In the 10 years that I have been writing for
Card Player, I have continually tried to stress the importance of paying attention, and acting in turn. As I have written previously, and repeatedly, if everyone paid attention and acted in turn, there would be no need for a large majority of the decisions that floorpeople are forced to make. During a tournament at Commerce Casino, I was involved in a situation that reminded of why it is so important to act in turn.
With the blinds at $25-$50, my starting stack of $2,000 had been whittled down to $800. A player in early position raised to $200, two players called the raise, and the button moved all in for $1,600. I looked down at my holecards and found pocket sevens in the big blind. With only $800, this was a difficult decision for me. I didn't mind going heads up with the button, but I definitely did not want to put my tournament life at risk against several players. It was possible that the button had a bigger pair than sevens, but I thought it was unlikely. He could make that play with a very wide range of hands, including A-K, a smaller pair, or a complete piece of junk. With an extra $625 in the pot, I would be getting a great price to put my $800 in against the button. But, there were three other players I had to worry about.
I was pretty confident that the two other players who had called the initial raise would fold. They both had around $2,000 in chips, and if they had a hand with which to call a large raise (to $1,600), I would have expected them to reraise the original raise. So, I was really concerned only with the original raiser.
As I was running everything through my head, I was given all of the information that I needed when the original raiser folded out of turn. Once he saw the button move all in, he apparently lost interest in the hand and started a conversation with the guy sitting next to him. As the action progressed to me, he either forgot that I had cards or didn't seem to care. He folded his hand before I had a chance to do anything.
Having already decided that the other two players wouldn't call the all-in bet, I slid my $800 into the pot. The other two players did fold, and the button showed A-K. I won the race and was right back in the tournament with $2,225 in chips.
Had the original raiser paid attention and not acted out of turn, I more than likely would have folded. His carelessness cost the button the hand.
Acting in turn is something that each and every player has an obligation to do. When someone acts out of turn, it usually impacts someone other than that player. Therefore, as a player, you owe it to other players to protect their interests. In return, you should expect it from other players.
On a different note, Commerce Casino has apparently decided (a floorperson confirmed it) to implement a "no iPhone" rule. Commerce has a rule that states that a player may not use a mobile phone while in a hand, but has taken it a step further and just banned iPhones altogether. The justification is apparently that an iPhone can be used with headphones.
I have news for Commerce, and every other tournament staff: iPhones are not the only mobile phones that a player can listen to music on. In fact, a large majority of mobile phones now provide a player the ability to do the same things an iPhone does - listen to music, surf the Internet, and so on.
With all of the advances in technology, it is time for the Tournament Directors Association, and everyone who doesn't use TDA rules, to look at what is fair for the players and makes long-term sense. Mobile phones will continue to advance and players will continue to be able to do more and more with their phones. The way I see it, there really are only two options: (1) Disallow all electronics (including MP3 players) at the table. I think this would be overreacting and unnecessary. (2) Forbid players from touching any electronic device while involved in a hand. I believe this option would eliminate all problems, and might actually force players to pay better attention to what is going on at the table. I suspect that many players would remove their headphones when involved in a hand, as they wouldn't be able to turn down the volume should they not hear something that was said during a hand.
Technology is advancing and poker needs to keep up. Banning something because it is "new" is taking the easy way out.
Mike O'Malley is a consultant for www.PartyGaming.com, and can be reached at [email protected]. His website is updated regularly at www.rzitup.com.
