I was dealing a friendly little 4/8 limit game yesterday and had a very nice fellow at the poker table who was seemingly harmless, but drunk. There were some players at the table who were amused by his gestures and his foaming at the mouth. Others were not so amused but willing to put their money up against his, which sometimes can be very profitable against drunk players. For the 45 minutes I was at this table, this guy ranted a never ending stream of words and nonsense about poker. He was arguably polite, but annoying.

No one at the table cared enough to complain although a few eyebrows were raised when he took a little too long to act when it was his turn to play. Most of his actions were raises, and this was one of the reasons a few of the sharks at the table were interested in his money. The problem was that this guy was much luckier than the rest of the table and won a considerable amount of money. I think I pushed him at least half a dozen large pots during my time, and he was fairly generous with the tips.

The downside of this game was that it was a little slow for most people, and the guy who should have been shark bait, was in fact killing the table. A few times the houseman on duty looked over at me and I made a facial gesture indicating that this guy was over his limit, but not belligerent. In fact he was more than cordial to everyone at the table. Unfortunately I have seen this kind of scenerio turn bad far too often, usually ending in the player getting tossed out of the casino after being asked to leave. There are very simple buttons that can be pushed to set off a drunk player who is enjoying himself. It wouldn't take much for any impatient dealer to put the screws to a guy like this, just by using their tone of voice alone.

I was actually quite entertained by it all, as many nights the games can seem boring. The question I have often asked myself is - at what point should a dealer or any staff member for that matter, take a stand to refuse service to someone who is clearly over intoxicated? How much of this is the dealers responsibility, how much responsibility goes to the house, the waitress, security personel, and the general management?

Having worked in many Canadian casinos, I have seen varying procedures regarding dealing with drunks. Some places will put a large degree of responsibility on the waitress herself. They know more of the tricks than I ever would about weening players off alcohol, and eventually they should be able to cut someone off completely.

Whatever the procedures are, whether management is initially involved, or if security is responsible, it really doesn't matter. What is important is that all the key players in a casino understand exactly what to do and when it is time to do it. I have seen far too often, situations with drunk players escalate to the level where people are getting thrown out and barred, when there is a good chance that these same people could have been reasoned with a little sooner. Sometimes you can convince patrons to slow down a bit, or warn them that having too much and getting rowdy could result in expulsion from the casino.

Whatever the method, I would suggest taking some kind of action before things get out of hand. That takes communication and cooperation among all the departments and divisions in the casino. When people come together and work together to solve problems pro actively, a lot of headaches in the future can be avoided. It is somewhat expected in a place where alcohol is served, that some people are gonna get out of hand with their drinking. Everyone in a place like this needs to expect the potential for problems. How you handle these kinds of issues will set you apart from other establishments.

I found out later that the nice drunk guy at my table ended up being asked to leave. While leaving the casino I heard that he threw a fit and there was some kind of incident. I can't help but think to myself that all the signs were there for someone to cut this guy off earlier from drinking, and to take some steps to communicate to him that he was soon to be headed out the door if there were any problems or complaints.

Posted by, Kevin Pierson ~ CPN Site Manager CanadaPokerNetwork.com