Any suggestions for getting opponents to speed up play?

[Jezebel]

I have recently stumbled onto a good raked "home" game. They usually have 3 tables going at a time and most of the players are there to play, not just to hang out with the fellas.
However, there is always that one guy that takes forever on each and every decision. I'm not talking about Pot limit or nolimit where it is acceptable to take some time on several decisions, but straight up limit. These guys are usually newer players that I don't want to put them on the spot, but when they hold the game up each and every time it starts to wear on me. Any suggestions that I can impliment as a player to help these folks speed up the process without looking like a jerk? I definetly do not want to offend anyone, but at the same time having the breaks put on everytime it is this persons turn to act makes the game much less enjoyable and less profitable.

[LetsRock]

I know the guy you're talking about. There is a least one of them in every game on the planet. It drives me nuts too. Yes, there are times when a little extra thought is corrrect and I have no problem with giving a player few extra minutes if he acts promptly most of the time - it's just part of the game. Sometimes even I need a few extra ticks.

But there are those guys who will take a unbearable amount of time on every single decision they make. Ugggh.

If it's one guy, I doubt there's anything you can do to speed things up. Most aren't as impatient as we are and don't even see the delay. To me, let's move it along - I either want to drag this pot or move on to the next hand (because it HAS to be better than this one!).

We have a little forum for our home game and I posted a thread asking if the others felt as I did - that maybe we need to introduce an official "clock" and hold the players to it. There's about 4 players in our group that are very....deliberate and it does wear on me after a while. The overwhelming response to my post was that "it's a friendly home game" and I should just get over it, so I dropped it.

I don't think there's any way you can successfully get s slow player to speed up without looking like a jerk unless you have a lot of support from the others - then you can talk to the perp and ask him to make some of his decisions a little quicker in a very suggestive and friendly way. If you don;t have support, you just have to deal with it.

BTW, I hate slow play even worse on-line. At least live there's planty to keep your wandering mind occupied and you know why there's a delay. On-line you just don't know what the delay is (bad connection (his or mine?), playing multiple tables, cleaning up the dog's puke from the carpet who knows?) and it can be unbearable sometimes.

[toots]

Well, I understand the sentiment, but it isn't a race.

I mean, some of us are there to enjoy ourselves (as well as make a couple of bucks)

That doesn't mean that I don't also get impatient sometimes. I just try to rein myself in with the following thoughts:

1) fewer hands per hour means less rake per hour, which essentially means that the "rent" just went down

2) The really egregious stallers are almost funny to watch as they go through all their convoluted machinations, all leading to a transparently inevitable outcome. Rack it up as part of the entertainment.

3) The people doing this are often the ones who over time end up passing you all their chips. A little foot-dragging is understandable.

[toots]

Having said that, I will add that given my limited experience online, slow playing like this online drives me absolutely batty, which is probably why my experience playing online will remain limited.

[LetsRock]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I understand the sentiment, but it isn't a race.

I mean, some of us are there to enjoy ourselves (as well as make a couple of bucks)


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think we expect a race and I certainly don't expect everyone to play as quickly as I do. Nor do we expect people not to have a good time. But there is a difference between having a good time (occasionally taking too long because of it) and treating E V E R Y S I N G L E H A N D like it was the final hand of the WSOP.

I'm not exagerating - some people will look at a hand forever, even if they've had 8 people act in front of them. They've already had several minutes to prepare for their turn. "OK, I'll call the .50 bet". Ugggh. It just gets old after a while. If you have 2 or 3 of these guys at a table it can be unbearable.

Have fun, but have a clue what you're going to do when it is your turn. 5% of your hands do require a little thought and another 5% may be worth a few extra minutes, but 90% of your hands are cut and dry and they just don't need to be dramatized.

[MaxPower]

Talk to whoever runs the game. Since it is raked I would think they would want to games to move quickly.

I would not say anything at the table, but you might want to talk to the player away from the table. Just let him know that it is common courtesy in this game to act quickly and not slow up the game.

Don't make a big deal out of it though.

[maurile]

I don't think there's anything you can do without sounding like a jerk.

The most frustrating experience I've had with a slow non-impaired (see below) player was when this guy took about 10 seconds every single time to count out his (three or six) chips to bet them. Seriously, it shouldn't take anyone that long to count to three. When he had to bet 12 chips . . . forget about it. He would count them very slowly in a little pile right next to his stack. Then he would count them again as he placed them into the pot. As far as I could tell, he wasn't drunk or anything -- just stupid.

He was an absolutely terrible player, calling every bet until the river. So as frustrating as it was, I wasn't about to ask for a table change like the girl next to me did.

---------------------------

And here's my story about the absolute slowest player I've ever seen.

Seat 9 (next to the dealer) opens up at my table. This guy is sent over to us. The dealer asks him if he'd like to play the big blind or come in behind the button. In response, he asks if he has to play at this particular table. "Yes, this is table 15. Do you want to play the blind?" He says some other non-responsive stuff, so she just deals him out.

Meanwhile, the chip runner comes over so this guy buys his chips. This is a $3-$6 game. He buys a $100 rack and then asks if he can buy any more. How many racks would he like? Five. The chip runner looks a bit amused, and goes to get more chips. He comes back with five racks, but the guy settled for just buying two racks.

When he's finally dealt in behind the button and it's his turn to act, he says "raise" and throws a handful of chips in the pot -- probably 10 or 12. Then he throws another handful in. (He hasn't looked at his cards yet.) The dealer explains that he can only raise to six. "Okay," he says, and throws six more chips in the pot.

He does the same thing the next two or three times the action is on him. He doesn't seem to understand that it's 3-6 dollars, not 3-6 handfuls.

It took this guy about two or three minutes per turn to get done with all his nonsense. Several times, he just wouldn't answer at all when he was asked if he wanted to fold/call/raise. He'd just tell the dealer, "you decide for me." Or, "I'll call, but you take the correct number of chips for me." The dealer isn't allowed to touch his stack, so that held things up for a while as well since he refused to touch his cards or his chips himself.

He got kicked out of the casino after three hands.

He was definitely on something, but nobody could tell what. It wasn't alcohol. Whatever it was, I don't think I want any.

BTW, he left a winner, up $32.

[blackaces13]

[jdl22]

At what point did he look at his hands? Surely not when the dealer flipped them over at showdown.

[Joe Tall]

The only thing I can suggest is that when you deal, keep the action going. If you have to point and repeat, "Your action, check, bet or fold", than do it. It will settle things down and since you are the dealer no one will battle you. That what seems to work for a bit in my home game. Evertime I deal, I speed up the action and get the focus back on poker.

Peace,
Joe Tall