Kicked Out of Mandalay Bay: Part II

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I was visiting the poker room at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas with my poker buddy Jim. We had recently been informed by the dealers of a long list of prohibitions. I was told to take any further questions to the shift manager at the podium. This I did. I went over to the shift manager.

I went through the rather long list of prohibitions that I had been told about.

"No cell phone use" I asked.
"No. It's against the rules" he said.
"IPODs"
"Nope. No electronic devices of any kind"
"Reading at the table"
"No. You can't read."
"Not even the poker magazines your own room hands out?"
"No. Nothing."
"What about writing at the table? Can I write at the table?"
"No. That's against the rules too. No writing at the table."

I pointed out the discrepancy in their brochure labeled "Poker Rules" with regard to the rake. I also noted that none of the other prohibitions were written in this hand out. He told me that the rules were on the wall, pointing to a large laminated sign with twelve or so sentences on it. I read it. Nothing about reading at the table. Nothing about electronic devices. Nothing about cell phone use.

"Excuse me" I said. "But there's nothing in these posted rules nor in the brochure about any of these rules that you just told me about."

"Yeah, well it's in our rule book in the office" he said.

"Oh, well I'm doing an article about poker rooms in Las Vegas. May I take a look at your rule book" I asked.

In a moment right out of Monty Python he stated, "That's against the rules. You're not allowed to read the rule book. You'd have to talk with our poker room manager if you want any more answers to your questions about rules"

I told him that I thought these were the most absurd set of poker room rules that I had ever heard and that I didn't want to play any more. I went back to the no limit table, took my chips and brought them to him to cash out. After cashing out I went back to where my friend Jim was playing to tell him that I had had it in this rule-infested room and wanted to leave.

He agreed that the room was ridiculous - and he started to tell me a story illustrating it. Someone who had been sitting next to him had just been kicked out for not looking right.

I sat down next to my friend to hear the whole story. As it turns out, the seat I took was the very seat that the evicted poker player had been sitting in. I pulled back somewhat from the table, not playing but just listening to my friend tell me what happened.

He relayed a brief story about this guy who showed up at the table looking to the dealer like he had had too much to drink. The dealer had asked him if he was alright; the player responded angrily that he was fine. The dealer said that he didn't think he looked right, called the floor, and the guy was asked to leave - which he voluntarily did before security arrived.

I was taking notes of this story - figuring I'd put it in an article about the room. Though I found the rules absurdly restrictive, I was pleased that I had stumbled on such a great story. As I was jotting down some notes the shift manager came over to me, leaned over and sternly said, "Excuse me. Do you want to talk with me away from the table please?" "No" I said. He asked me again, more sternly this time. I once again responded "No" and went back to listening to my friend's story.

Two or three minutes later, two security officers showed up behind me. One of them said, "Excuse me sir. But you've been asked to leave the casino. Please come with me." I responded with, "whaaaaaaat?" at which point my friend and a couple of other people at the table told him that they had the wrong person - that the person who was asked to leave the casino who had been sitting in this seat had already left - and that I had just sat down. The security guard looked at the podium where the shift manager was standing. The shift manager gestured clearly to have me removed.

Security informed me again that I was to leave. I complied, asking why I was being asked to leave. I was told that I was to leave because the manager wanted me out. My friend, who road with me and needed me for a ride back to the Orleans where we were staying, protested emphatically as did I. All to no avail.

I came back the following day, Thursday morning, when the poker room manager was in, to talk about what had happened - hoping for an apology. I received none. Rather, after telling her my story, I was given her perspective on what happened. She reiterated their many, many rules - forbidding cell phone use, IPOD listening, walkman listening, reading of any kind including poker material, writing of any kind, -- and a few others added for good measure including a rule against reading their rule book, a rule against disparaging their room and a rule against playing in an impaired state. I was also told that she gives her staff leeway to prohibit any behavior that they believe to be distracting to the other players - which would cover asking too many questions about the rules and certainly covered my comments about how high the rake was compared to other casinos.

She wanted me to know that she was proud of their strictly enforced rules - saying that many players prefer a room run like this. She didn't see why I would need to see any rules. "If I were playing in a game and were told that there was a rule I'd just accept it" she said. "Why question the rules" she wanted to know.

The poker room manager had brought out her rule book. She told me that they were required to have one by the gaming commission. She pointed to it as she lectured me on their long list of rules - even thumbing through it a couple of times while we talked.

I asked her if I might read it so I might familiarize myself with all of their rules. She said she had to check with the human resources office of the casino. She went inside an office (we had been meeting on the floor of the poker room). When she came out after five minutes or so she simply said "No. These are for internal purposes only." She then added that I was forbidden from reporting on my conversation with her. When I told her, with a smile, that she couldn't forbid me from exercising my first amendment rights under the United States Constitution, she added that she forbade me from using her name - that it would be illegal for me to do so without her permission. I kept my disagreement with her reading of the law to myself. But just to show that I'm not blind to her concerns I am not putting the name of the poker room manager of Mandalay Bay into this report. You can probably find that out for yourself if you're curious.

As it turns out, my story about what happened at the Mandalay Bay poker room is so entertaining that I almost don't mind the humiliation of being kicked out. Even so, I'll never be back. I much prefer the atmosphere and attitude of the staff of every other poker room I visited on this trip.

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