In the casino, you’d expect (or at least hope) other players follow a certain etiquette at the tables. This includes rules, behavior and general actions around others in a fun but often professional environment. Whether it’s posted or unwritten rules, they’re there so we all can co-exist in a sometimes stressful if not always rewarding situation. Now, what if it’s not the players that are causing the trouble? What if it’s the dealer (or boxman)?

Ever been at the craps table by yourself, and after a while the boxman tells you to go away? No, I’m not kidding. I’ve been around the craps tables enough to have seen this or experienced this once or twice, and I’ve read similar stories from players online. Mind you, we’re not doing anything against any of the aforementioned unwritten or written rules of the game. We’re not being obnoxious or causing delays or difficulty for any other player. Bottom line, we’re walking the line, and yet still somehow draw the wrath of the casino employee. Or so it would seem.

What gives?

I’ve had boxmen strongly encourage me to pick up my game and take it to another open table, and the only conclusion I can come to is they don’t want to run the game for a single player. It’s a rare occurrence, but what are you supposed to do here? If you try to resist, you’ll end up looking like the troublemaker and possibly get yourself kicked out. It also had me thinking, what if any is the unwritten rule about keeping a craps table open when there’s only one player there.

The short answer to that is there is no unwritten rule. While casinos might close a table temporarily due to inactivity, it’s more often than not during a scheduled shift change, and you’ll get a heads up that the table is closing for XX amount of time in XX amount of minutes.

Ultimately, like in life, sometimes you just get stuck playing with a jerk. We’re all human, but as a boxman/dealer you have an obligation to be pleasant unless the player gives you reason to act otherwise. And if a sober, efficient, calm player wants to be the only one at a table throwing dice, then so be it. Nothing to get too worked up over, but it’s not exactly convenient to pick up stacks of chips just to move them over to the next table because your guy is in a bad mood or bored.