No it's not a common rule, but I'm pretty sure most countries won't make a big deal out of repeating things in English. Atleast that's what I've experienced when playing at the MCOP in The Netherlands which is an international event as well.

Although I guess that kind of makes sense since Dutch isn't really a language people tend to know, nor does Dutch have their own table language unlike the French who have translated all poker terms to their own (lol btw)

Plz this just unfair, EVERYHERE u go play usa italy or denmark florstaff will do anything they can to satisfy u as a customer, AND this was an internasjonaly announsed high buyinn tourney.

Of course floor staff should do everything to satisfy the customer. However, should all the french dealers, Td, staff etc, have to speak a language that is not their own?

I am not saying one way is best over the other just that is it a rule that English is the only language allowed at the tables?

^^ Reminds me of a thread where a few people were complaining about all the Chinese spoken at the poker tables in Macau.

OMG dealers and players speaking french in France!

My point exactly, I surely cannot be suprised if I go to Germany say, and shock horror, they speak German. When did Poker rule state that only English can be spoken at the tables. I know a variation of the rule is there to stop colluding, but if i play in tournament that is not in England or the national language is not English thats a risk I take.

The reverse is also true, if a non english speaking person played where english was spoken same scenario

I wasnt at the tournament but Michael's post pretty much sums up the feeling I got when I read this thread. I felt pple were overreacting with the accusations of cheating and favoritism and it seemed more like a case of incompetence and language/cultural barrier. I studied in france for a few years and knowing the french mentality Im not surprised that disagreements on the application of rules in poker tournaments can lead to this kind of controversies. In my experience the French like to talk much more than they like to listen (no offense) and they dont always have the kind of patience one would need in sorting out this kind of situations. I feel that this attitude easily leads to the 'none of your business' kind of replies as the staff think they ask the questions if need be and they make the decisions. And if they dont really feel like listening all that much, its only natural that a french speaking player may be in a better position to make himself be heard. Not because of nationality but because of language.

Also, I think Michael getting kicked out of the tournament was due to them feeling that he had questioned their authority in resolving the issue and insulted their boss rather than them having a strict policy about foul language in tournaments. I dont think they would consider it reasonable to throw someone out of a tournament because of the words Michael used. But the their tempers do flare easily in this kind of controversial situations if they feel that you question their authority or that you insult the person who is in a position of authority such as the boss here. So I think they basically had had it at that point. And when they lose their patience the French tend to overreact.

When I studied in France I got frustrated with the French mentality so many times and I can understand the feelings people have about dealing with them. But on the other hand, the French can be very hospitable and nice people and I absolutely love their country. I think that the instances of incompetence that people have told about in this thread dont really justify all the hate the French are getting ITT.

That's not the point.
The point is that English may or may not be an official language of the local poker room. The two biggest rooms in Paris have done it (ACF and Wagram).

The issue isn't that "they were speaking French," it's that they refused to speak English to the players who didn't speak French even though it's clear from the description that there were English speakers present.

I am French and and heres is my opinion for what it is worth :

Poker hasn't been around for very long in French Casinos, but it has been booming recently so they haven't had much time to come up with competent experienced floor managers in every single poker room.

The floor manager was probably trying to come up with an acceptable ruling and when he realised he might have been wrong his priority was not to lose face.

I think there's no way they would discriminate you for being non-French or deliberately cheating you. They were just trying to improvise a ruling.

If the guy refused to speak English, well maybe his English is not that good.

Everywhere in the world Fencing terms are in French so I personnally wouldn't mind poker terms being in English.

Where do you play in Belgium? I am working here for the next six months

Hello, my name is Guillaume Gleize, I work as tournament director in France and other countries and I use to communicate weekly with american & other foreign poker managers.

This case must absolutly be clarified. It seem's that the floor managers of this casino made a big error. But the problem is that some testimonies are absolutely opposite to the one written here !?! The point is: what said the dealer to his (numerous) floor managers when they where around him? Some said here that the english speaking players couldn't get a word (I agree that it's not polite neither normal) but be sure that EVEN the french people around there could'nt get a word! We all are waiting for the "official speach" the Partouche managers were supposed to make after the incident...

About thoses stupid people making stupid general insult on France: I just have pity! We also do have here this same kind of stupid (minority) people doing the same thing the opposite way ... you know ... thoses eternal "war makers" ... God will find them back!

I hope this problem will be clarified ... for the beauty of this marvelous game invented by America: POKER!

Best regards,

GG

I played in a Partouche Poker Event about a year ago and I can confirm that French players are definitely prioritized in their events.
Our table also had 1 player who couldn't speak French (he was Irish i think) and the Dealer and the Floormen just refused to speak English with him, he had a hard time figuring out what was going on on the table.

I also noticed a card that was marked, so I showed it to the dealer and he called a floorman to change it (this took about 10min). About 20min later I had another card which was clearly marked, I showed the dealer again and he just rolled his eyes and ignored me. I wouldn't let go and asked for a floorman (the same one arrived) and he just refused to change the deck. Strangely the whole table (all French, but me and Irish guy) wanted to play on and didn't care about the marked card.


In general I can say that French Casino's are very anti-foreigners, and I saw some strange things going on in cash-games!

Offtopic:
i tought poker was invented by the french..

i thought it was invented in Mississippi

This reminds me, during about the 5th hand of my first cash game session I noticed one of cards was marked (they had cards with a plain white back). After the hand was over I pointed out that the card was marked, a floor was called over and he took the card. I then started stacking my chips and the next hand was dealt. After this hand was over the floor comes back and gives us a new Qs (or actually Ds). The dealer puts the card with the others cards and continues his shuffle.

No one seemed at all surprised that we just played a hand with 51 cards in the deck. Guess the rake has to keep going

I remember another story, not in a Partouche Casino but still a Casino in France.

I was playing a hand against a player who knows I'm playing very tight. He open raises in second pos I 3 bet in middle with 99. He calls the raise.
The flop comes AKJ, he bets and I raise pot. He tanks for a moment an openfolds QQ.

I tell him "good fold, I had a set" and throw my hand to the dealer.

20min into the game, between 2 hands the dealer tells me to admit already what I had in that hand. I was like wtf?
Dealer: I checked your hand, you didn't have a set!

At that point I wasn't sure what to do, I didn't want to lose my face but I was so shocked about that statement I was completely lost.
I was just sitting there for about 5min, not knowing what to do or how to react.
After a while I asked for the floor, but guess what nobody was there. Apparently they had to leave the room because there was some kind of situation in another room.

I ended up leaving the Casino without talking to the floor or anybody else which probably wasn't a good idea in hindsight but at that moment I was totally puzzled!

WTF

oooh poor little american, they can t speak french, I feel so sorry.....butnaaaaah!!!!

This comment is rude and offensive.

If casinos wish to encourage an international attendance then they need to be mindful of the languages that people speak.

You may well believe that US players should be more polyglot...and you may be right...but praising French boorishness is not the way to go.

Toujours la politesse.

I'm going to side with the six casino officials on this one.

Also I don't understand why you or Binger cared so much, neither of you were in the hand.

If you don't like the way the French run tournaments, don't play in France.

Even if you are not in the hand, it still has an influence on your tournament. On top of that, if you feel that the dealers, floormen etc. can not be trusted it is very well your business!

Wait, what? That's hilariously dumb.

guy i'm quoting is obv a bad person

I'm not surprised by all of this. I have worked for Partouche for one year and a half and this is usual.

As Michael Binger said they are for host welcoming etc, but they really sucks in employees management.
There is three major points that have to change if Partouche want to become competent.

First of all they should take care of their good dealers/floor. I Began working as dealer when poker arrived in french casino like 3 years ago. They were looking for poker player as most of the "old" casino employees didn't know anything about poker. After six months I was spending more time as floor than dealing. The only thing I have won is more responsibilities and the right to work more on the tournaments. As I was amongst the best, I was one of the first on the tournament, and one of the last to leave. If I had been bad I just would have work less for the same profit. My only reward was a "thanks you're working well". I they don't want to keep the guys dealing fast, knowing the rules, speaking english, understanding the game and so being able to detect collusion or angleshooting they're never going to have a competent staff. Most of the initial poker players that became dealers with me and were good left a little after me. Even if there is a few competent dealers/floor most of them are just doing this like any other job and don't give a **** about the way they're doing it. I'm not even speaking about the poor working conditions during the PPT main event, where the work laws are not respected.

Secondly, most of the casinos director members are very proud of themsleves. They are usually working for the groupe for a long time. When you're new to the casino, they can't accept that you're better than them. Most of them are totally ignorant about poker, if you're trying to explain them when they're wrong and why they're usually becoming angry about this. Because they are the boss who know everything and you're just a little piece of ****. They can't admit that they're dumb. I'm not speaking about everyone but a large majority. So they're never going to progress with this state of mind.

Finally, they should understand than allowing cheating with regualr is bad for them on the long run (but most of the directors don't understand the concept of long term, or game theory). In the casino I was working on it was really sick how collusion were rotting the tournaments. I was usually dealing cash game, when I was dealing tourney I was warning the TD about it. But nothing was done. As long as you're regular, and are spending money regularly in the casino, you can insult employees or cheat. You're allowed to, the only ban I have seen was because of physical violence, just once because of a cheating from a non regular guy, and it was really obvious and get caught by the cameras.

that's the sad reality of the Partouche group, they prefer to keep friends and family on top of te company even if they suck and don't understand anything about mathematics. Most of them are dumb and inefficient , but they know each other.

Some of the comments from French locals, that they need better French players, and the French should allow French favoritism , are lol.

I'm curious if anyone has had these problems at a French casino in Montreal?

Hope, this all gets resolved.