What is Decision Timer?

A decision timer is the countdown a live table gives you to act once a round is under way — to hit or stand in blackjack, to play or fold in a poker variant, to take insurance. It is distinct from the betting window, which governs placing the wager in the first place. The betting window decides whether you are in the round; the decision timer decides what happens inside it. What matters is the default. A live table cannot wait, because other players are seated at it, so when the timer expires the game acts for you. The default is not always the safe one and it is not the same everywhere: in most live blackjack the expiry stands your hand, in some variants it folds it and forfeits any ante already committed, and in side-bet decisions the default is usually to decline. A fold default and a stand default are worlds apart in cost. The timer is also why speed variants exist and why they are not simply faster. A shortened timer raises the rounds per hour, which raises the money staked per hour at an unchanged house edge, and it removes the pause in which a player would otherwise check a strategy chart. Before playing a live table for real money, find the decision timer's length and its default action in the game rules — both are stated there, and neither is guessable from the interface.