Calling for advice

[Stray-t-Cat]

I agree -especially the bit about the travel and wanting a fair game. I think the League is great and I've been lucky enough to be at tables recently where there's been a lot of camaraderie and banter, which has added to the enjoyment of the evening. I also think that any kind of collusion or doubtful etiquette regarding live hands has no place on or around a poker table, neither obvious signals from players when they have mucked a hand and then hit the board.

And yet I'm still trying to train myself not to hunt rabbits after the hand is over....


A Hungry Cat

[-DarkAngel-]

Originally Posted by tfeilding

It also annoys me when people say that its only a fun game of cards and little things like this shouldnt be an issue - but if someone travels half way across town and spends money at the bar then they deserve a fair game.

I totally agree with your view it may be a friendly game to sum ppl as its only for points 2 start but we all want our points which then leads to money, the whole game should be constant serious and rules applied every game , no exceptions even if cards are mucked (tough leave them, once uve mucked them.)



ITS FREE http://www.agloco.com/r/BBGB3543

[tfeilding]

Last night there was a situation where a drunk player pushed all in pre-flop, I folded on small blind and the big blind was yet to act. The raiser pushed his cards into the middle, let go of them and said 'have it'. I ended up having to make the ruling that the hand was mucked and cos the big blind had him covered, he lost his stack. The same happened at a table I was on in a casino the other day and the guy lost his stack then.

Anyhow, the friend of the all-in guy said it was just a friendly game he was drunk and had made a mistake. I stressed that rules are rules, the other players agreed with me but the big blind ended up saying that although he should have the stack, he would settle for the mucker to just match his big blind.

He still wasnt happy, even though he only lost about 10% of his stack.

[Alex_B]

"Anyhow, the friend of the all-in guy said it was just a friendly game he was drunk and had made a mistake. I stressed that rules are rules, the other players agreed with me but the big blind ended up saying that although he should have the stack, he would settle for the mucker to just match his big blind".

Again, this is just cheating, the person mucked their cards and therefore their hand is dead and the chips (all of them) should have gone to the other person. Its not anyones fault that the person is drunk and doesn't know what they're doing, they shouldn't be given second chances just because they've had a few too many. In fact, giving them a second chance could have an effect on the outcome of the game and therefore on the points awarded. If that drunk person then goes on to take someone else out of the game, they have in effect affected the outcome of the game when they should have already been knocked out.

You are the tournament director and you have the final decision, NOT the person at the table who says that they are happy just to take the blinds, and certainly not the drunk chaps friend who is not even entitled to an opinion as he is not in the hand. What they want has nothing to do with it, the rules are the rules and you are right when you say that they must be followed.

They are not just messing about with their own game, they are impacting on everyones game, as I say, if that drunk person then goes on to take someone out (who may need the points to make that months final) then they have impacted on the game when they shouldn't even have still been in it.

At the end of the day, you are tournament director, and you have the final decision on the ruling. You don't need to listen to friends of players or other players at the table who say they are happy to bend the rules.

[tfeilding]

Originally Posted by Alex_B

"Anyhow, the friend of the all-in guy said it was just a friendly game he was drunk and had made a mistake. I stressed that rules are rules, the other players agreed with me but the big blind ended up saying that although he should have the stack, he would settle for the mucker to just match his big blind".

Again, this is just cheating, the person mucked their cards and therefore their hand is dead and the chips (all of them) should have gone to the other person. Its not anyones fault that the person is drunk and doesn't know what they're doing, they shouldn't be given second chances just because they've had a few too many. In fact, giving them a second chance could have an effect on the outcome of the game and therefore on the points awarded. If that drunk person then goes on to take someone else out of the game, they have in effect affected the outcome of the game when they should have already been knocked out.

You are the tournament director and you have the final decision, NOT the person at the table who says that they are happy just to take the blinds, and certainly not the drunk chaps friend who is not even entitled to an opinion as he is not in the hand. What they want has nothing to do with it, the rules are the rules and you are right when you say that they must be followed.

They are not just messing about with their own game, they are impacting on everyones game, as I say, if that drunk person then goes on to take someone out (who may need the points to make that months final) then they have impacted on the game when they shouldn't even have still been in it.

At the end of the day, you are tournament director, and you have the final decision on the ruling. You don't need to listen to friends of players or other players at the table who say they are happy to bend the rules.

Yeah - I agree with that. I took something of an easy way out where all the parties concerned were happy with the decision even if it meant I altered my ruling. I should have stood firm but instead compromised. In the event he went out soon after and the placings were not affected.

[Alex_B]

"In the event he went out soon after and the placings were not affected".

Justice......

[TheChickenman]

I've been playing in the live league for about a month now and have been shocked by the amount of times I've been told "it's just a friendly game" and some of the practices around the table.

[tfeilding]

Which venues do you play in?

I've found one venue in Bristol particularly bad for this kind of thing and rarely play there these days.

[Gus Mango Fish]

Originally Posted by TheChickenman

I've been playing in the live league for about a month now and have been shocked by the amount of times I've been told "it's just a friendly game" and some of the practices around the table.

Hi Chickenman, what league to you play in. Do you have any examples of bad practices?

[TheChickenman]

I'm Bristol league... I play all over.

Showing rabbits without my permission if I'm involved in the hand*.
Showing cards after a hand to some players, but not to all.
String betting (but this is very rare).
People disappearing from the table and not making it clear wether they were happy for us to muck their hands or not and then the table sat there waiting for them to return. Surely this is an automatic muck situation?
And as mentioned here... Advising others on how to play. It's ok to help them with the rules if they're new and a few basic strategies, but this was a final table incident.

oh and as a non poker related incident: People knocking their drinks over. Accidents happen but... 3 times on one table in one night is a bit much and in one evening it happened on the first hand


* In one particularly bad case I was dealer, my opponent folded after I bet the flop, he asked to see the turn and river, I said no and placed the deck on the muck ready for the next dealer. He then proceeded to take the apparant top deck cards from the muck.

However, I'll admit that I ain't perfect... When I first joined I was running my mouth at players when I wasn't involved in a hand, but I've since realised that's not on. And there was the "the chicken apolagises" incident, but I've apolagised personally for that now too.

It's not the practices themselves, more so people's reactions when I dispute the situation that surprised me.

Please don't misunderstand me though, I've had a great time this month and will definately be playing more this month.