I have a situation here at my local poker casino in tournament poker. The poker director is favoring a player by seating him in same spot lots of time. He issues the seating cards. He will sometimes play too. This is dirty. Is this illegal? Is there collusion? I have reported it to gaming commission already. Any ideas? I'm pissed because he screw me over when I was chip leader many times. I ended up min cash because I was put in last table which I can't move.

You'll have to tell us what you mean by "same spot" as this can mean multiple things in poker.

A seat at a poker table is not inherently favorable. If he is always seating a LAGtard to his right, then it is an issue. Many casino's will allow certain players (usually those with vision impairments) to pick specific seats(not saying that this is what is going on, just using this as an example that there is no inherent advantage to a specific table seat).

Playing in a tournament while acting as TD is unethical and probably illegal.

Can you elaborate on how he screwed you? I am not understandinghow being place in the last table to break (if that is what you meant) is inherently disadvantageous. I usually prefer it, as it gives me a chance to build an image and learn the other players.

Have you asked for a specific seat? While good tournament rules require random seating many rooms do not because they have spineless management. Perhaps all you need to do is request the seat or table you prefer.





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The poker director does the seating. He will move a person to even tables but then he should not move the same person twice in less than a round because this would give that same player the edge. Especially is his friend too. I play a lot of tournament poker and structure is very important. These are considered factors. These guy don't redraw at 36 players, they don't use machine shufflers. Only the final table and then redraw. They break the table from big to small so If you got small table you're screwed. Tables should be drawn random to be broken. I've outlasted 80% entrants on same seat but that's it. I've suggested that they do a redraw at 36 or it's not a real tournament especially at 20 minutes round. He goes on and says it's the cost blah blah. I hate that annoying douch bag prick. They need to fire his ass. No professionalism and lack of people skill. Don't get me wrong but I've grinded through a 400 players field and chopped 5 ways but this was in a well structure different casino. I hate that fn place. I will not go back untill he's fired.

He screwed me because he doesn't like me. I'm a semi pro tournament player. I was tournament chip leader going to final day in a 75k tournament a while back. I come in to find out my seating is table 1 seat 1 out of 90 or so players left. I outlasted many playets busted out right before final table for min cash. When you have a strong gut feeling It's true. Too many red flags. He and I have history that goes back. He over paid me 2k and I paid back the casino. It was his fault for giving me the chips to cash out. They're supposed to fire him but didn't. That time he was still new as director on probation. This place is dirty..favortism

You need to learn how to separate "I don't like this guy" from "I'm reporting this to the gaming commission."

I can't make heads or tails of your complaints but if they have broken a law (one set external to the casino), talk to gaming. If they have broken a rule (one set by the casino), talk to the TD's boss. If they do things differently from how you'd do it, then vote with your feet and go someplace else.

I don't do tournaments, so what does the bolded part have to do with anything?

There are three things you can do:
a) complain to management
b) complain to the gaming commission (apparently, you did that already)
c) don't play at that casino

Yup for real thanks

I am still very unclear on how he screwed you. Yes, he may have put you on a table that is last to break, but how is that a disadvantage (I actually very much prefer it myself)? And no, a strong, unfounded gut feeling is not proof.

1. I would be pissed as hell if I got moved twice in the same round. Now, if he is blatantly moving him to have position on an action player, or to avoid blinds, that is one thing. But there is no inherent advantage that I am aware of to being moved.
2. I have never played at a tournament where they redraw at 36. I play mostly local circuit events, but I would imagine that the WPT, WSOPc, and PNIA tournaments all run pretty similar to most major tournaments.

I am having difficulty following your threads. They seem to be fairly stream of consciousness, and seem to be somewhat inconsistent (I am not sure how 'giving the guy the same spot' morphed into 'moving the guy multiple times in a single round', and I am not sure how your performance on a 400 person tournament is relevant).

If you honestly think this guy is unethical, document everything (including the facts that do not support your charges). Just dislikimng a guy is not proof that he is cheating.

Moving a player does not give them an edge. It could benefit them or it could hurt them. Its nuetral in and of itself. Typically tournaments have rules about how to determine when a player gets moved and which player gets moved. I have never seen a rule that said one player can not be moved twice in one round though it is unusual for it to happen.

It seems to me that if you are the professional you claim to be you would have an understanding of the rules before you claim they are being violated.

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So? Come to my casino and play a daily tournament the only redraw we do is for the final table. Larger tournaments have different redraws but there is nothing inherent about redrawing at 36 players that screws any particular players.

Many rooms don;t use machine shufflers because of the expense. The WSOP only recently started using them but not at all their tables.

First you are clueless if you think nothaving your table break is inherently screwing you. Second tables should not be broken in random order. Breaking order should be predetermined and seating should be random. If seating is random and the breaking order of tables is predetermined then it has randomly been determined if you are at the first table to break or the last table to break.


I think that you should spend some time thinking about how stupid this sounds. Why does a real tournament redraw at 36 players? What is magical about 36 players? Why not 10? why not 27? how about 54? We get it you think that not having your table break screws you over ..... show us the math......

Ask the casino for their procedures for moving players and redraws. If they aren't following their own protocol, then perhaps you can take a stand. If you don't like their methods, just don't play.

I can't imagine taking this topic to the gaming commission. This only dilutes the resources of a person that has a legitimate issue.

See above +++

There is nothing dirty or illegal about what he's doing ... unless it's against the room or regulatory rules that apply. Everyone in a poker room has a boss, even the Director, so go to that person and talk to them (with an open mind).

I personally like not being moved, that way all the others have to come to me and I only have to learn 1-2 new players, not the whole table, at one time.

You say you are a semi-Pro, what is going on in this room that is not going on in the other rooms you have played in? That's where you need to start your comparison AFTER you get a copy of this rooms rules and procedures (if they will even let you have them). GL

Even if they won't give him the rules .... if he doesn;t act like a total asshat and insult the TD, the TD would probably be happy to explain to him the procedures.

Sounds like the rules that are being violated are OP's superstition rules.

I will try to help you. Here goes:

This is a problem only if you suspect he is moving his "friend" because his friend got moved to a difficult table and somehow communicated that he wants to move again.

Typically getting moved in a tournament is a disadvantage. This is because the rest of the table knows each other and you know nobody. However, if a table is particularly difficult then getting moved off the table is an advantage.

This is typical for most rooms.

Most rooms break tables in a particular order in order to accommodate staffing. It is rarely random. If you are curious how they break tables in a particular room just ask. Dealers usually know. But the Floor should also be able to tell you.

This is absurd.
I guess this is where the "semi" comes from. You need to suck it up and focus on poker. The Floor is not doing anything wrong here.

Unless he is doing this after other players are seated this may be to accommodate bad vision or a handicap of some sort.

Here it gets interesting. If he is not randomly issuing seating cards then yes this is wrong. Very wrong. I would report this to the gaming commission if the seating cards are not randomly distributed (that is the Floor cannot look at the available seats and then choose one). And certainly he can't seat himself that way.

And we haven't even gotten to playing in a tourney he is Flooring. That would be so wrong I would not play there. This I would also report to the gaming commission.

Get a grip. You are not being screwed over. Learn to play better. It is a huge advantage to to not move, especially if the table is easy. Also, if you are not put there wouldn't somebody else be put there?

Again, this is not a disadvantage. I have a feeling that you are psyching yourself out. You have to learn how to ignore this. Luck is an element of poker. Getting seated at a difficult table is unlucky so learn to adjust. Getting seated at seat 1 table 1 makes no difference if the other players at the table are chosen randomly.
I would recommend that you work on your people skills. It is very important to establish good relationships where you play. There may come a time where you will need support when things go wrong.

The only improper things you list are that he *might* be letting players pick their own seat, and that he's playing in a tournament he's running.

How bad the first thing is depends on what the reasoning is. If they have bad eyesight and need to be close to the board or have trouble moving and want to be close to the exit that's probably fine though there should still be some randomness to this. If he is just more comfortable in the 3 seat or wants to be close enough to flirt with the hot payout clerk or close to the smoking area that's less good but probably won't affect your results. If he's scoping out the other players and asking to be to the left of the fish then it's very bad.

I've seen room management play in tournaments before and it's bad but not necessarily illegal depending on where it is. It would definitely make me hesitate to play there and I would try to diplomatically tell them this.

Everything else you say seems to be you misunderstanding the impact of being moved to a new table and possibly being superstitious about it. I would recommend educating yourself on the topic and concentrate on making the most of whatever situation you wind up in.

I've never seen a redraw at 36 and random breaking order makes no sense. Shufflers should only be used if ALL tables in the same tournament have working shufflers at the table. It sounds like that is the case in your room and that's why they start using them when they get to the final table because that table has one.

OP, just want to make sure I am reading this right, the TD is playing in a tournament that he is also managing, or he is playing at the casino where he works, but is off duty? The first one would not be OK with me, the second is fairly meh.

So, how did he screw you? Whoever gets table 1 seat 1 is screwed? I've read all your replies and don't see what it is that the TD has done wrong yet.

I'm not going to debate you on this but I'll say it really good tournament structure you should redraw at 27 and then Final Table of 10. Honestly you sound like a smart ass, I'm not going to show you the numbers but I've made over a dozen final tables

Thanks but it's useless. They're still learning but I'm just going to do my investment somewhere else until they get it right

Really redraw at 27. Does it matter how big the tournament is or is 27 a magic number. And is it still 27 if you are playing 10 handed? Is any tournament that doesn't do it your way automatically a bad tournament....

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It's just a Cheesy tournament structure 20-minute level 10000 starting chips. If you don't play tornament you probably wouldn't understand what I'm talking about but thanks