Wasted Aces Poker

If you have ever traveled through the South and stopped at a gas station or similar place you may have seen a sign on the restroom door that says “Out of Order”. However, if you have the right color skin and ask to use it, the restroom miraculously repairs itself and you can use it. Does discrimination still exist in the South? Sure it does!

Lately, I’ve seen a somewhat similar situation happen in the Green Valley Ranch poker room. I enjoy playing the 10am tournament on the weekends. Since I work during the week, this is the only time I can play this tournament. Usually, the Saturday tournament will get a field of about 50-60 players. It contains many of the same players week to week with a few exceptions here and there.

One of the things I noticed is that the final table (table 7) consistently contained at least 7-8 of the same players every single tournament. I made it my mission to get a seat on that table! The next few weeks, I showed up early to get a shot at the first table draw.

When I arrived, every other table had seat cards on the registration desk, but table 7 seat cards were nowhere to be found. I looked at the sign up list and there were only 6 people signed up and couple of them were on other tables. I asked the young man behind the counter if table 7 was “sold out already?” He stated that “the bosses hold them back for the regulars who play here every day.” I mentioned that I didn’t think this was right and he agreed.

I returned a few more weeks and table 7 continued to be the “restroom in the South”! If you were the right person to ask, you were able to get a seat.
Today, I’d had enough. When I went to register, I noticed that there were no seats seat cards for Table 7 on the counter. I looked at the sign up list and saw that there were about 12-15 players already signed up, but there were still seats available for Table 7. The poker manager, Allan, was at the front counter so I asked him if there were seats available on the table. He started his explanation with a story of how he needs to keep the tables balanced and then admitted that he does save seats for some of his regulars. After some more dancing around the topic, he did give me seat 10 (not my choice of open seats on table 7). I politely thanked him and moved on my way.

“Why is Table 7 so special?” It is the final table for the tournament. As the field begins to shrink, players on the other tables get shifted around. They have to adjust to new players and cards at each new table. Meanwhile, those players at table 7 hardly get moved. Since it is the same players, they also don’t have to deal with the fluctuation in play from the weekend warriors. Having played on many tables in this tournament I can concur that a raise on table 7 is respected more than one on any of the outside tables.

In additional, most poker players have a favorite seat at the table. The GVR regulars are getting to pick their favorite seat at the final table. They are more comfortable at the poker table than the other players in the room. The better you feel about your seat and your table, the better you will play.

Every poker room has regulars and every poker room has players that are closer to the supervisors and managers than the player walking in off the street. However, every player has to be given a fair and equal shot to win a poker tournament BEFORE the first hand is dealt and Green Valley Ranch is not playing fair with its tournament players.