Player Repeatedly Taking A Long Time

pokerkingsni

A situation has developed in the last few weeks in our club where one player is taking a lot of time for almost every decision he has to make. Last week the clock was called several times during the tournament and then at the cash table too, so much so that when the tournament ended the dealer at the cash table asked for the clock to keep running on the screen because he knew he'd need it.

At first when the player himself asked for a ruling because he was getting stick from other players i told him that after a period of time making his decision that other players at the table could ask for the clock and then he would be given one minute to make his decision or his hand is dead. The problem is that he seems to be taking alot of time for most decisions and it is slowing up the game.

I have decided to have a quiet word before this weeks game and talk to him about taking so much time on nearly every hand. However i don't think this will make any difference and he will continue to do it.

So what are my options here? Any thoughts?

califano

Reduce clock countdown time from one minute to 10 seconds.
Its sickening for the other players that someone whos dwelling so much gets a further minute after clock is called so 10 seconds is reasonable considering the amount of time they had before clock was called.
So this way they cant even exploit the waiting until the last second of a one minute countdown to make their action.

dannydiamond

Cut his balls off.

fatguy

Yeah, have a quiet word before the start of the next game, and tell him quite simply that if he continues this way you'll have no choice but to bar him from your games.

Degag

I think barring him is a bit extreme but explain to him that his behaviour is not acceptable and that in the interest of other players he will be limited to 10/15/20 seconds per action. If he's not happy with this then tough ****...

It's a difficult one though because he's not doing anything wrong per se but it is definately one of the most annoying things to happen at the tables.

pkr_ennis

Look at it sure, It's against the rules of poker to - from Robert's Rules "needlesly stall the game" The punishment can include barring the offender from the card room.
It's a sensitive one though, as even some of the top pro's take a long time to make a decision. Having said that, they are playing for hundreds of thousands, and not just hundreds. This DOES make a difference.
I'd show him the rules book and let him know how you feel.
C

5Aces

how heavy handed you need to be should depend. is he just learning and trying to work out maths for every hand, is he taking the piss, is he an elderly man who takes a bit of time to process decisions. if he is say 25 to 50 and using up the full clock and you strongly suspect him of taking the piss limit him to 10 seconds but have a word with him to be fair before it is known to other players he has been cut down. its worse here as a semi regular keeps slowrolling people but its one of those politically correct situations so nobody really wants to be the one to explain the error of his ways

corkie123

its happening in the place i go to as well . now this guy is no spring chicken and at first i thought he was taking the piss but after about 1 hr i could see that it was every hand and every stage of the hand . now this was getting people very piss off with the amount of time he takes
now at some stages in a tourie people do need time to make there mind up but not every hand .i for one never would give out about time taken to make your mind up but sometimes people take the piss and then i leave them know it .

if i was u i tell him speed up or go somewere else .best for everyone else in club .

pokerkingsni

5Aces wrote: »

how heavy handed you need to be should depend. is he just learning and trying to work out maths for every hand, is he taking the piss, is he an elderly man who takes a bit of time to process decisions

He's a regular player who has been playing this game for years now, he knows the craic.

Quiet word and keeping an eye is best for now then.

DAMO72

dannydiamond wrote: »

Cut his balls off.

This

jackhack

I would have a quiet word with the player in question but I would also consider informing the owner of the club to tell him how the players are feeling and that his actions could be keeping players away. Just wondering about the clock on the cash table, I was lead to believe that calling clock was not allowed when playing cash games, is this true? or does it differ between clubs?

pkr_ennis

jackhack wrote: »

Just wondering about the clock on the cash table, I was lead to believe that calling clock was not allowed when playing cash games, is this true? or does it differ between clubs?

There should be a clock option in every game of poker.

Jam-Fly

jackhack wrote: »

I would have a quiet word with the player in question but I would also consider informing the owner of the club to tell him how the players are feeling and that his actions could be keeping players away. Just wondering about the clock on the cash table, I was lead to believe that calling clock was not allowed when playing cash games, is this true? or does it differ between clubs?

In most places, there is the option of calling a clock in a cash game. However, it is considered much worse etiquette to call a clock in a cash game than a tounament. In a tournament, another player taking a long time can affect you and your stack and equity due to blind levels etc. However, in a cash game, if a hand takes 15mins, it doesn't really affect your equity in the game since the blinds don't rise. Obviously this is all within reason, but generally, if a player is pondering a big decision for a lot of chips in a cash game, I would never call the clock.

jackhack

I totally agree with you, I think the option of calling clock on persistant slow players should be allowed in all games of poker but to be honest I don`t think it ever materialises as a problem as you rarely come against such slow play. When clock is called by a player In my opinion the dealer decides weather to implement the clock call or not, this prevents the constant clock caller and I`m sure the dealer would justify a proper decision, but for serial slowplayers a warning from the TD followed by a time penalty away from table.

JamieCarra

OP should really have mentioned that the cash games he run are based on a time charge basis, ie he takes £X off each player every hour with no rake being taken. Therefore having someone like this who constantly slows down the action is meaning the other players are getting less hands for their money.

pokerkingsni

JamieCarra wrote: »

OP should really have mentioned that the cash games he run are based on a time charge basis, ie he takes £X off each player every hour with no rake being taken. Therefore having someone like this who constantly slows down the action is meaning the other players are getting less hands for their money.

Yep shudda mentioned that too, this makes the players at the cash table even more annoyed, pisses everyone off.