24 Mar 09 Calling A Clock
Sometimes I imagine a poker world where each player is hooked up to a set of electrodes and if they don’t make a decision within a specific time period “ZAP!” they are forced to fold or make a decision by a refreshing stream of electrodes. Since we don’t live in my perfect world and there are no time regulations in live games, what constitutes adequate time for live action? There is definitely a fine line when calling a clock on someone at the poker table. I have been in tournaments where a person’s tournament life is on the line, and their opponent calls a clock not giving them ample time to make a decision. I have also been on cash game tables where the drunk guy is taking 10 minutes to make every decision.
Personally, I have never called a clock on anyone and in most circumstances I wouldn’t advocate calling a clock. For the most part, I believe that some players genuinely need more time to make a decision. Perhaps the money that is on the line is a lot of money to them, and it isn’t easy for them to justify making a call for that amount. Maybe they need to replay the entire hand in their head, calculate odds, and play back previous hands with that opponent. There are several factors to consider, and some people take longer than others to siphon through all the information. A lot of times I will take several minutes to observe my opponent to get a read off of them. I know a player who takes a few minutes to decide because he is waiting for his instincts to kick in. In tournaments players who take a long time to decide can be even more frustrating because it affects how many hands are seen at that particular blind level. However, in tournaments these decisions are even more crucial because they are the difference between life and death.
I’ve seen players who use the clock to their advantage, especially in tournaments. There was one guy I played a tournament with, and any time it was heads up he would either go all in or place a bet and immediately call a clock on his opponent. It was definitely a strategy that put his opponent at a disadvantage of only having a minute to make a decision to make a bad call or fold the best hand. I think this is entirely in bad form to do this, and it’s just downright rude.
There have been several occasions where I’ve run into those repeat offenders of lengthy decision making. When a person is making a habit of taking an extended period of time to make even the smallest decisions, then I wouldn’t knock someone for getting inpatient and calling a clock on them. Maybe they will get the hint and start being more aware of the other people that are at the table. I recently sat at a table where this woman was slowing down the action every hand. She would continuously ask the dealer who raised, what the amount was, and continue to dramatize every little decision that was put to her. The whole table was getting upset and I was falling asleep, so I was glad when someone started calling the clock on her. In the future, I can’t see too many situations where I would call a clock on someone, but it is these instances that I think some action should be taken against those that are inconsiderate of others at the table.
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