Walking Away - In The Middle Of A Hand????

He had to have been the stupidest casino worker I’ve ever met.

We had been at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, for several hours.** We were curious if any poker tournaments were going on: There weren’t. We were also checking to see if they were only offering Hold’em, at the time, whether they were Limit or No Limit, and what other variations they had going: Pai Gow being my favorite.

While all the tables were maxed out and full, there didn’t seem to be a lot being offered at the time. Two tables of No Limit, and one of Limit, and that was really it. The lady in front of us had asked to join a table, and wasn’t able to, and with the two of us asking, they could have easily moved two other people to start a fourth table – but they didn’t. My friend, Greg, who had joined me on my journey to this casino, had wanted to play one hand, at one table, at one casino, just to say he had. And I, personally, really wanted to see him do this.

Greg, having never been in a casino before, really wanted to be clear on what he was getting himself into before he sat down, and I can’t say I blame him. I’ve been to casinos that force you to stay sitting until the blind goes up (unless you genuinely lose all your money.) I’ve also been places that require you to stay in for so many hands, before you can walk. I also told Greg to be sure he knew what the table Minimum and Maximum Buy In was, and stressed you never want to go to a No Limit table with the minimum. It’s been my experience that by doing so, you’re going to get a decent first hand, and the putz that comes to the table with the max will go all in and either sends you home, or folding, and playing head games right off the bat.

We approached the guy at the counter to ask him the questions we had in mind. When it was our turn, we asked about the tables, the min & a max, the variations, and then Greg asked, “Am I allowed to walk away?”

The guy went on to say, “We don’t encourage people to walk away, no.”

Realizing this was worded as a preference, and not a rule, I asked, “But if he finishes a hand, and wants to leave, can he?”

The guy said, “You mean stand up and go in the middle of a hand like they do on TV? No.”

Greg and I stared at each other. I’ve never seen a tournament where somebody stood up and LEFT. Stood up and waited by their family while All In? Yes. Stood Up and paced while All In? Yes. Stood up in the middle of a hand, just for the hell of it and go? Not so much.

“No, no, no,” I said. “We’re asking if he plays a hand, and wins, or even if he plays a hand, and loses, can he say, ‘Ok. I’m done for right now’, stand, and cash out? That’s what we want to know. When can he cash out? Are there minimum hands he has to play…?”

As I started to list more questions, the guy caught on, and responded with a “yes” – he could cash out at any point. Whew!

So while Greg didn’t get to play a hand of poker that day, because continually no tables were available, we did see just about everything else in that casino. However, we didn’t seem to see anybody just “get up and leave” during a hand of poker “like they do on tv”.

I wonder why…

**More on that in another blog.