Never seen this as a problem before. Most people take 4-7 minutes, depends on how far you have to walk to get to the bathroom. In my poker room, if you can going for food, you can ask for a dinner button, giving you like 62 minutes to eat and get back to the table. Take your stuff with you, leave your chips on the table, count them beforehand if you want. Wash your hands.

Where I've played, there is usually a rule that says "One player may leave the table for a 'dinner break' lasting at maximum one hour". You keep your chips on the table and pay any session fees you miss but other than that, you join back in (posting blinds varies between rooms, some places make you, some don't). They use some sort of system (cards, timer etc) to indicate how long you've been gone and how much longer you can be gone.

If you exceed the hour, then they take your chips off the table.

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If you are looking for a break, again all the places I've played employ a double-blind-out rule where if you miss 2 big blinds, your chips come off the table. This gives you enough time for a smoke, drink, bathroom break.

All the people who say it's "bad etiquette" to pick up your chips, and then buy in for less a short while later:

Is it bad etiquette to hold back a card or two to insert into your hand at a later time? An extra ace can be awfully helpful. What about marking the backs or edges so you can keep track of who has key cards; is that bad etiquette too?

So you are comparing hit-and-run with cheating.

Sorry, doesn't fly. Beat the guy when he first sits down. Don't whine when he takes his profit.

Try having some guy super stuck at your table, leaves the min on the table, and goes to the craps pit to gamble it up and try to get even, come back in time to play one hand before his chips get scooped by the floor, wash, rinse, repeat.

Of course I never say this while at the table, but the odds of hitting the bad beat go down significantly with every absent player, in a non-linear fashion. Your increased share of the jackpot is not enough compensation for this.

I do say this at the table, because Tunica is full of -EV players who would rather pay max rake so four of us can chase an unlikely jackpot for the same $1 a hand as people in full games. But antagonizing -EV players isn't good for me, so I usually just rack up and go home when it gets below 6.

This forum would be a ghost town without non sequiturs.

I'm not comparing hit-and-run to cheating; I'm comparing ratholing to cheating -- which it is.

I've never had a problem with leaving my chips on the table in order to take a break. If I plan to be away for longer than a quick bathroom break (5-10 minutes), I'll tell the dealer and also check on the time limit. I would definitely take any possessions as well as put your large denomination chips in front or under a stack of smaller chips. It's kinda scary the first time you leave hundreds of dollars at a table of strangers. And poker degenerates at that.

Some places will allow you to be gone for an hour, some base it on the number of dealers that cycle through while you are gone, and some count the number of absent buttons you collect (usually one per new dealer). You can also double check with the floor if the dealer seems confused.

Usually, the room is okay with a quick meal break (30 minutes to an hour). But if you plan to be away longer, you should cash out and come back later.

If you come back after cashing out, don't expect your seat to be available. They will not save it for you. You will most likely have to get back on the list and wait for the next available seat. You can request your old table (or any specific one you prefer) and wait for that table to have an opening.

If there is no list (no waiting players) and you return, you still might not get your old table. The floor wants to balance out the number of players at each table, so that might keep you from going back to your original table if they are just short one player while another table is short two players.

There are some time limits (either 1 or 2 hours) about when you can return to a specific game and NOT buy in for the same amount you left with from that game. For instance, you leave the 1/2 NL HE game with 800 and come back 20 minutes after cashing out. You are then required to sit down with 800. Now, if you are gone for two hours and return, you can buy in for what you want under the min/max rules. If you return after 20 minutes and go to another game (either a different game or a different limit) you can buy in for what you want under the min/max rules.

It's a bit different if you bust out/felt on a table. You can usually ask the dealer to "lock up" your seat and then you have some time (I've never heard it well defined) to go get money/shake the money tree and to return to the same table. The amount of time you have seems to depend on how much you spew and how many players are waiting to grab that spot.

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I have been guilty of leaving for way too long and having my chips scooped up by the floor. When that happens, ask the floor for your chips. They'll have them up front and safe.

It's a good idea to stretch your legs every now and then. Take a quick walk around the area or go and grab a coffee.

Like I said, beat them before they can leave with "your money".

Ratholing carries a very specific consequence: the player is obligated to rack up and leave the table. In some rooms there's also a specifically stated waiting period, say an hour or two. If the same seat is available after that waiting period, no one is being cheated.

In the land of non sequiturs apparently we've missed the point that holding out aces or marking cards involves deception. No one is being deceptive about their intentions to come back after a period of time and buy in for less. (Sneaking chips off one's stack is a different matter, but that's not what this digression is about.)

Many rooms maintain a "dinner list" or "reseat list". If they do, you can sign up and be first in line to be reseated after you return.

It's fine to leave your chips on the table most people do. If you want to add a little security if you may be gone for more than a bathroom break put your players card on top of your stack to easily identify yourself to it.

You might want to check with your casino on this.

At Foxwoods a player had over $500 in chips in two racks at a 20/40 table when he took a dinner break. Then the table broke but the dealer was still there. A random guy came and picked up the racks and the dealer asked the random guy if he wanted to go on the wait list. The random guy said no and left. When the player got back to the table the casino said it was not responsible for the stolen chips because the table had not been locked and the chips bagged.

There have also been several other theft of chips at Foxwoods in the recent past in which Foxwoods took no responsibility. I mean they tried to catch the guy by identifying them on tape and in one case they caught a guy who came back 45 minutes after the theft occurred. But in the 20/40 case FW won't even provide the name of the player - which they allege to have - to Connecticut authorities so the player can sue for damages/have him locked up for theft.

Also imagine if a cardroom made themselves responsible for stolen chips. There would be countless teams of "players" reporting "theft" of thousands of dollars worth of chips. True, they would be limited as to how many times they could pull this off - but even once could be a huge score.

To OP, I never leave for long meal breaks. I cash out and go on the dinner re-seating list. Then when I sit again I play with my standard buy-in (for NL it would be the max buy-in at the new table anyway). Short bathroom/pizza breaks I leave the chips on the table except for large denomination (unless they are buried) but take the cash (again unless its buried under racks or chips).

This was at Caesar's AC by the way. i just cashed out took a 15 min break to piss/etc and just came back and sat down at the same table i was sitting at. they don't have waiting lists usually, you usually just can go seat yourself although most the times i ask for a 1/2 seat from the guy up front

i'll be sure in the future though to not rathole if i ever cashout and come back, i kinda did it by accident without thinking. and next time ill just leave my chips there when i take a break. thanks for the help guys

It's super-standard to leave your chips at the table while you're on break. You should take anything that's easily swipable - wads of cash, high denomination chips, iPod, etc. - but unless the dealer is stupid enough to let a random person come in and rack up your chips, you're generally safe. Of course, there have been instances where dealers have been that stupid, but I contend this is a bit like not driving on the freeway because of the accidents you might encounter.

Some places will give you a rack to cover your chips.

Some places will only allow you a certain time from the table before you are picked up.

Some places will only allow you a certain number of missed blinds before you are picked up.

Some places will only allow a certain number of people to lobby.

Some places will ask you to pick up when you go to dinner, but put you at the top of the waiting list when you come back.

Most places won't let you rebuy with a smaller amount if you've left your chips there; if you take $500 in black off the table, you'll be expected to put it back on. If nothing else, it's considered very bad form to do so.

Diapers for the win!
Seriously,just go to the bathroom

you know what my fav pocket pair is? pocket "deuces"

Har. Har.

At the Taj in AC when I stepped onto the parking lot elevator until the time I arrived at the poker room, I saw three different guys taking their breaks; then I finally got to the men's room...

I think you're mistaken about this.
The casino will normally use reasonable efforts to prevent or solve thefts of players' chips off the table, but I do not think that they are legally responsible for them if you're unlucky enough to be victimized. It doesn't happen often (and I leave chips on the table, too), but I think that the casinos' usual position on this when a theft does happen is that the player is out of luck.

Aw.... I guess every silver lining really is surrounded by a cloud.

You can leave your chips and take 20 minutes not a problem usually.

IMO if you are going for a phone call and bathroom break leave your chips. I always leave my (large) card protector on top of my chips in such a way that it is obvious that anyone has messed with it. Example- I build a tower and stick my snowman on top. This is done while I'm not playing a hand ('stacking chips' but actually watching opponents).
If I ever have a problem coming back and thinking I'm short doing this imo should help the eyes in the skies figure it out.

For a dinner break or 30 min+ I'll just take my chips, cash out, do my thing, and then go back to the waiting list.

Nice bump!