The only thing I can think of it to avoid a huge dinner list to manage on top of already huge waiting lists.

it's completely relevant.the floor should't be wasting their time with someone who wants to eat after an hour or two. if you're that hungry eat before you play or go grab something quick.dinner lists really should be for people who are playing for a long time before AND after eating . they're done as a courtesy because people obviously have to eat at some point.courtesy needs to work both ways.four hours seems pretty reasonable.the floor shouldn't have to come over bag your chips, fill out some paperwork etc bc someone wants to play for half an hour then go have a 90 minute dinner-especially in a packed room with a lot to do,kinks being worked out and in many cases seats going unfilled despite long lists.

Is it not a function of the software?

Yesterday's session was marred by numerous problems related to buying chips. At 2/5 the trays were never nearly full enough to give players chips, so the players had to use chip runners, but started playing before they got their chips (i.e. verbally announcing their bets). When I won a pot from one of them, this led me to having to keep track of which players owed me money from their stacks when they got chips. In one case, a player denied he owed me $15 and had to be told numerous times by the dealer that he did, in fact, owe me. Really awkward situation. There really needs to be either chip carts, first buy-in at the cage, or full trays.

In an effort to help, i offered to give a man 5 black chips from my pocket in exchange for his $500 in cash. The dealer said i couldn't and that she had been told by the floor quite clearly that this wasn't allowed. We called over the floor, who said he had no problem with it. It was yet another disruption to the game though.

EDIT: I forgot to mention one story. Man brings $1000 in 100s to the table for first buy in. Asks dealer for chips. Dealer says, pretty aggressively, "no ha i dont have nearly enough chips. you think i'm just going to clear out my tray for you? not gonna happen. i'll get a runner." man says "well can i get a few hundred to start just so i have chips before the runner comes?" dealer (rudely): "no. wait for a runner."

finally: i've noticed, as mentioned above, that dealers are not announcing bet sizes, even when it's heads up and the players are across the table. having to ask every time is annoying.

I've never heard of a floor having to fill out paperwork to put someone on the dinner list. You just tell the floor to put you on the list and then you pick up your chips. Why would they need to be bagged?

Going on the dinner list is not the room being courteous to the player. It is the player being courteous to the room, and others on the wait list, but allowing someone else a seat while they are eating, in lieu of just occupying an absent stack.

lol wat? The room has no obligation whatsoever to give you an option to jump to the top of the list when you return from eating. Of course it's a courtesy, and I can't believe you're arguing that.

This is true as well. It's a 2-way courtesy, as borg stated. Both parties benefit.

I think that's a situation where going on the dinner list is fine.

An example of when it's not fine... Someone is seeing a show there at 8pm and wants to play poker afterward, so he goes to the poker room at 7:30, plays a few hands (maybe 1 orbit max), then goes on the dinner list so he can jump the line when he comes back after the show. **** that guy, he should be prevented from doing that, as he's violating the intent of the dinner list option.

don't remember either horseshoe or Live dealers automatically announcing bet sizes if the bettor doesn't verbalize it and just pushes out chips.

if the bettor verbalizes it, then the dealers at those 2 casinos repeat what the player said

Your experience with dinner lists may be more extensive than mine, but where I have used it, I have used it with the understanding that I was giving up my seat in exchange for going to the top of the waiting list when I returned. I was not guaranteed to get the same table when I returned; I was only guaranteed the next available seat. Sometimes I have been given a seat at the same table, most times not.

Imo, whether one uses the dinner list after 1 hand or 4 hours is irrelevant. When using the list, one is giving up one's seat to another player in exchange for the ability to take a longer break and not risk getting one's chips picked up or going to the bottom of the list when one returns, ready to play.


--klez

interesting--i thought they did. may just be my private game's dealers i'm thinking of.

It's completely relevant. It's about intent. If I want to eat dinner before I play, but I know the lists will be a lot longer after I'm done than before I eat, I should not be allowed to sit down, play 1 hand, then get on the dinner list... the sole purpose of me playing that 1 hand so I can jump the list later when I really want to play. That's abusing the system and not what it is intended for.

This. When one considers the policy of neighboring casinos and that the crucial aspect of the policy is to avoid empty seats taken by people on break, then one realizes that the 4 hour requirement is superfluous and unnecessarily harsh on the player.

Came in here to post basically this.

Yesterday I played and quite a few times recreational players wanted to rebuy and were forced to sit there with cash in front of them for upwards of two orbits without having chips. I offered to sell black chips out of my pocket and was shot down by two different dealers, one of whom was very rude and argumentative, telling me how you're not allowed to do it at Maryland Live but they let you cuz they don't care and they do at MGM. After one of them prematurely burned and turned and a supervisor was able to come over after no exaggeration 5 minutes to make a ruling, after he made the ruling I asked if I could sell the player who still had cash in front of him (and was still in this hand that took 8 minutes) chips from my pocket. The floor then says "OF COURSE! THANK YOU!" and was so appreciative for moving the game along.

Either let us sell chips from our pockets or get much more effective chip runners that don't take 10-15 minutes to get to the table.

We can't determine intent.

As I said in my original post on this subject, I am not objecting to any limitation, just that 4 hours is way too long. I don't think requiring someone to play one complete down is unreasonable.


Here's an example for you:

A rec player comes to the casino with a bunch of friends. He is the only poker player in the group. The group's plan is to gamble (or party) for a while—all going their separate ways—then get together later for dinner.

While all his friends are doing whatever, our rec player is waiting on the list for a seat at a poker table. Ninety minutes in, he gets a seat.

2.5 hours later his friends text him. They are hungry and ready for dinner, but he can't go—without risking losing his seat—because he hasn't been playing for 4 hours yet? Even though his intention is to play until the wee hours of the morning (or until he goes broke)? Even though, had there been an open seat when he arrived, he would have been playing for 4 hours? That seems unreasonable to me.

Recreational players want to recreate. I think it behooves us all to give them as much leeway as is reasonably possible to do so. Both for those of us who are recreational players. And for those of us who aren't.


--klez

Reducing the time is fine IMO, because of situations just like you described, but I think 1 orbit is too little, I would make it 1 hour at a minimum... of course opinions vary on how long is appropriate. You're right that we can't determine intent, that's why you need to protect against people whose intentions are not honorable.

I agree that it shouldn't be used to save a seat until after the show; but, I have no doubt that people will game the system, however it is set up. (I should have pointed this out in my previous post.)


--klez

I haven't played here but from what I've read

1) you can only leave your stack for half an hour (which i love btw)
2)they do paperwork here for the dinner list that involves counting and bagging your chips. I haven't seen this anywhere else but also like it.

The case of the dealer having to tell a player who was playing behind that they owed money, the dealer should have told the player once that he/she owed the money and once they denied owing, the floor should have been called and the floor should have given the player one more chance to pay the owed money and if they denied they owed it again the floor should have immediately removed the player and banned them from the room/casino for an appropriate period (Day, Week, Month, Year, Permanent), whatever management feels is appropriate. This players information should be documented and advised that if this happens again the will be banned for a longer period of time and possibly for a year or permanent.

Dealers should not argue with players once there is an issue the floor should be called and the situation should be handled by the floor.

This type of angle should be cut out immediately.

No. The dealer should have just sold the chips out of the rack like he's supposed to and then there would be no issue


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like you misread. Paperwork/bagging would only be done if they had to pick up your chips (which is standard in most rooms).

I don't believe this guy was trying to shoot an angle, rather I think he genuinely forgot. Upon being told a few times by the dealer and a few players, he paid. He just didn't remember and wanted to make sure we were correct.

yes i definitely misread. my apologies.

Do you actually see people "abusing" the dinner list like this? I think this is a solution to a problem that doesn't actually exist.

If you want to place a 1 hour minimum for play before using the dinner list, that's fine with me. But I also think the number of player who are going to abuse the list if there is no limit is almost zero. And the casino generally should be encouraging rather than discouraging use of the dinner list.

FWIW I haven't seen the 30 minute dinner rule be enforced in the 4 times I have been to MGM.

Not really sure what the official rule is for players or dealers verbalizing bets, but this is becoming an issue. Last two times I played there was constant situations where a player would splash a bunch of chips out as a bet but not announce the amount. A player on the other side of the table would ask how much the bet was and no one would answer. The player who bet just sat there in silence and the dealers made no effort to count the bet. It would go on like this until some player not in the hand would eyeball the count.

I thought this was just lazy dealers at first, but it continued to happen. If I'm in a hand, I have a right to know an exact count of the bet that I have to call. I shouldn't have to look across the table and just guess at the amount and make my decision off of that.

As I posted on the last page, I completely agree with you. This is a huge issue that unnecessarily slows down the game.