commended for his ability to remain civil?

MikeStarr - I did say I want "paper" on this perp. Ban from casino is not enough for this type of assault. Because....jjjou812, in an assault like this there SHOULD be a written record...otherwise this "type" of person can keep doing this over and over and over again. Your mom's his next victim...you still glad NO ONE made an effort before?

I lol'd. Don't think calli got it, but I laughed.

I was specifically talking about what he did when the guy had his hand on his throat, but an FU after the guy touched/shoved/(palmed?) his money and made some kind of threatening remark is also pretty low on the possible reaction list. The OP isn’t Gandhi, but he’s also not initiating anything here.

I think this is what divides the two sides in this debate. To me, a reasonable response to a guy knocking over my chips, assuming I want to keep the situation controlled and nonviolent, is to say "dealer, call the floor" or "no need to get that upset about it". If I want to definitely escalate the situation to a verbal conflict with the distinct possibility of a physical fight, I would say "**** you". And when the guy says "what did you say?" Which is sort of a universal way to give a guy a chance to deescalate, the OP said "you heard me" which essentially means "**** you again and what are you going to do about it" . And after saying all that, the OP, and many posters, are shocked, shocked that the guy had a physical response to his comments.

Exactly!!

I think the question about whether or not to sue or press charges should be directed to an attorney or at least someone familiar with the law. That will probably give you a better answer as to whether it is worth your time to go through the process. An attorney can put things into perspective given whatever your personal situation is. Posing the question to a forum of poker players will give you a variety of answers but none of them can really answer the question for YOU.

As it relates to the poker room, I would think at minimum a 6 month eviction would be appropriate for the attacker but certainly would not argue against a lifetime eviction.

And while your behavior didn't come close to warranting what the attacker did to you, this episode could have been handled better from your side of things.

It’s really good trolling though. He even has a post saying to let the guy keep hitting you. He suggests getting punched in the face is no big deal and people still think he is being serious.

If you are dead, kidnapped, unconscious or otherwise incapacitated its a different situation. In a normal situation the case is not going forward unless you want to press charges and are willing to testify in court.

isn't battery and assault a punishable crime?

Of course it is, but you dont just call the police and then be done with it. Thats not the way it works. The guy isnt going to be punished other than getting banned.

Not sure if he did or if he just pulled a master troll. I'm leaning master troll because he's done plenty of trolling in LCP before and...

...I think there's some truth to Steve00007's post.

A two minute verbal fight where OP led with FU and ended with such physicality that someone got a red mark, with no punches thrown won't carry much weight in any criminal matter.

My mom would have left more of a mark on OP and even she would not be a pussy and resort to nut kicking like badassbdh.

No, you need nip it in the bud before it becomes almost fighting.

The amount of men in this thread who were all "I'd press charges" yada, yada is alarming.... Our world has gotten soft... Don't get me wrong, the guy was obviously a d-bag for going after him, but, if we're also being honest OP 100% instigated it, where 99 out of 100 responses probably wouldn't have set him off, and he just picked one that he knew probably would.... Other than a red scratch, OP has no marks, no real injuries, and while I'm not condoning what the guy did, you also don't know what that guy is going through either, he could have lost his job earlier that day, his son could have died last week, wife could have cancer or maybe he really is just a tool with a short fuse, we'll probably never know, but honestly, chalk it up to a "no harm, no foul" guy overreacted for sure, OP got a little mouthy, things got a little out of hand and OP walked away with a slight scratch on his neck and a good story, move on.

Soft? we have a self-comfirmed three time nut-kicker in the thread - we are develing into verified, pansy-ass, man-child territory.

Logic and reasoning aren't your strong suits.

This isn't the first poster in the thread who thought the response was a bit excessive.

Seriously?

How about a poll of who would and who wouldn't reply with a **** you?

I'm shocked anyone felt it over the top. I'm over 45.

I don't really want a poll. Don't care about anyone's opinion who think it was over the top.

(Regarding the idea OP thought about his response instead of a quick comment off top of his head- that's absurd.)

This.

Unless he actually injured you or you suffered some kind of financial setback, pressing charges against some loser is just a really douchey thing to do.

"Don't touch my chips"

"What are you doing?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Woah buddy"


and then there's "**** you" Yes, there are a million less confrontational things to say in the situation.

I wouldn’t characterize OP’s remark as confrontational. He was the person confronted. I would agree it might be escalatory. He could have used phrases like you suggest. But, the onus is not on the OP to defuse the situation. (Not do I think it would have – “don’t touch my chip” “why would are you going to do about it”. But that is hypothetical.) He had every right to stand his ground.

I will agree there are a million ways he could have reacted. He could have sat down and said nothing. He could have gathered his chips and asked for a table change or cashed out and left the room. He could have even then gone home and hid under the covers.

Choosing to stand his ground with a remark many would use (wasn’t racist, personally derogatory or demeaning), isn't over the top in my opinion. I’m just surprised how offensive some regard it.

I mean, no one thinks that "**** you" to someone's face is going to be the final exchange in any interpersonal interaction, do they?

Yeah I do. I think **** you is a rhetorical as it gets.

**** you can be harmless banter between friends or poker regs. **** you can be fighting words to a hothead looking for trouble. Don't believe OPs **** you was friendly banter. Most of the time it leads to some verbal exchange. Rarely it turns out like the OP or even worse. V was totally in the wrong and got banned. OP is only guilty of speaking possible fighting words to a stranger who did provoke him. I would not do it for my own reasons. OP just ran into the wrong guy to verbally dis regardless of the provocation that occurred.

It's really hard for me to believe that an innocent poker player sits down at a poker table minding his own business and a random player all of a sudden knocks over his stack.

If I were to bet money on it, I would say OP must have done something first to provoke him beyond just asking the dealer to please square up the table.

Maybe, I mean MAYBE if it's in passing and the two parties are walking in opposite directions in a rush to get back to work from their lunch breaks after one bumped into the other, but how often do you REALLY think that telling someone "**** you" and then sitting next to them for the next 30 minutes on a crowded bus isn't going to escalate tensions?


Are these people for real? "**** you" is a clear attempt at escalation in the shout-shout-shove-shove-shove-swing steps to a fight.