Clock This Fella

Had an interesting situation in a cash game at the Taj Mahal the other night. Table of eight players 1-2NL and I have been here about 45 minutes. Session going okay,I am up about 100 "toothpicks". Table strangely has six Asian players and myself and one other I guess white guy. On proceeding hand Asian player takes about 3-4 minutes to decide on river call on a $55 bet. I wasn't in hand and it didn't matter to me how long he took.

So in next hand player bets $20 on the river and I am trying to decide if my second pair is good. No exaggeration we barely have reached 30 seconds when one of them calls "clock". I said "what are you kidding". Pit Boss comes over and after brief discussion says I have one minute. I have already decided to fold but lean back in my chair and grab my beer. I am never confrontational and so laid back when I play live but when I put my beer back down I say to the guy "why are you being such a prick"?.

I muck my hand and tell the other guy "NH". I play 3 or 4 more hands then walk over to Pit Boss and told him I thought the situation was BS. The dealer should have backed me and I didn't appreciate trying to be pushed around. I told him I was taking my chips cashing out and heading over to another casino. He tried to stop me and offered me a free room. I told him I already had a room and went on my way.

A winning session but that was not cool.The dealer lost control of that table and that pissed me off.Rather then get "tilty" or thrown off, figured it was best to just walk away and take my profit with me.

Later that morning I went to a cafe (forget the name at moment) and had French Toast.It was some of best I ever had,an explosion of taste hehe.I do remember where it was though.The waiter said they are always munching on the left over bread in the kitchen that the cook uses to make it. I can see why.

Some bad news,since I have been back I seem to have lost interest in the internet game.Have played 4 MTTs and 1 SnG and just can't get focused. After sitting at live table with chips and people to talk to it seems so lame. No face up reads,back to ABC poker. I have played wretchedly since I got back.May need to take a break for a week or so.

Update: 2/09/12 I had e-mailed the Taj pokerroom when I got home to voice my concerns over this experience and they got back to me today after doing some research. This is what they had to say.

Re: Contact us form submission (www.playtajpoker.com)

Thank you for getting back to me clearing things up. I spoke with dealer who told me that, in general, she felt that you were not taking too much time act. Furthermore, she felt that you were a gentlemen and a pleasure to have at the table. In fact, she really wished that she could have told the supervisor that the other player's request was unwarranted but she believed that "only on the hand in question" you may have been talking a bit when the action was on you. She told me that the other player could have been more patient and that everyone else at the table didn't seem to mind. She said that some players even went to your defense and told the impatient player that he shouldn't have called time on you.
Determining whether or not to put a player on the clock is often controversial. We all have our own opinion on how long it should take a player to act. Although there is no set amount of time to act on a hand, occasionally players (usually losing players) get frustrated and are quick to call "time", especially when a player seems to be having a good time, while they themselves are losing. Unfortunately, the dealers are then asked to side with one of the players and sometimes they may take what seems to be the path of least resistance. The dealer also knew that in a worst case scenario, that you would still be given a minute to act on your hand.
I also wanted you to know that whenever a player calls for "time" the dealer has no option but to call a supervisor and make them aware of the request. After talking with the dealer about this situation, I believe she would respond differently in the future. I know that doesn't make up for what happened to you but at least I believe she has learned from her mistake. If you ever decide to come back, please let know so we can buy you and a guest lunch. It is simply a goodwill effort on our part as our way of saying that we are sorry that we ruined your night. Thank you for taking you time to contact me and I wish you good luck.

I knew I wasn't crazy hehe. Sometimes you wonder if you were remembering things the way they happened. So now I will go back and I guess there will be a free lunch for two as well lol.