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Table Games Sitting at table but not playing

Discussion in 'Table Games' started by lmm, Jun 11, 2016.

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  1. lmm

    lmm Tourist

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    At Horseshoe ,Hammond IN, yesterday, I was playing 3 card poker. My husband sat next to me and played a few hands. When he ran out of money, he continued to sit and watch me play. There was only one other player at the table. When a new dealer tapped in, she told him he couldn't sit at that table without playing. She called the floor person over to confirm and he agreed. We colored up and left.

    We do this at Harrahs Joliet and are never asked to move unless someone wants to play. Could it be an Indiana gaming rule?
     
  2. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    Those seats are for players and cost the casino money.
     
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  3. Snidely

    Snidely VIP Whale

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    I've seen people sit and not play often when the tables are not busy.
     
  4. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    On one hand, it was not hurting anyone.

    On the other hand,if someone wanted to sit there and play, they could not. You might say they only had to ask and you would move. But, lots of people would not do that. They would just move along.

    It happens on slots quite often. A family member or friend is sitting in the next seat, but someone wants to play that machine. People do not always want to bother them. More than once I have asked someone if they are going to play that machine and they usually move. Sometimes with an attitude. Or sometimes will put a few dollars and play minimum just to hold their seat.

    Back to the OP - it was quiet. No big deal I guess.

    And, just because you do it elsewhere does not make it right. Maybe they just have never bothered to push it, especially knowing the actual player might get up and leave. The casino is caught between a rock and a hard place.
     
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  5. Turtleman

    Turtleman VIP Whale

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    For sure, table seats are reserved for players. I've even seen people asked to leave when seated at a closed table and have observed the "can't sit if you don't play" more than a few times. I've also encountered dealers AND pit bosses asking a non-playing companion to have a seat, knowing they weren't going to play. Like nearly everything else in life, inconsistency reigns supreme!
     
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  6. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    This has happened to Cindy a time or two at BJ. I agree if there is even one other player than myself at the table, she could just as easily stand next to me. But if it's just me and the dealer, I don't see the harm. As for slots, if we're gonna sit together, we're gonna be playing a machine each. I know I don't like asking* "are you playing this machine?" when it's kind of obvious someone is just taking up space.

    * - but I will ask.
     
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  7. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    I doubt it was a State law, although cannot say for sure. I have girlfriends and buddies sit with me at tables all the time while I play. They always offer to get up if a group of new players walk up. Even though I have done this literally hundreds of times, only once has a dealer made an issue of it. It was at Aria, the Friday before the SB in 2015. I sat at a high limit BJ table with a gf and buddy. I asked for a marker and when my companions indicated they were just there to cheerlead, the dealer prissily said they could not sit there. So I immediately said forget the marker and stood up. The dealer looked shocked. We move two tables away in the same room, the three of us sat down, and the dealer did not say a thing. So it clearly wasn't a rule. It was just a pissy dealer
     
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  8. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    It still could be a rule, but the 2nd dealer opted not to enforce it.

    Maybe, maybe not. The events described do not make it clear.
     
  9. IM ALL IN

    IM ALL IN High-Roller

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    I don't like being watched, so no brainer for me. Don't sit with me if you are not gonna play. When I'm slotting, if it's a bank of machines that I normally play, and there is a sitter in one I want to play, I don't mind asking sitter to move. The only time I don't is lets say there's a group of people and maybe first timers and they are each throwing in an amount and there is fun and laughter and loudness, looking like they are having a good time, and I wanna play the machine next to them where a sitter is...I won't ask them to move.
     
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  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Pretty sure this isn't an Indiana gaming rule. Reading blackjack or table game rules, they clearly state that spectators may not touch the cards (duh), but say nothing about spectators sitting at the table.

    But individual casino policy will vary because like others say, a player not playing takes up a seat and some willing players won't bother to request to take that seat. I know I try not to ask people not playing slot/VP machines to move unless I have little other choice.

    If you are the only 2 people at the table though, it's pretty petty.
     
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  11. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    You're right. I guess you had to be there. The first dealer was just generally pissy. And since I moved to another table in the same pit with the same supervisor, it makes me think that if it were a rule, the supervisor or second dealer would have said something. And since I had sat at tables in that room literally hundreds of times with non-playing friends and never once had a dealer said anything, it makes me think it was not a rule.
     
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  12. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    And, one could argue, if it was NOT a rule, then a supervisor would have stepped in.

    Just guessing, but it may be a rule, but rarely brought forward, or enforced. Just not worth it and the "house"does not make a big deal of it.
     
  13. Ckspores

    Ckspores Low-Roller

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    I'm surprised harrahs Joliet has allowed you to do this so liberally. I've seen non-players asked to move on a number of occasions, full table or not. They generally have more pleasant dealers than Horseshoe, so that could explain the difference between casinos.

    It isn't law but it might be an unevenly enforced casino policy or dealer discretion.

    I was taught by my lovingly degenerate parents that if you aren't playing, you aren't sitting. I have passed up playing a slot that someone is sitting at because I don't want to risk the potential confrontation of asking someone to move.
     
  14. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Just my 2 cents, they should let hubby sit and watch. Others can ask for the spot. They lost your action!
     
  15. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    That's definitely a risk. Which is why I wouldn't expect a dealer to bring it up if the table is mostly empty because the person watching may actually attract others to the table! Now if the table is full with the one observer, I wouldn't fault them for saying something. Anywhere inbetween is a judgement call, imo.
     
  16. eksantirik

    eksantirik High-Roller

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    As much as I think casinos should let people do this when things aren't busy, when I'm looking for a spot to play and if the only empty spot is utilized by a SO, I usually avoid. I feel uneasy making people uncomfortable, since they were there before me. But this results in lost revenue for the casino. So, I kinda get the casino's point too.
     
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