What is it with players and their phones. Last night there were 4 players at a full table on their phones. How can you play poker and be on your phone? And yes I won a couple of good pots from these fools.

How can you watch Netflix and be on your phone?
How can you sit in the park and be on your phone?

Some people just like to use their phone and/or get easily bored. Sometimes you see old people read the newspaper or a book in the morning or afternoon..

People also watch the tvs in the poker room and play. Sometimes they will look at the waitress, or even start to daydream. Even without a phone it’s easy to get distracted.

And playing when you are on your phone is easy if you fold most hands.

Why are they fools? If you were on a bus or waiting in a doctor's waiting room, wouldn't you look at your phone? They're waiting for hands to play, this is live poker where they don't get too many hands they can play per hour so what's wrong with looking at your social media, talking to friends, or watching a video?

I would rather let the recreational players do whatever they want so they keep coming back otherwise it would be too boring for them to sit there and watch "pro's" with their headphones on and not acknowledging anyone around them. Can you blame them?

Many of these ppl couldn't play if they didn't have phones bec their business requires that they stay in constant contact. Plus we sometimes get to hear the laughable excuse offered up when it's the wifey calling.

Why are you complaining? Your post is a perfect example of why it should be encouraged.

I don't mind the phones if the people using them are able to pay attention to when it's their turn to act. Last weekend I was at a table with three jerks gazing at their phones nearly all the time,and all three had to be reminded when it was their turn to act whether it was putting out blinds or facing a bet. If it was facing a bet, they would be remarkably slow at figuring out what had happened already. Really cut down the number of hands per hour.

I'd like to see phones at poker tables treated like they are at pit games: you're allowed to be on them if you step away from the table; otherwise, they're not allowed. It would help the flow of the game and I think it would make people more social.

I've given up on this fight at the poker table. Society has spoken with its actions.

Constant phone attachment has been deemed socially acceptable in a public setting, so I literally just have to deal with it as best as possible.

When I first broke into the business many years ago, even looking at an electronic device at the table was not allowed. I honestly cannot remember what that was like.

It really depends what people would do if you took away their iPad/laptop/phone. People may play just as badly but faster (which is good), or they may pay more attention to the game (which is bad). They may just remain antisocial and glare creepily at people (which is bad), or they may tell you about their sports betting habits (which is good).

A pro might be playing in a higher limit game where he's fighting with other pros constantly, he wants them distracted. Whereas a casual player who only plays on weekends may rather people get bored and leave so they can be replaced with tourists.

I honestly believe that taking away the phones these days would reduce the player pool.

I doubt anyone would disagree with you on that. Banning phones would certainly drive away players.

You can’t really compare poker to table games. The latter provide constant action to every player while the average poker player is in a hand for 10-20 minutes per hour.

In the past, lots of rooms had rules that banned phones for players in a hand and I thought that was a good compromise. I am also perfectly fine with policies that ban larger electronics like the Horseshoe in Tunica does.

I agree that there would be at least a temporary shrinking of the player pool. I don't necessarily think it would be permanent and it could even cut the other way: people might tend to find the games more welcoming without the phones.

It's OK that poker tables don't provide "constant action to every player" regarding who is actually in the hand; there's always something to see.

I think that you way overestimate the percentage of players who are "serious" players, i.e., who really are there to play and make money, and who want to really pay attention to the game (especially during hands they're not in).
I think that banning phones at the table would definitely drive a way a lot of people (many whom you'd like to have playing), especially if they had a choice of rooms with some allowing phones.
IMO, simply banning phone use when a player is actually in a hand (has live cards in front of them) is adequate to keep the game moving, as long as the dealers enforce it.

I remember when cardrooms (and bars) in California went smoke-free.
People in the industry were all gloom and doom.
But after a couple of months, business was almost back to normal.

If gambling can overcome a smoking habit, it can overcome a cellphone habit.

Sounds reasonable, but I doubt it.

The only way we'll ever know is if a place that has a virtual monopoly on poker were to ban it. I'm looking at you, Australian casinos, with your one-casino-per-state rule.

IME (exceptions may apply) Australian casinos are terribly managed, sky-high rake, drinks costs and else, rude and incompetent dealers, floor, staff etc. That's why they do not have more business, not because of the phone rules, which are good

While your conclusion may be true, the example isn't a good one. California banned smoking in indoor places altogether, not just at the cardroom tables. If the proposal were to ban all cell phone use, statewide, indoors and even outdoors within 25 feet of an entrance, then it'd be more appropriate. People would stop using cell phones so much - in general - and eventually society would be more phone-free in general and people would come back.

Banning cell phones at the table is just annoying. Most cell phone users do not consider using their cell phone to be a bad habit, and in places where there are multiple rooms, people will migrate to the laxest restrictions rather than quit.

I live in Illinois and none of the casinos allow phones at the table. It's a pain in the ass, but it doesn't deter people from playing. Yeah, players hate it, but it's not going to keep players from playing poker.

That's my thought too: same as if any other form of freedom or convenience were curtailed across the board, the players might temporarily go away but they'd be back eventually and the atmosphere would be improved.

I see your point, but reject the premise and the conclusions. In point of fact we don't really know that no players were deterred from playing by the rule. For all we know many players stopped coming to play as a result, or play less than they might otherwise. All we know is that some players continue to come, and that that number is large enough to have games.

More specific data or trend analysis or surveys might help us infer other conclusions, but even then we would likely be determining correlation not causation.

I'm with Rapini and it's not just because I love Seinfeld


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1. I would wager a bigger percentage of poker players use electronics vs people who go to restaurants and smoke

2. Comparing a couple guys on their phones that bother you at the poker table (while you win large pots off of them) to having to be surrounded by and inhaling 2nd hand smoke is ridiculous

3. The industry was doom and gloom about no more smoking, but I'm pretty sure most of the customers rejoiced. I dont think you'll get the same response from most poker players when banning phones

I don't really have a strong opinion about phones (I use mine when I'm bored or don't want to talk to people all the time), but it looks silly as **** when a guy has one of those monster tablets on the table while he's playing. I hope to someday see 2 people next to each other at the table playing multiplayer Nintendo switch with the joycons between hands.