Let the drunk play?

[spike]

In a tournament at a UK B&M casino recently a young lad was very drunk. He made several etiquette faux-pas and was roundly chastized by the other players. He claimed to be a winnin online player (3k/week he said). But his play in the B&M didn't reflect that at all.

He continued to drink pint after pint and of course busted out quite quickly. He picked up his beer and went to take an empty seat at a PLHE cash game.

The floorman pulled him out of the game and told him he was clearly drunk, he was clearly inexperienced and the other players in that game are ruthless sharks. He strongly advised the lad not to play.

He took no notice and played anyway and of course the other players made him very welcome indeed. when he'd lost his cash he left in good humour.

What do you think of the floormans actions?

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Bravo to the floorman. He was protecting an obvious "tourist," or at least attempting to. Had the kid got into the game and gotten slaughtered, he might never have come back to the casino again. So the floorman was also protecting the casino's interests. People should make gambling enjoyable for their customers, and letting an obvious fish get devoured by equally obvious sharks is not the way to do it.

al

[Easy E]

the floorman did a great job and should be commended.

[JTrout]

[Andy B]

I don't know how things work in the UK, or even how they work in rooms other than Canterbury Card Club for that matter, but at Canterbury, if a player is obviously intoxicated, they will ask him to leave. In some cases, players have been barred, and in others they are allowed to come back but are not allowed to drink. It seems to me that a casino is allowed to dictate who may and may not play there, so if the floor guy really wanted to "protect" this guy, he could have kicked him out for any reason.

Since when are casinos obligated to "protect" players against loss? If no one loses, the casino can't make any money. The other players in that game were probably waiting around hoping that someone would come by and drop a few thousand. How did they react when the floor guy told the player not to play? Personally, I hate playing with drunks, because they tend to slow the game down and take others out of the gambling mood. But others see them as "good" for the game.

Obvious fish get devoured by obvious sharks all the time. It happens every day at Canterbury, and most of the fish at the higher limits can well afford it. Some people's idea of a good time is to get drunk and splash around. This drunk lost and left in good spirits. As long as he wasn't irritating the other players or the house employees, I don't see what the problem is.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Once the floorman suggested that the game was full of sharks, but the kid decided to play anyway, as long as the kid wasn't too drunk or too obnoxious, thus negatively affecting the game, then I have no problem with the floorman allowing him to play. But I can't fault the floorman for being conscious of his customers on both sides of the situation. I would not however consider it a floorman's duty to cater to the sharks by sending drunken rich minnows to their tables so they can get eaten alive. Any floorman who is consciencious about who he sends to a pot limit game full of sharks is OK by me.

al

[pokerlover]

What if the drunk wanted to play craps or blackjack or any other casino game. Would the managment go out of the way to encourage them to come back and gamble sober? I don't think so. I think the floorman was nice and did the right thing but I don't think he should have said anything. If a playuer is old enough to gamble then they are old enough to be responsible and if they are drunk and loose it is their own fault.

[Wake up CALL]

If the drunk was going to play table games it is more likely that he would not be allowed to play. I have seen many players ask to leave when too drunk to play craps, winning and losing. A lawsuit is expensive to defend!

[pokerlover]

I am not sure where u live but when I lived up north and went to Atlantic City I played with and witnessed many intoxicated people gambliung. This was not uncommon to see in any of the casinos there regardless of what they were playing.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
If the drunk was going to play table games it is more likely that he would not be allowed to play. I have seen many players ask to leave when too drunk to play craps, winning and losing. A lawsuit is expensive to defend!

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not my experience in Vegas.

[Ray Zee]

horrible. this floorman would get fired if i had my way. if the drunk was too drunk to play, then maybe he should be asked to leave. thats okay by me. but to tell him the other player are ruthless sharks is wrong and insulting to the player who play regularly.
should a floorman tell anyone who he thinks is not a winning player not to play? it is not his job to protect customers from themsleves. like i said if the house has a policy not to let drunks play fine. but to insult the table and then let him play anyway is wrong.

[prairieboy]

I always thought that, in the context of a poker game, "ruthless shark" is a compliment. My personal poker ambition is to become a "ruthless shark" (hence the Jaws quote in my signature line) and I would be quite tickled to be so described.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

perhaps the wording could have been different, but telling someone who's obviously drunk that a pot limit game might be "a tad on the tough side" is not being a bad floorman, at least not in my book. One bad experience might drive an otherwise happily drunk and fishy player from playing poker altogether, thus leaving him to lose his money to craps and blackjack instead of to us.

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

My experience in vegas, atlantic city, and california is that a drunk will be asked to leave when and only when they are so disruptive as to interfere with the house's "rate of take" or to piss off the other players so much as to possibly drive them from the game.

al

[Barry]

The UK is much more "gentlemanly" in their casinos. If I remember correctly, the casinos do have some resposibility to protect the players.

It's like the old 48 hour waiting period that they have (had) before you could actually gamble.

[chesspain]

Most of my winnings during my first evening playing 2/4 at Foxwoods were due to others' inebriation /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[spike]

The waiting period is now 24 hours and also, no alcohol is allowed on the gaming floor. Although oddly, this doesn't apply to the card room.

I actually thought he floorman acted very correctly here. I was exepecting a pile of complaints from you all though. I'm pleasantly surprised!

In the same casino a friend of mine was obviously very drunk one night playing Blackjack. She's a regular there and they actually refused to let her play and paid for a cab to take her home. They knew she'd be back...