PGP - Why don't they play when you bank?

It happens nearly every time. No one at the table has been banking. After the first hand is resolved, I say "I'll bank" and then like a wave, one bet is pulled back after another. I believe the Wizard has commented that players don't want to lose money to another player but I have always had a theory that many people may just not be sure of exactly what is going on. Maybe they think they are playing against two hands? I suspect this because at a full table, if two experienced players pull back, anyone that is unsure of the rules will then pull their bet back as well. It also seems the house likes to discourage action when a player is banking. Often times if someone leaves a bet out there, they will say something like, "You know he is banking, right?" The last time I was playing, the dealer actually said to the other player, who she did not know was my friend, "He's banking, are you sure you still want to bet?" I felt like walking over to the 00 roulette table and asking people if they were sure they still wanted to play despite games with lower HE being nearby.

They don't play as a courtesy to you, even though it technically isnt and you would prefer, from a purely EV point of view, for them to keep their bets up. I generally will pull my bet back for a different reason. I usually get access to many of the other players hands at as table, and can adjust my decisions based upon that info. I love playing a KQ up top with jacks and deuces, say, if I know all 5 aces are out. I feel if the player is banking I will not discuss the cards with the other players. Occassionally, if I have been friendly with a big bettor (blackchips at least) I will bet the minimum against him, and he will say something like "I hope you beat me and I beat the dealer" so it remains collegial and not confrontational.
In general, pai gow poker and tiles are social games, with everyone rooting for the banker to get a bad hand, so the 'table' can win. Player banking negates that routine. That's why I LOVE banking at tiles, where ALL players can play with the banker and have access to the rare 'copy wins' concept.

Well, it may be selfish of me, but I love the sidebet bonus, so I will play the minimum plus my normal sidebet amount for that session when another player banks. I don't like missing a hand, and maybe the royal it held (or whatever) just to allow someone else to bank. Now, when I was playing regularly in AC, everybody agreed on "even money" after the hand was dead, and all were good with it, including the casinos. Their take on it was, after the hand was dead, it was not their business what players did with their money, and they ignored the chip-tossing. Think that was also the case in Biloxi, but when I asked someone about it at the table in Vegas, it brought a blank stare (and generally a win for me for some reason) so I guess it's regional. Haven't gotten to play in the last couple of years, so that courtesy may have gone away. Don't see where anybody really gets hurt if people stay in for minimums. Have also played tables in the past where someone who doesn't want another player to bank will up their bet to blacks or something to cause the prospective banker to back off the hand; seems pretty hostile to me to do that, but I guess if you have the bankroll to bully the table, there's not much that can be done about it.

Soopoo, you're reminding me of a lady I played with all the time in Biloxi; they called her MaiMai (she was Vietnamese) and she was such a blatantly cheerful and charming cheater that they let her get away with it, mostly, asking the table how many aces they had before she would decide whether to split aces or kings, or hold 2 pair like you suggest above. It got pretty amusing sometimes.