That TD discretion is a wonderful thing. In the event a new player obviously misreads their hand, an explanation of the rule is definitely the way to go, along with a warning. Other situations warrant more extreme penalties.
An argument can me made that almost every "zero tolerance" rule is absurd. My idiocy of introducing the F-bomb rule at the Series in 2005 is a perfect example.

If there was one situation related to language I would like to see addressed, it would be the use of these declarations in contexts where they are not intended to be a declaration. E.g. If player A says "Did he check?", But player B (or the dealer) only hears "check" and thus player B turns his hand over, is player A still free to bet? Is this a penalty on B for prematurely exposing his hand?

This should definitely be discussed.

Floorperson just walks over to breakng table and hands out seat cards. I see this time and time again


A high card to determine what seat card everyone gets takes 5 seconds and shows all players that the seating is random.

Or hand the seat cards to dealer and have them shuffle them in front of players before distribution.

+1

I was thinking we could trust the dealers in the casino but idk if TDA is used in nonregulated arenas. I feel like if they wanted to cheat, starting the shuffle two minutes early wouldn't be too much of a help. But if it is an issue you could just start it early if two players are at the table and if that is not the case start when the clock starts.

Since the beginning of time players have felt more comfortable being able to see the dealers shuffle the cards. All it would take is a few big hand to happen an then players would start accusing dealers of malfeasance.

There is an old saying "You trust your grandmother, but you still make her cut the cards."

Folding to no bet is one of my pet peeves, it absolutely can affect action and should be penalized. I just wish I could start penalizing people in a cash game for it.

I used to play in a small room where out of turn action was rampant. Their solution was an automatic check for the player who acted out of turn.

This is so tilting and drives me to the point of not wanting to play live anymore. For some odd reason any stake under 5/10 this just goes ignored and dealer states "sir wait your turn". I know plenty of times where this has been done as an angle but FL floor people are probably the worst of any state.

Dealer announcing a wrong amount is a non-issue i think. In the few occasions i have seen a dealer make an error with an amount, he was instantly corrected by most of the table.

You can also phrase the rule so that when the dealer announce the amount of a bet, it is the responsibility of the player making the bet to make sure the amount announced is correct.

In my opinion, all dealers should always announce "bet xxx" or "raise xxx", i do agree however the phrase "it's xxx more" should be banned.

It would save so much time and get rid of all the "how much is it ?/ how much did he raise ?"/etc that happens mostly preflop and thus speed up the game.

Something also needs to be done against constant tanking or very long hands, but not sure what.

The number one rule that has to die in all card rooms is the cell phone rules or thier variations. It's not 1998. Every single person has one.

There is NEVER collusion with them and if someone is slowing the game using one then punish them using one of the many other rules which disallow delay.

I disagree.

you can't be serious

I would guess you are more likely to win the main event than be a victim of live collusion with a cell phone. It's a rule that fixes a problem that simply does not exist.

As they stand, cellphone rules are fine.
People talking on phones at the table would be annoying and delay the game.
You can text, surf etc if you don't have cards. If you could do it when you had cards, it would also be annoying and delay the game.

Why would you really want this rule changed?
Anything that slows down the game is bad for the game.

If anything, I would prefer if the 'step away from the table when on the phone' rule was properly enforced. Anyone who answers their phone when they have cards should have their hand auto-mucked.

They shouldn't allow on line poker to be played while in a live tournament. So easy to send message across the table via chat feature.

I once watched two Europeans playing at opposite sides of the table in a cash game, i-chatting with each other on their iPads at Bellagio.
Maybe they were just sharing jokes. But maybe they were comparing notes on hands and reads on players. There's a reason why it's "English only" at the table... so EvERYONE can comprehend the information being exchanged.
That's the equivalent of two players chatting on the phone while playing at the same online table... it gives them an unfair advantage.
Also with the advent of Poker Cruncher/Stove - do you want your opponent using his smart phone to provide valuable info?
Electronics at the table (other than music) give the e-generation an advantage that turns live poker into the HUD/%/calculator game that online has already become. It becomes the dude with the best toys wins.
I'd hate to see live poker turn into that.

Huh?
Facebook Messenger? Whats App? or heaven forbid text messaging!

What a strange comment, Allen.

Perhaps it is the inconsistency of application I hate. I can only speak from experience as I play 95% of my poker in Calgary. Here you cannot touch your phone during an mtt but during cash games you can do anything you want on a phone. Therefore, it can't be argued it has anything to do with collusion. That leaves delay of game which is handled by any number of other rules.

I would posit cell phone restrictions are the single least consistently applied rules dealer to dealer. You can go hours with dealers who don't enforce the rule then Have your hand randomly killed because a new dealer sits down.

I really think there does not need to be any phone restrictions but at least they need to be consistent.

You are making my point. How does one enforce this? You can touch your phone but only for music? What about when every second person is wearing and apple watch?

This is an unwinable fight. Sure there will be a very small amount of collusion but for every phone use involving collusion there are millions which have nothing to do with the game.

This is a rule trying to hold back the tides.

it's weird how they don't allow phones to be used during hands (to play games and stuff) but seem completely fine with tablets being used

those can be used to communicate too!

Exactly. It's a rule that dates to the flip phone era when people had no idea what phones could and could not do.

It's the year 2015 - Time for a shot clock in poker !

Also, new rule. If you have headphones on, you're not allowed to ask "how much is it ?

FYP

i think at some point there will be a big controversy about people who have swapped or bought each others action and soft play at a final table

i'm not sure how to handle but i feel like people should be made to announce this at final tables when it could really make a difference

everyone will soft play a bit even if subconsciously in that spot