Cell phones at the table

I believe some tournaments have a rule for this, and you can't be with the phone once you were dealt cards and until you fold.

Yes, you can be on your phone in a tournament after discarding cards in a live tournament is the best option and then do whatever you want. If you have cards in your hands, you can't climb the phone because you're detaining other players Of course you have time but still not respectful to other players this behavior

pay a fine every time someone has to remind you that its your turn

pentazepam said:

A full body search AND scan before playing Live should be mandatory.

And NO technical gadgets like phones should be allowed.

It's only a matter of time before some brain-computer interface (like neuralink) is invented and used to win at the poker table.

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Not sure this should be required for all stakes!

I`m say that u must go to play poker without phone, or dont take to the table. 5 min break to toilet and phone and resume play.

If it holds up the game then it should be banned or that player should be penalized.

I can remember one semi-regular running his limousine service on his phone from the cash game table. Literally a phone call every 5 minutes from customers and then him calling his drivers.

But he never held up one hand.

And I remember him stepping away from the table to take a complaint from an angry customer because the limo driver was a no-show.

Another time I remember a player taking a call at the cash game table to promise his wife that he was playing just one more hand and then he was leaving the table in 20 minutes. This went on for 2 hours! She would call every 1/2 hour to ask where he was and when he was coming home! LOL

I actually asked him why he bothered to answer the phone. His answer, "Because she's angry!"

In a tournament - I had a buddy run deep in a big tournament in Oklahoma where they forbid contact with your cell phone (he didn't know). He raised w AA and got three callers. He had his phone on the table's rail and it rang - he made the mistake of picking it up to mute the ringing (that's all he did to the phone) and the dealer immediately killed his poker hand!

belladonna05 said:

When I played at the Crown in Australia many moons ago, the dealer actually had a shot clock, it was great.

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Aye that is one of the ways of speeding it up and should be used more. Personally I never encountered it yet, but then again I don't play that much live and when I do, people that I play with usually know why they are there. Play hard, play fast and duke it out between the friends.

Sessions can be long and boring so I get they want to play on their distraction toy.

Most people that play live know ppl are talking and doing other things than paying attention to the button or whats going on so whether its a phone or not shouldn't be a big issue.

If something like that bothered me then I would just get up and leave and go play video poker/slots or go for a walk or look for a buffet or go talk to someone or go on a tour of the casion, lol, a trip to wash my hands or . . . or just bail on the session if something like that irked me because I knew I wasn't ready to play if something like that bothered me.

If I wasn't ready for that then the donk raising with the qj, t9s, 54s from early position, not knowing what they're were doing and hitting monster hands post flop was really going to upset me.

I would lose it if ppl on either side of me at a table were actively going back and forth having full blown conversations with me in between them. I'm wondering, why didn't they just move over one seat before I even sat down? I mean, lol.

But that's what you get online or live playing low stakes, people that don't know what they're doing, not paying attention to what's happening and they have whatever crazy idea of what poker is in their silly minds like showing up to a low buyin live table with sunglasses or having lots of aggression in their game without any knowledge of starting hands, position or just basic fundamentals of whatever form of poker they're playing.

Cell phones should be banned at the tables of course. It prevents other players from concentrating on the game and also someone can get hints and other information related to the game with the help of phones.

its probably annoying but people this days is atracted to much to their mobile phones social medias etc.
Of course if u see cheating or something similar ban per life maybe u can only use ur phone when ur not in the hand so ur not wasting others time .

I totally agree with you, it is annoying, especially when they use it all the time. My rule will be that you can have your phone because you need to be alert and beware of what's happening, but if you are going to use you should stand up the tables.

I agree players should not be talking on the phones when playing. As for using the phone for other uses, I am ok with it as long as it does not distract them and become a issue for the table. I would not be upset if they banned them but there is positive being allowed to have them. Music for 1 and just being available if needed or just updating someone of the event.

waisichy said:

Not sure this should be required for all stakes!

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The first sentence was a little exaggerated on purpose for "humorous effect".

But it is almost the only way to prevent cheating nowadays.

Yeah that would remind me of the situation at our dining table every day. It sux!
Tbh. they should ban cellphones from the tables, if you want to use them, step 10 meters away from the table and everything is fine.
You can cheat with them easily as well.

pentazepam said:

A full body search AND scan before playing Live should be mandatory.

And NO technical gadgets like phones should be allowed.

It's only a matter of time before some brain-computer interface (like neuralink) is invented and used to win at the poker table.

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Does that include cavity checks.

Zorba said:

Does that include cavity checks.

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It was a little tongue-in-cheek. Not tongue in as...

i dont even have a smart phone .....just a primitive flip version for emergencies( as others have noted) .as you can guess, i dont approve of people using them during play . and , especially in a tourney ,i think its much too easy for someone to have push fold charts or other unfair info available at a finger swipe !

pentazepam said:

It was a little tongue-in-cheek. Not tongue in as...

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a chess 'pro ' was accused of using a device like that to beat #1 Magnus C !

Personally I don't see the need to ban the phone unless the user raises doubts.

If the phone user takes a long time to play, one can ask for the timing when their turn comes.

I think that I would basically ban the use of mobile phones at all live poker tournaments! This way we could also rule out the idea of cheating, all help, and no one could be disturbed at the tables! I think that if you pay money for a tournament, then the couple can survive without a phone hours....(Like in a workplace...)

I think we should ban phones while playing poker. This may indeed be a manifestation of fraud. The author of the topic is absolutely correct in pointing this out. And why use a cell phone when the player should follow the game, not the messages in the phone. If, indeed, an important call for the player, he can always leave the table and talk by phone somewhere private so as not to disturb other players.

If it's up to me, banning is the right solution for this phone thing. It must be very annoying!

I would have a no phone rule. Not only to prevent collusion but to add to the social dynamic. I feel most people are too attached to their phone and spend way too much time on it.

belladonna05 said:

It's so annoying when you're at a live game and someone has to be constantly reminded action is on them because they have their nose stuck in their phone. Besides the fact that cheaters could use that to their advantage (collusion comes to mind) do you think there should be a uniform rule about when you can be on your phone at the table and if yes, what rule would yours be?

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Before the answer I had to look what is the rule at my local casino. The rule at my local casino says that anyone in the hand cannot use their phones. If they are not in the hand they can use their phones. How this actually works I don't know because I haven't played any live poker for a while. Last time I was playing live there weren't any problems with phones.

As per my rule I would forbid usage of phones (while in a hand) but I would allow listening to music. If you have your headphones on (or in) your ears and you have setup the music which you want to listen I don't see a problem with it (you actually don't need to touch your phone all the time). I think that rule is similar to the rule in most of casinos.

I would also be in favor of banning the phone at the poker table, because it can really provide an opportunity for cheating by colluding with two players. Anyone who is bored with the game at the poker table and is pressing their phone is at the wrong event.
If you need to listen to music, there are other devices that you can't cheat with.
For example, the cassette recorder ... That's still cool isn't it? 🤣