie, who checked his option, told his opponent that he was calling the floor now so that it doesn't become an issue later when the blinds get higher.
With just the two blinds in the pot, the flop came and now his opponent got in the bet. Brodie called and the turn was the . The opponent bet again, this time 150 for a big bet. Brodie raised and the opponent called. The river was the and Brodie bet when it was checked to him. After another call he showed and it was good enough to win the hand.
He may have cost himself a bet preflop by calling over the floor or may have made about 600 chips by being able to see a flop with just a check. Either way, he now sits with about 8,000.