Hi all,

I was playing plo tonight and it was getting late and a few games were getting short-handed and normally one or more
games break and consolidate so the remaining games are full ring. Our table was contemplating breaking but another table was even shorter-handed than ours. I walked over to that table and asked the players there if they were considering breaking and if so we had a few seats open. The dealer there chastised me for suggesting the game break and said it was bad etiquette. This was news to me. Is the dealer right? If so, why?

Thanks,
DT

Bad for the casino, 2 raked tables is better than 1 especially if they don't decrease rake for short handed play. Maybe bad for the dealers too if they have enough around who want to keep working.

I dont think any players would consider it bad etiquette.

Bad etiquette? No. Bad for the dealer and the room? Yes. They are trying to make money.

Bad read on your part? Yes.

You're basically trying to poach customers from the dealer on the other table so he's obviously not happy.

If the game breaks the dealer isn't going to make any tips for the rest of the down.

As far as players go I think it's fine as long as everyone has a seat at the other table. I've seen players approach other tables when there's two tables with 5 or 6 players each.

If the game closes, the dealer doesn't make any more tips and spends the rest of his down as an up down or someone goes/gets sent home.

It's usually the other way around though, the short table players usually come over to see how many seats are available if they're thinking about breaking. I've never seen anyone from a fuller game come over to a shorter game to ask them if they wanna break but it's really not that big of a deal.

I agree .. but disagree also.

While there's all the negatives of 'planting a seed' there's also the positives of trying to keep 'something' going on both the Room's and your behave.

Some will say that "it's obvious" that they are perfectly capable of seeing all the tables that are running and making their own mind up as if they want to stay. But there's also the captive audience with all the Players knowing that you're checking things out to see if something can be worked out for later.

We all know how fickle a poker player can be .. "Well, I'm already racked up so it's too late to change my mind" type of thinking goes on all the time.

...How 'bout we join tables for the some RxR so everyone can still play?
... Suggest that 'your' table may break and you just want to know how long this table may stay open
... This really could be addressed by the Floor as well, instead of a Player doing the work (and looking bad for it .. apparently)

GL

Might vary by casino but this would be a perfectly normal thing to happen in the games I play. Maybe you just said it in a wrong way or that table was tipping really well and the dealer didn’t want it to end haha

Maybe the best thing to do would be to ask the floor “hey how many seats are open over there” instead just to sort of hint that you might want to combine tables without saying the word “break” which is a naughty word for casino staff.

If certain players at that table were enjoying the short handed game they were in (likely because they had a big fish or two) and you're coming over caused their game to break, they're going to be pretty annoyed at you.

So yes I would say it's bad etiquette. You are basically going there with an approach to potentially cause another game to break.

It's different if you go there to see if there are enough seats for your tables players to join. That's okay.

Bad etiquette for the reasons already mentioned, and yeah, won't be tolerated by the dealer (or a floor) since you're actively trying to kill their business.

If *you* want a full table, then break *your* game. If *they* wanted to break *their* game, they would have asked. It's pretty simple.

By the way I should mention that the frequency of this happening can also make a difference. If you/a group of regs are considered “game breakers” then it could potentially cause some friction between you and the staff. Given your history of finding yourself in a bunch of conflict it might be best not to be so forward with wanting games to break. Someone with more social capital/awareness might be able to get away with things you can’t.

Maybe "everybody minding their own business" is the way to go here here. So those who want to brake, they brake.

The thing is, I saw the only big spot in the other game quit so I figured the remaining short-handed players wouldn’t play too much longer there anyway. So I thought it was a fair question. Seems like an interesting divergence of opinions on this though.

You'll be labeled a problem player if you do this and if you do it often you'll get talked to by management.

It depends.

How many were at your table and how many at the other table.
How many players in a full table 8 or 9?

Room where I play regularly won’t break a table of 5 - only 4 or less if players want to break. We play 8 handed.

GTFO dealer chastising you. You, that is the players, are the customers.

Although it also depends how you said it. You have a history of not speaking your thoughts clearly (ironic for a lawyer.) You should have said “are you thinking of breaking…if you are not, we are and will break and come to this table.”

Dealer shouldn't be chastising you but if it's the graveyard shift, they might be afraid of being sent home. Sometimes one broken game also removes one of the breaks from the lineup so two dealers end up going home.

That’s a shame.

Also, more rake is better.

He's at the casino to make money and people in the poker room know that.

That's far from a regular relationship between customer and employee in the service industry. The recreational player is king. If someone "GTFO" in this situation, it's pretty obvious who that person is. No matter who is "right" or "wrong".

Very recent 'story' about a Floor action and the word 'break'


PLO game is going, but really only 4 PLO Players at the table with 2-4 Players waiting for NL games (HH period starting soon).


Floor comes over and says a seat is available to a Player. Player says they want to stay and play with 2 buddies at same table or go eat. Floor says if you don't take the seat you will go to the bottom of list and it would be easier to play together via seat changes than having 3 seats open at same time at same table.

Floor then pauses and says .. "This game is probably going to break, so if you pass on the open seat now you'll probably end up with no seats if you get rolled. But if you go eat now I can get all 3 of you on this table when we convert it to NL."

PLO Players sitting there with 'open mouth' look on faces as they watch 4 Players immediately leave the table 'at Floor's urging' .. and of course the PLO game breaks.


These three buddies are going to play poker, even visit the casino, less than 3-4 times a year and the Floor decided to cater to them instead of the PLO Regs. This was also at shift change and the new crop of Floors don't cater to PLO 'at all'. So it was going to be much easier on them to have all the tables on NL to reduce wait times during a HH period. (Mission accomplished) GL

If I was playing at a short handed table I would be livid if another player came over and asked us if we wanted to break.

Affecting other players situations is extremely selfish and inconsiderate.

If you want to switch tables and play I have no problem with that.

If all of the players at your table wanted to switch tables and come over I would have no problem with that.

I think the question that was asked earlier, would all players get to play if one table broke is the key question.

In general when it is late and the Floor comes over to break the table I am playing at I will leave the casino rather that have to learn how to play against the majority of the table I will be moved to, especially because I will be tired to begin with. I have a feeling there are other players who feel the same so the casino might be hesitant to break tables for this reason.

Ultra standard in the room I am playing in. Actually it annoys me how aggressive the dealers and players are in breaking and consolidating tables. That being said I wouldn't actually go over there and inquire. At most I would count the empty seats and suggest that we break if I wanted to break, otherwise just wait for the games to consolidate. There is just not really any point in asking. But I think the general consensus in this thread that this is some horrible breach of etiquette is completely mistaken.

Yes there were enough seats for everyone. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.

If your table didn’t break and move to their table then definitely was OOL.

It's fine, whiny dealer can get ****ed.

Per the OP’s M.O. the story is starting to if not, not make sense, then for sure fill with holes.

There’s nothing wrong with filling in details in response to questions raised by other posters. You can only be so thorough in a post before it gets too long.