String Bet Rule in Poker: What It Is and How to Avoid It

A string bet (or string raise) is when a player puts chips into the pot in more than one forward motion without first announcing how much they’re betting. It isn’t allowed in live poker. If the dealer rules a string bet, only your first motion counts — usually meaning you’ve just called.

Why it’s banned

Without the rule, a player could push in enough to call, watch an opponent’s reaction, and then go back to their stack for more. That’s an angle shoot: getting information before committing to a raise. The string bet rule stops it by making your action fixed from the first motion.

What counts as a string bet

• Putting in a call, then reaching back to your stack for more chips.
• Saying “I call… and raise” — “call” is binding the moment you say it.
• Pushing chips forward in two or three separate trips without saying a number.

What doesn’t

• Announcing first. Say “raise to 60” or “raise”, and then you can put the chips in as slowly as you like. Verbal declarations are binding and override the motion.
• One motion with a handful of chips, even if they spill forward.
• Online poker. The software takes your full bet in one click; string bets don’t exist online.

The oversized-chip rule

A related rule: if you put in a single chip bigger than the bet you face without saying anything, it’s a call, not a raise. Facing a 25 bet, tossing in one 100 chip is a call. If you want to raise, say “raise” before the chip hits the felt.

If there is no bet yet, a single oversized chip is a bet of that chip’s full value.

How to never get caught

1. Say the number. “Raise to 75.” Then move the chips.
2. If you don’t want to talk, count your chips first and push them forward in one motion.
3. Don’t say “call” unless you mean only to call.

Related rules

• Minimum raise rule
• Is check-raising allowed?
• Table etiquette and live poker

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