UK dealer here.

Basically I was dealing last night and seat 8 was eating on a side table whilst in a hand. He wasn't looking at the board or what was going on. I dealt the flop and he asked me to read the cards to him.

I said I can't do that unless he had a visual impairment. Then seat 3 pipes up about some TDA rules regarding "community information". I said I believe I am only required to tell a player what the current bet is and that anything beyond that is a potential breach of OPTAH.

Was I incorrect?

I asked the card room manager and he just laughed and didn't say anything about whether I was right or wrong so hopefully I can get a more serious response here.

He is a customer, it doesn't seem like too a hard a request to comply with.

I am absolutely devoted to helping my players but I don't want to break any rules or impede the integrity of the game either.

If you read the cards properly you can't be violating optah by telling them the board cards.

Properly is card and suit.

So 8 spades. 3 spades. Q spades is proper. 8 3 and Q all spades is not.

I would just do it, and then later speak to the floor. This slows the game down and the floor may want to put a stop to it. Putting arguing about it slows the game more.

I would probably handle it as you did, but offer to call the floor over if he would like.

Yes you were incorrect.

I don't see the angle here. Either the player does not have a real impairment and thus cannot gain anything new from you reading the cards, or he does have a real (see: not self-imposed) impairment and thus requires your help.

A player who cannot correctly read the faces of the cards has an impairment by definition. Now, if you want to say that the player's focus should be on the game and not his food, that is another issue entirely and is probably of more concern to you.

(An aside: the only time I can remember ever calling the clock on someone was when a known problem player kept turning to take a bite of his food whenever the action was on him. So I sympathize with you.)

On the face of it that seems like a good observation to make, but actually what you miss here is that not all players are completely aware of all communal information and it's their duty to themselves to be so diligently so in order that they can make more money.

So for example, if a player does not see that he has a flush, or that a flush is possible, that is something I consider to be a part of the skill of the game, or in this case a flaw in their skill.

Therefore when I say what the board cards are to someone who is a known reg who has never reported any visual impairment or disability that would otherwise impede on himself to have the opportunity to be skillful in that aspect, i.e. observation, I am potentially helping him make more money than he otherwise would.

That's why I take it to be a violation of OPTAH.

That's why you read the cards without commentary. You don't say .... there is a possible flush. Or a straight on the board.

Good points, but an abled player can also miss and ask where the action is, which you should answer. So the current bet is not the only information you can tell a player short of a OPTAH violation as you suggested.

I personally don't think reading the community card faces breaches that line. "Can you read those to me?" is a common request, and since sight changes over time, I don't think you should answer differently just because the player has not shown signs of impairment in the past.

I still think the primary issue here is that the player in your OP seemingly asked you to grant him an unnecessary amenity so he can focus where he shouldn't be.

Somewhat surprised at the responses so far.

I definitely think dealer should NOT have to read aloud board cards simply because some fat limey can't lift and swivel his head away from his bangers and mash to peek at the cards while eating. This is silly. This is the type of player who if given the chance would have a port-a-potty wheeled up tableside lol.

Visual impairment is one thing, but asking dealer to read aloud cards because your head is face-down in a kidney pie is another. Lift your pie-hole and look at the cards in between bites!

Do up cards get read in stud? I've never played it in a casino.

And I wouldn't disagree with a floor person telling the player that if he can't follow and keep up with the game while eating he should sit out. But I don't think a dealer should refuse to read the cards.

If a player asks why not? And in low limit games dealers announce open pairs and better and even possible straights and flushs.

This is your answer OP. I would have no problem with the dealer calling the floor over to address it either, because...

It really is a new level of lazy.

You guys are all nuts!

"Read me the cards, cuz I can't be bothered to do it myself."???? We're seriously entertaining this? ??

Reading the board cards for someone who asks is a reasonable accommodation.

Yes, and under the ADA the casino may have to make reasonable accomodations for a disabled person.

The ADA doesn't apply here for 2 reasons.

1) Dealer is in the UK. perhaps they have a law that applies but clearly US law doesn't apply.

2) Eating is not considered a disability.

What did the floor say you should do when you asked him about it?

The look on my face would be priceless

Seems to me this isn't any different than having a guy watching a movie on his Ipad or reading a book during a hand and he asks the dealer to read the cards so he doesn't miss any of his movie or have to look up from his book. IMO that's nuts to accommodate that. There is no relationship between accommodating a disability and enabling a lazy player who doesn't want to pay attention.

This is a one-off, just tell him the cards.

[QUOTE=LUCIUS VARENUS;50893627]On the face of it that seems like a good observation to make, but actually what you miss here is that not all players are completely aware of all communal information and it's their duty to themselves to be so diligently so in order that they can make more money.

So for example, if a player does not see that he has a flush, or that a flush is possible, that is something I consider to be a part of the skill of the game, or in this case a flaw in their skill.

Therefore when I say what the board cards are to someone who is a known reg who has never reported any visual impairment or disability that would otherwise impede on himself to have the opportunity to be skillful in that aspect, i.e. observation, I am potentially helping him make more money than he otherwise would.

That's why I take it to be a violation of OPTAH.[/QUOTE

I understand your feelings but they are misplaced. At my room not only can you but the room rules say the dealer WILL read the rank and suit of each card dealt face up. Having to repeat this and read the board on reauest is not a burden nor a optah violation. And sinc it is allowed doing it when asked is just good customer service regardless of how you feel about the custormer making the request.

Reading the board for a player (without analytic comment) is not even close to an OPTAH violation. Please just get this out of your head. I probably would have laughed at you for asking this, too.
Reading the board for a player who's distracted (by eating) is simply a customer service question.
I would prefer that players not distract themselves (and slow up the game) while in a hand, but occasionally indulging the eater this way will simply speed things up a bit.
Should it be necessary? Probably not -- in an ideal world, players would only turn away to eat when they were out of a hand -- but in the real world, is it worth it to try to force this by refusing the request? Or to slow up the game by waiting for the eater? I doubt it.

Without being able to cite specifics off the top of my head, any business in the UK has to be somewhat mindful that breaching the Equality Act (which replaced and brought together many acts like the Disability Discrimination Act) is potentially easily done. If a customer makes a reasonable request that you can easily accommodate it's usually best to do it rather than risk having them complain that you discriminated against them because they're in some way impaired.

The best way to deal with this situation is to do what I've seen plenty of UK dealers do and read the cards clearly as they're dealt and, as you suggest, nothing else (flush, straight, pair on the board).

Yes, we reduce the chance of players misreading the board, but it doesn't impact any player in a way that I think could be argued as an unfair advantage.

A guy eating and not willing to stop and look at the board is a bit annoying at worst. Not too much time wasted to simply read him the board a couple of hands . It's not that big a deal to me. I personally don't mind a player being distracted by his supper and still playing at my table if this is the only thing he requests.