I am disturbed about something I witnessed at a local poker room yesterday (yes, on Christmas). As I walked in I could see there was a commotion of sorts in the far corner of the room, then paramedics rushed in and it was evident to me that a player had collapsed (I apparently walked in right after it happened).

Paramedics worked on him for about 20 minutes (it became very clear that things were not going well and that they weren't able to resuscitate him properly). Those of us who cared to ask found out that he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Apparently he had stood up from the 2/5 table where he was playing (didn't remove his chips to leave the table), said he didn't feel well, and then collapsed as he walked away from the table.

Of the 20 or so tables in the room, about 12 - 15 were in play. Only two tables of players stopped playing -- the rest continued on as if nothing was going on.

Is poker such a callous sport that it's acceptable to be oblivious to the distress of another human? Should players cease play out of respect? Or because they can do nothing to help, they should just keep playing? There were no tournaments going on, so that wasn't a consideration.

I like to run a big bluff when the geezer 2 tables down keels over. Other players are more likely to be distracted and not fight as hard for the pot.

Seriously can't imagine why not keep playing especially if the tables aren't bordering the collapsed player. Maybe loud celebrations/insults/table talk in general should be toned down, but unless one of the players is a doctor or knows CPR it's probably best they just stay out of the way and keep playing. Maybe a tournament should stop the clock until he's cleared out of the area because of the sanctity of the tournament rules.

When you see a bad accident on the road, do you pull over?

If you're a medical professional or otherwise in a position to help, you should stop what you're doing and help.

If you recognize the person hurt, you should probably stop to help.

If you're not any of those, you should get out of the way of those who can help, but otherwise don't have any other obligation.

Same with if you see something in a poker room, or supermarket, or any other public place, IMO.

If there is something you can do to help. Do it. If there isn't anything you can do to help .... get out of the way of those who can help.

But as long as you do what you can do, or stay out of the way I don't think there is anything wrong with continuing playing. I understand that you may not be comfortable playing anymore so I won't judge you for leaving ..... but understand that whether you stay or go is personal preference.

I mean if you think its wrong to stay and play .... when is it acceptable for play to resume. You might feel that once they move the person away its okay ... but someone else may feel its in poor taste to wait for the guy to leave and start playing again as though nothing happened. Maybe everyone should take the day off.... but really isn;t it kind of callous to come back the next day and play like nothing happened ..... etc etc....

Two things here:

First to answer your questions directly, and these are opinions, not facts. (somewhat stating the obvious, but Ok)

Is poker such a callous sport... A: No, but many people who partake in it for the purpose of making money indeed seem to be so.

Should players cease... A: Yes. This is beyond obvious and common sense.

There were no tournaments going on... A: irrelevant (see above)

Now, people may say things like "but....there were XXX so many people, and there was YYY time left, and ZZZ other stupid reasons to not stop...". No, sorry, just no. When there is a serious accident on the strip what happens? The road gets closed down, and people find alternative routes or just wait. Tough #$%^, deal with it. (No, it's not exactly a great counter-example, because some elements are similar, but this is more about the etiquette and proximity; in vehicles, there are many different laws and rules which do not pertain to being in person and in the same room as another--totally different dynamics.)

Now, onto part 2 which shows why things like this tend to happen more often to people like this or in situations like this.

LA Times: "Even for the active, a long sit shortens life and erodes health"

http://www.latimes.com/science/scien...119-story.html

Suprised I dont see more threads like this, the real delimma is what players would do if someone collapses in the middle of a pot after putting their stack in. If im the winner I couldnt think of how slimy it would feel pulling a dead persons chips twoard you.

You have to consider the alternatives. What happens if you're entitled to the pot but choose not to claim it? The house will impound it, and after a certain time, claim it.

If you're not entitled to the pot, of course you shouldn't make false claims on it, but you can facilitate getting the pot to the next of kin, to whom the money rightfully belongs (they may not realize they need to claim it).

If you end up with the pot (rightfully or not) but feel bad, you are always free to claim the pot and donate it to the next of kin or to help pay for the funeral.

To me, the only no-nos are telling tacky jokes and bashing the deceased.

Otherwise, everybody reacts in their own way.

Giving his family the money is a possibility to waft some guilt, but you get into having to follow the guy to the hospital explaining to his emotional family that your turning over the $500 he lost in a hand before dying,so not only do you surrender the pot but you have his families grieving faces burned in your memory forever. Now to be clear I would take the pot, but im racking up and cashing out after that and probably not playing the next day. It feels so slimy to say that but anything you do wouldn't feel right damn.

I think its best to keep playing, unless you are at a table right next to where it is happening and either the activity at your table could be distracting to the medical people or a player may be too upset tp play. But I've seen this happen a couple of times at Tampa Hard Rock, which is a big room with 50 tables.

Someone was getting worked on near the front. But in the back of the room you couldnt really see what was going on. If the goal is to keep people out of the way of the medical personnel, then the best thing to do is keep people playing. This keeps them in their seats. If you stopped the game, within a couple of minutes you would have a bunch of players get antsy and go to leave. And probably try and rubberneck to see whats going on as they leave. Better to keep everyone calm and seated by continuing to play.

The last thing you want is 400 people heading for the doors, or telling them they cant leave and cant play. Because then a bunch of people would get angry, say you cant keep me here, etc and you have more of a crowd control issue then if you keep playing.

You could show up and tell his family that he was a ****ing donk who stacked off with top pair no kicker as his final action in life.

Or you could also show up and say that you played poker with him and had a lot of respect for him as a person and not even mention you were even at the same table as him when he died.

Tell them you made a big bluff, and when he called you were sure you were drawing dead. Then say you practically had a heart attack when you saw he only had middle pair, no ticker. I mean no kicker.

Or I could say i was in the middle of slow rolling him how does that sound?

If it were someone whom I know, I would rush to him or her out of concern. I care about anyone who has any kind of problem, medical or otherwise.

Someone died in a poker room in which I was playing a couple of months ago. I did not turn around. I was told that he was in his eighties. I know no one that old in that poker room.

I did not turn around because I was told that people were trying to help, I realized that I could be of no help, and I did not want to have a lasting impression of what was happening. However, I did, and still do, care.

When there is a traffic accident that is being taken care of by police and/or an ambulance, I do my best to keep moving past the accident so that I do nothing to impede traffic. The details of the accident are irrelevant to me. It would be great if all of the gawkers who slow down, or even stop, to look would just keep driving as quickly and as safely as possible.

I was at a new job once and had to call my boss to see if we had a rule covering what to do with a player's tournament chips if he dies; he was the chip leader and most likely would blind into the money. I got a nasty glare from the EMT that was working on him.

Everyone reacts differently to these sorts of situations. I don't think there's any right answer, aside from the obvious of get out of the way and let the Emergency personnel do their job.

First thing I'd do is see if he had black Aces and Eights. If so, rack-up and get out of there as fast as you can!

Seriously though, if I keeled over playing poker I'd want my fellow poker players to have a shot of Tequila in my name, keep on playing, and use it as a reminder to enjoy life to the fullest. Better to die in a poker room running a huge bluff than spend years in a nursing home dying slowly.

LOL! Funny sht!!

When I pass on I want my friends to have a party, tell funny stories and celebrate my life. I'm a huge smartass, so is my family, and I'd hope they'd tell jokes like this at my funeral! Death is a part of life and we don't all have to follow the same rule-book on grieving/remembering. Hope I'm not too off topic (new 2+2'er here).

-APW

This is great. I'm going to tell the floor/dealers (only a total of like 8 people. Small room) that if I ever die at the table I want my remaining money on the table to buy every one a drink.
Lol at WA St. No free drinks.

I think psandman said it best. At some point play will resume, I think different people have varying 'points' when it's OK to resume, and that's fine too.

If I'm not in the way, don't know anyone involved, and can't help... I think I'm sticking around to play. There are other factors of course, but I'm not just leaving because someone in the room passed away.

better question is how long he gets to keep his seat

Same situation, but on golf course. With a group of guys playing golf. Guy keels over on eighth green. I'm in four some on ninth tee box. Partners is his foursome give guy on ground mouth to mouth. It doesnt help. We on tee box can't do anything but play on.

Resuming play is not unethical behavior. You are not expected to stop playing, however, just because I may continue to play doesn't mean that I didn't get upset over it.

The man is not my family regardless that we may have all been playing poker under the same roof. Just like, when there's a fatal car crash and you're driving by; aren't you obligated to pull over? Or to stop driving? Well, no, you are not. Doesn't mean that you're heartless or that you have no etiquette. It just means that life goes on(obla di obla da). You do a sign of the cross(or whatever religious thing you sometimes do when something horrible happens)...you pause for a few seconds in silence...hope he went in peace, and go about your day. If this happened to someone who I knew and cared about, I would quit for the day, absolutely.

The proper etiquette is to step over the body carefully enough that you don't tread on it while getting back to your seat.

Coldest thing I've seen is when a reg died while in the casino and they went to get his wife playing slots.

Security told her it was an emergency,and she asked if he was dead.

They didn't want to upset her,but she kept asking til they told her.

She told them she wanted to play out what she had on the machine in that case,cause it wouldn't make much difference to him.

That's really sick esp bec I believe it.