I decided to go ahead and fold. After I folded, the table blew up at me. They told me that since I had declared my action, I must bet. I told them politely that it was not my turn to act and that verbal bets are not binding unless action is on me. They insisted that they were binding. Which is correct here?

Jacob

Jacob,

Your friends were partially correct. If you had declared that you were going all-in and nobody ahead of you had put in a raise, then your verbal declaration of your bet is indeed binding. Since a player did indeed raise, then the action had changed and therefore your action was no longer binding.

Your actions here constitute both acting out of turn. If you were to do this at the World Series of Poker, you would receive a penalty for your actions. You must wait until you act before making any betting declarations. Otherwise, you are changing the natural course of the game. How do you know that your player that went all-in wasn’t going to just call. He may have indeed had you beat, and then again, he may not. You may have cost yourself bets here.