I was playing a poker cash game on a cruise ship casino (where many passengers may not be familiar with typical poker etiquette.) I was using some poker apps on my phone and taking notes. It looks a little less natural to use your phone on a ship because there is no Internet and you can't text anyone.

After I had been playing for a while, an observer behind me said, "Is that an odds calculator?" I said, "Yeah," thinking he was just going to say it was cool or something. Then he said, "Do you think it's fair for you to use that?"

Before I could respond, the guy next to me said, "It's not. I already warned him." I did not realize he warned me. Earlier he said that you could get beat up in a real casino for doing that. But I thought he was talking about the dealer getting beat up because the dealer had just tabled my losing hand without permission.

Since they seemed bothered by it, I set my phone face down on my lap for a few minutes. Then between hands I picked it up for a second, and the observer behind me said, "That's it! No one else has an app that can calculate odds and percentages for them. If you keep using that, I'm going to tell the pit boss!" (There was no floor person.) I reminded him that I wasn't using my phone in the last hand I played, and then he said, "OK!" and stormed off.

Is there any validity to their arguments? My understanding was that you could use any electronic device for any reason in a cash game. Is that right? Is there really any significant risk of getting beat up for using an electronic device at a cash game in high stakes or otherwise?

Is it against the rules in the casino on that cruise ship to use electronic devices while you're playing? If it's OK, then I don't know how someone could argue against you using it. If it's not, I don't know how you could argue that it's OK.

Either way, if I were in the game and I found out you were using an odds calculator, taking notes, etc., I'd just leave the game. Not worth it to spend my time on vacation playing against a cheater. (And if there's no rule against it, it's not cheating in the strictest sense of the word; I'm using it here in the sense that using those aids in a live game is against the spirit of the game.)

Your understanding is wrong.

What odds do you need a calculator for? Is it that difficult to know going in how often a 5-outer will get there?

If you're using it during the hand then yes, you should stop. Between hands go for it.

So you would think it is alright for a friend to text someone and ask them for advice during a hand? That would fit your broad understanding of the rules.

In most rooms that allow electronic devices at the table it is understood that their are limits .... we may not spell them out for you when you ask hey can I use my phone because we assume you understand certain things are off limits ....

Using a device for the purpose of assistance in the hand is off limits. Whether that is using a calculaotr, an odds calculator, an ICM calculator, asking SIRI what you should do, texting your buddies for advice, etc .....

using it in between hands not so off limits ... but if it upsets all the other players in a place with a limited player pool YOU should be sensitive to that.... because if you piss them off an dthey stop plaaying .... you have no game.

This. In most of the rooms I have played, you cannot be using yourphone while you have live cards. After a warning, the dealer will kill you hand (doesn't happen, because usually the player is good for the rest of that dealer's down).

Between hands, it is not uncommon, if there was a question or discussion on a hand, for a player to use an equity calculator. Never even seen a hint of someone being annoyed by a player doing this after the hand.

As to not tapping the glass, that is advice more for OP's opponents. If I saw a player at a recreational venue like a cruise ship who was 1) unaware of common rules or etiquette, and 2) needed to use an equity calculator while playing, I am going to start targeting this guy while being super friendly

There's no internet on cruise ships these days?

Sorry OP but your entire post is so on the spectrum that I don't even know where to start.

I mean the irony here already

Seriously?

I mean if you're stuck in your phone you probably wouldn't, no.

Beating up the dealer, are you absolutely joking?

I mean if you believe that then you've probably been cheating quite a bit.

And besides, you're on your phone on a cruise ship playing against people who probably think three pair is a thing.

Guy who said that is a clown.

Same thing I feel about HUDs. They are cheating, I don't care what the rules say.

And yeah using an odds calculator at the table is very poor etiquette or its outright cheating.

OP: Your thread title is wrong. The patrons are upset that you've sucked all of the fun out of the game. They're on a cruise to have fun and there YOU are w/ your odds calculator and note taking. If I'd been there I'd have told everyone to not put up their blinds until you were kicked out.

Many posts I agree with, but this above all others.

And this.

FYP.

It’s against the rules or it’s not, check with the cruise ship.

That said, you have to be a total spud to carry on punching numbers into your phone when other players think you are cheating (rightly or wrongly). Just put the phone away and take their money by playing poker.

Every cruise ship that I've been on during the past 15+ years has had WiFi throughout the ship, but it is normally not included in your cruise fare, so you have to pay extra for it. And it is exorbitantly priced compared to normal land prices. It works out to about $20 - $25/day, if not more, over the course of the cruise, if you want an unlimited package. You can also purchase a package of minutes, usually something like 250 minutes for $99.

There is, but you usually have to pay for it. Good excuse to disconnect for a few days.

I can think of one.

Have you been on a cruise? Played poker on one? Even asking you won't know because it is likely that no casino employee has a clue on a rule like that. The lack of knowledge about rules and basic procedures of poker can be appalling. I am not referring to poker cruises where I suspect there are good floors and dealers I have been on a cruise before where not one of the staff understood why they should not be stacking the pot in size neat stacks during the hand. It was the only way they knew to get the rake right. Same cruise also called it a call if facing a bet you silently pushed all of your chips across the betting line. They claimed if you did that to go all in it was a string bet.

So not only are you likely to find ridiculous rules, you are likely to find floors who don't even know a flush beats a straight. Even if you asked an answered don't bet on the answer being right. You could even ask the same person the next cruise or maybe the next day and get the opposite answer.

Classic case of OP being stuck in his own little world not having a clue about what's right or wrong. Proven by the fact of his 66 posts on the board, 38 of them have been starting threads.

Yes and yes, irrelevant though. The point is that only the place running the game can say whether or not you can use a poker app at the table...it’s not something that anyone here can answer definitively.

Were you using an odds calculator during a hand? If that's not against the rules, it should be, and people were right be upset. If you were using it between hands or taking notes between hands that seems fine, or at least not cheating.

In my opinion, using your phone at a table WHILE YOURE NOT IN A HAND is totally fine. But if you are using it DURING A HAND, it is a major etiquette problem and is arguably cheating (if you need an odds calculator, you need to practice poker math) and I would be pissed as well.
At the rooms I play in, they are lax on phone use, but will call you out if you are on your phone during action.

If you were using the notes portion of the app, I would just show them that you are recording hand histories, not odds. But if you are using an Odds calculator, you are in the wrong.

I would have left the game too. I dont mind texting or note taking, but using an odds calculator? *** that.

While I have zero objection to people doing whatever on their phones - I would love to play against 8 people taking turns asking Siri if a flush beat a straight - there are two practical issues.

1. Whether or not it is against the rules is a factual question, that is, it's settled by someone looking something up. It doesn't matter whether people are against you or for you.

2. Whether or not you get your ass kicked entirely depends on whether people are against you or for you. It doesn't matter whether the rules say it's OK or not.

So many of these threads are trying to solicit public opinion on whether the rules are correct or not. And it simply doesn't matter. The public doesn't set the rules but technically abiding by the rules doesn't help your case.

Pay at least enough attention to the game to know when you are being yelled at. The most egregious offense here is that your neighbor yelled at you and you didn't even realize it. Everyone at the table was probably exchanging rolleyes and laughing at you while you took careful notes about them.

Thread getting sneaky long ... I'm in the 'tap the glass crowd' for sure. Why would you want to alert some of these players that you are taking this 'seriously'. The last thing I want is for unknowns to know that 'I know'.

Were you taking notes on your own play? What are the odds of seeing these players again beyond 2-6 days from now? I tend to remember how a guy plays in that short of time frame. Did you offer to show them how 'good' of a call you made in a previous hand via the math if they were questioning your play?

I use my odds app sparingly ... and I will usually show anyone who takes an interest in what I'm doing. Certainly don't hold up the game. The last cruise I went on we had trouble getting a cash game going so you don't want to do anything that might kill the game .. tournaments were fine. GL

PS ... You could go the 'My wife just put this on my phone so I'm checking it out. I will try to do better.' route ...

Even from the inside of the tank?