OK, let’s start coming up with solutions to some of those pesky problems we face in the poker industry. This is a forum for all of you — dealers, players, and managers — to view your opinions and to make your suggestions to improve the industry we all love. Complaining, rather than solving problems, just won’t get the job done. Blaming others won’t either.
As publisher of Poker Digest and as a poker player, I have often wondered why the poker table layout was not designed to eliminate a myriad of continual problems that arise at the table. In fact, years back I discussed this layout with Bee Estes, who at the time was poker room manager at Harveys in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He thought it was an excellent idea.
Believe it or not, the drawing to the right is supposed to be a poker table (it’s really not a football). This table represents an eight seater, used mainly for seven-card stud. My suggestion is to have the layout designed with two spots in front of-each player — one for the placement of each bet (the circle) and one in which discards are placed when a player folds.
Very simplistic but very effective in eliminating some of the frequent complaints at the table. Here’s just a partial list:
- In ante games, the ante is clearly visible to the dealer and all players since the player is required to place it within the betting circle. No more “Who didn’t put their ante in?”
- By requiring all players to place their bets, raises and re-raises within the betting circle, there will be no “splashing” the pot with chips by on-tilt players or players who want to make the dealer’s life more difficult. Players who currently splash the pot may also be putting in less chips than the correct amount.
- One of the most important advantages of all to the betting circle is the elimination of the need for the dealer to reach for the chips to place them into the pot. There are many dealers who do not have long arms you know! And how many poker players purposely place their bets in front of them making the dealer ask “Would you please push your chips out so that I can reach them.” Players who are aggravated because they are losing will have one less way to irritate the dealer with the addition of a betting circle to the table layouts!
- Although the betting circle would be an invaluable addition to the poker table layout, a second item that could also be helpful is a square box. Its main purpose would be for discards … when a player folds, he would simply place his cards facedown in the square. This would eliminate angry players from throwing cards and messing up the flop or the muck.
- Both the betting circle and discard box would serve to keep players in their correct seating positions at the table — eliminating the annoying task of having players “square” off.
So there you have it: my simplistic approach to solving several problems in one. The bottom line: the dealers, the management, and the players would save time and the game would run smoother. And don’t forget in business time is money!
We welcome your thoughts on the layout and what advantages/disadvantages I may have overlooked.