The Complete Guide › Module 3: Hand Rankings & Core Procedures

Counting the Stub & Using the All-In Button

True Poker Dealer · Module 3, Lesson 3

These two procedures don't look related at first, but they share the same purpose: removing doubt. Counting the stub proves the deck is intact. The all-in button proves, beyond any confusion, exactly who's committed their whole stack. Both exist so nobody at the table ever has to wonder.

Counting the stub

The stub is whatever's left in your hand after you've finished pitching cards for a hand — and counting it is a game-protection check that confirms nothing happened to the deck. Do the math before you count: for a hand that reaches the river, you've dealt two cards to every player, plus three burn cards and five community cards. Subtract that total from 52, and whatever's left is exactly what should be in your stub.

Count it down in groups of eight — drop the cards off the deck in eight-counts rather than one at a time, which makes it far easier to keep your place if you get distracted mid-count. With ten players dealt in (20 cards) plus eight more for burns and board, you're looking for 24 cards: three clean eight-counts. Fewer players dealt in just means more cards left over after your eight-counts; the logic doesn't change. Do this quietly — players don't want to hear you counting out loud at the table, and it's distracting during live action. Aim to do it at least once in your first few hands at a table, so you find a problem early in your down rather than late.

If a hand ends before the river — say everyone folds on the turn — you can still count the stub, you just adjust the math: add back whatever street never got dealt (the river card and its burn, in this example) before comparing your count.

Using the all-in button

The all-in button is a simple tool that removes ambiguity the moment a player commits their whole stack — but it's a recommended procedure, not a requirement. A player who says “all in” is all in whether or not a button ever gets thrown. Still, using it well matters: the moment a player goes all in, place the button clearly in front of their chips, visible to the entire table — never tucked under the chips themselves, and never placed on top of a player's cards. You still have to say the words “all in” out loud every time; the button is an aid, not a replacement for the verbal call.

Require at least one chip into the pot to confirm the all-in — the button alone isn't always enough to make it unambiguous to the whole table, especially if there's any chance someone didn't hear the call. If there's only one all-in button at the table and a second player goes all in, move it to the most recently all-in player, since that's the most relevant to the current action; if your room has a second button, use it instead of juggling one back and forth. Clean up the button(s) once the hand's over, same as any other piece of equipment on the table.