The Drunken Question

OK last night I'm playing at Casino Arizona and a guy skips ahead of someone to get into our game. He said he thought he heard his name called. It's soon apparent that this guy is totally plastered. His eyes are red slits and he reeks of alcohol. The guy who was first in line generously lets him keep playing. The drunk plays every hand. This is Omaha Hi Lo, which is a game he probably wouldn't understand sober. He starts swearing. At one point he falls out of his chair. He is warned by dealers and a floor manager to watch his mouth. He goes through $300 in about 1/2 an hour. At one point I see him muck the nut low. He sees a player across the table as a potential target and threatens him under his breath. "I hate those kind of people," he snarls.

A fat man in a nice suit arrives and he confers with a floor manager a short distance from the table. It seems apparent the drunk will soon be kicked out. They ask the drunk to come talk with them. He talks with them and then walks away. It seems like they have kicked him out without incident, but a short while later he stumbles back to the table with his t-shirt turned inside out. Apparently, the words "Security" were on his shirt and this was against Casino Arizona's rules for anyone besides real Security to be representing themselves as such. So now the belligerent drunk is tossing away his money with his t-shirt inside out.

He tips $8 or $10 or more at a time when he wins, which isn't very often. He tosses me $4 in chips for bringing him luck even though he is well past $400 stuck. I say, "It's OK, don't do that," and wave my hand because I don't want to enter into any kind of bond with the man. However, I don't hand the chips back because he is likely to be terribly wounded by this insult and I might never hear the end of it.

A dealer asks the only lady at the table if the man is offending her. She says she feels sorry for the people who have to sit next to him. In fact, she may be afraid to say anything and it seems very unfair to elect her the person to vote him off the island. It would be more pleasant for everybody if he left, but everybody is making money off of him so nobody says anything.

This is no different than playing poker with a mentally retarded person. He has absolutely no chance of winning. The only difference that tempers my pity significantly is that this man has chosen to put himself in this state. The bottom line though is Casino Arizona should not let someone this drunk play poker. I don't think they should feel responsible about him losing his money, after all guys toss away money at strip joints like it was rice at a wedding and nobody intervenes and questions their stupidity. However, if someone is cursing and threatening and stumbling over himself, the game is going to be unpleasant. If the games are unpleasant many of the weaker players who come for the social aspect will go elsewhere and so in the long run it really is bad for business, mine and the casino's.