Small gripe: Refused a color up
Quote: sodawaterNote the OP is referring to poker, not a table game.
I wouldn't say it makes NO sense. A player leaving the game is leaving the game. If I were another player at the table, I wouldn't want to be delayed by coloring that player up. Coloring up poker chips typically isn't done in AC at the end of sessions because most places have a cashier inside the poker room anyway. Just get a few racks and you're fine.
I hate when I am in a game and a big winning player wants to be colored up -- and I love when the dealer refuses it. ESPECIALLY IN A TIMED GAME.
You are leaving the game. You have plenty of time to cash in your chips yourself. Stop trying to delay my game.
Ahhh I didn't realize they had their own cashier. But still, carrying 50 chips is a bit ridiculous - especially since the rack was in need of reds.
As general and official policy, we had to ask for color ups, and to not refuse color up, unless the rack was overflowing in that color, or a player didn't want it, then fine.
If a player asked, and we could do it, there was absolutely no reason to deny the request. These were our color up / color out procedures.
Quote: sodawaterThis is about poker, not table games. I feel like a lot of these replies are about table games.
Leaving poker players generally DO NOT color up. It is a rude thing to ask because it delays the game for the remaining players.
When you play poker and have the good fortune to leave with a lot of chips, just grab a few racks. That's what they are there for. In OP's case it wasn't even a lot of chips, it was half of a rack. That's less than what most people buy in for.
The dealer was right to refuse the color request.
Good clarification.
True for poker, false for casino-banked table games, but an answer for a poker game should be, 'Can you wait until the end of the hand?'
Quote: sodawaterI can't even IMAGINE a scenario where a dealer would color up someone during a poker hand. That's absurd on its face. So I don't know why it would be your answer to ask if they can wait till the end of the hand.
Neither can I, but I can imagine a newbie requesting one.....
In some cases, a poker room color up is reasonable, and if it is to be done, it should never be done during a hand, but between hands, obviously, - if needed. If a color up should be done, then politely wait or leave. Personally, I never colored up from poker, just left with my chips in a rack. If the dealer says no after the hand, then just go to the cage, and don't worry about it.
Quote: PaigowdanPersonally, I never colored up from poker, just left with my chips in a rack.
But, from the OP...
Quote: GambleSometimeSo instead of getting an easy-to-carry small stack of greens, I'm stuck trying to hold onto 2+ stacks of reds as I walk over to the cage (of course, no tray was in sight).
Maybe he needed to look harder, but it seems as if someone must have scarfed up all of the racks from the area. I'd cut the departing player a little slack for asking for the color up, or at least asking that the casino provide him some means to transport the chips.
Quote: sodawaterNote the OP is referring to poker, not a table game.
I missed that point as well.
Now it makes sense.
I've played poker hundreds of times. I've played at most (all?) AC casinos, several in Vegas, both in CT, and three in PA. In all that time, I've seen a color-up maybe three times. The few times I've seen it, the dealer had to ask the floor for permission.
It's rare, but more common, to allow a player to make an initial buy-in at the table. The primary reason this is allowed is to fill the table faster. Additionally, buy-ins and re-buys can be done while a hand is in progress. I.E. Put the cash on the table before the deal. Cards are dealt. Then, while the players are making decisions, the dealer is making the change. Result: No pause in the action.
Although not designed with it in mind, most poker room chairs have a space behind the seat where you can store a chip rack, making it simple to retrieve when you're ready to leave.
And I've never seen an active poker table without at least a couple racks on the floor, under the table.
(1) I asked for a color up between hands. I have no idea where people got the idea that I asked for a color up in the middle of a hand.
(2) In this game, I was BY FAR, the fastest person in making my decisions. Most of the players were 70+ and had to be reminded to act several times. Many of them were reading in between (or during) hands. Some kept forgetting to act. Some had to ask, REPEATEDLY, for the dealer to read out the board cards of other players. I did none of those things. In terms of wasting time, I was like 6 standard deviations faster than everyone else at the game.
(3) For the person who asked: "So... you ask for a rack? And then they bring you one. This is common." I can't imagine how this is a better solution. Asking for a rack is going to delay things anyway, so it's 6 of one a half dozen of another.
(4) I get it if that's their policy. But I wasn't told, "we aren't allowed to color up a poker tables based on our policy." All I got was a flat "No." If it's a room wide policy, fine. But tell me that.
(5) More generally, a casino is a service industry. I don't feel like any request for a service is in bad form. If they don't want to oblige, good for them, but if they keep it up, I won't be returning. Remember: this is in AC, where most casinos are hurting badly. I was already unhappy with this casino for other reasons (dirty, no mid-shoe entry for BJ, etc) and this just added to my list. Admittedly, this wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I wasn't pleased. Like I said in the title of this post, it's a "small gripe."
Quote: GambleSometimes(1) I asked for a color up between hands. I have no idea where people got the idea that I asked for a color up in the middle of a hand.
I don't think anyone thinks that. It comes from a comment by an obvious non-player who misunderstood why delay is a problem.
Quote: GambleSometimes(2) In this game, I was BY FAR, the fastest person in making my decisions. Most of the players were 70+ and had to be reminded to act several times. Many of them were reading in between (or during) hands. Some kept forgetting to act. Some had to ask, REPEATEDLY, for the dealer to read out the board cards of other players. I did none of those things. In terms of wasting time, I was like 6 standard deviations faster than everyone else at the game.
Ah, the wonderful world of low-limit stud.
I'd have to say keeping a hand from starting is worse than dragging one out, though. Having cards read is also a "necessary" delay, as is betting slowly. They can't skip you, and saying something like "can't see the cards? shouldn't be playing" is much, much worse service than refusing a color-up or buy-in.
Quote: GambleSometimes(3) For the person who asked: "So... you ask for a rack? And then they bring you one. This is common." I can't imagine how this is a better solution. Asking for a rack is going to delay things anyway, so it's 6 of one a half dozen of another.
You ask a floorman, not the dealer. No delay.
Quote: GambleSometimes(4) I get it if that's their policy. But I wasn't told, "we aren't allowed to color up a poker tables based on our policy." All I got was a flat "No." If it's a room wide policy, fine. But tell me that.
It's sort of a game-wide policy. Color-ups in poker are pretty rare, usually either when a dealer is desperate for chips (and in that case, they'll ask you, not vice versa), or when a game breaks. That's why poker rooms have trays and pits don't. If you'd asked to see the burns, would you expect more than a flat "no"? You'll have this request refused almost anywhere, probably with no more explanation. Do you complain similarly when you're asked to buy in at the cage?
Quote: GambleSometimes(5) More generally, a casino is a service industry. I don't feel like any request for a service is in bad form. If they don't want to oblige, good for them, but if they keep it up, I won't be returning. Remember: this is in AC, where most casinos are hurting badly. I was already unhappy with this casino for other reasons (dirty, no mid-shoe entry for BJ, etc) and this just added to my list. Admittedly, this wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I wasn't pleased. Like I said in the title of this post, it's a "small gripe."
A service to one patron that's a disservice to several is anathema to a service industry.
I under stand it was a "small gripe", but in my opinion it was unjustified.
ZCore13
Quote: GambleSometimes(4) I get it if that's their policy. But I wasn't told, "we aren't allowed to color up a poker tables based on our policy." All I got was a flat "No." If it's a room wide policy, fine. But tell me that.
Yeah, the dealer could have been more polite about it. But it isn't a policy specific to that poker room. It's an industry-wide poker room policy. And perhaps the dealer thought that you were experienced enough to know it.
Either you're new to playing poker, or this is the first time you've left the table with enough chips to even consider the color-up.
If it's the former, I suggest you read my article, Introduction to poker in a Casino Poker Room.
If it's the latter, congratulations on your first poker win.
Quote: GambleSometimes(5) More generally, a casino is a service industry.
Bear in mind that a poker room, even one within a casino, is not run the same way as a regular casino. The service provided is dealing.
Quote: GambleSometimes(3) For the person who asked: "So... you ask for a rack? And then they bring you one. This is common." I can't imagine how this is a better solution. Asking for a rack is going to delay things anyway, so it's 6 of one a half dozen of another.
The dealer does not get up and get you a rack. They deal the next hand, so there is no delay. Meanwhile, the floor grabs a rack for you. Or a chip runner, if they have those. Or you walk to the counter/cage and grab a rack yourself if they are busy.
Was this your first time playing poker in a casino? Because, I've played in a lot of different places, and never seen anyone get a color up at the table from a dealer. I've seen it done by chip runners, and I've been at places where it was acceptable to take a rack of chips to the cage yourself and color them up in the middle of a session (you would have to bring the same value of chips back, of course). It's one thing if you don't understand how things are customarily done, but don't blame the dealer. Admittedly, they probably should have explained this to you.
Not much else to say about this. Personally, I would feel more excited cashing in a mountain of small denomination chips rather than a few big chips.
