One of a tournament director's worst nightmares is when a player comes up and says somebody sitting next to them really smells bad. It's happened many, many times over my career.
Luckily, I have others I work with, such as Justin Hammer, Jordan Cutter, or Ben Irwin, to handle that situation.
But truth be told, it's a very difficult situation when you have to go over and talk to somebody that smells really, really bad.
Ask the Org: What's the grossest thing you've ever experienced at the poker table?
TDA Rule: Smelly Penalty
We added a rule to the TDA as part of Rule 70; it's an etiquette violation.
Basically, we have a list of violations within that rule. It says:
- you cannot persistently delay the game
- no unnecessary touching of a person's chips
- do not act out of turn
- you cannot have offensive hygiene
In the TDA, we say you cannot smell bad.
How do we rectify that situation? We have that tough conversation with the offending (in more ways than one) player.
We say, "Can you stand up so we can please talk to you?" (while holding our nose, of course). We tell the player that they need to either change their shirt, put on deodorant, or, in the worst case, leave the tournament and take a shower. Please get yourself in a proper smelling order.
What if they bathed in cologne?
Cologne is an issue, too. We all know people who simply wear way too much cologne at the table. It's bad.
It's kind of the opposite of poor hygiene. So be careful when you apply it. Don’t overdo it!
Side Note: Aaron Massey, if you read this, stop wearing so much cologne; it stinks.
I challenge you!
With summer coming up, Las Vegas is very hot!
My challenge: Make sure you come into the poker room smelling good. Please.
What do you think?
I ask all the fans and players to directly submit interesting situations and videos to me on my X account. Your question could be the next Savage Rules!
Matt Savage is the WPT Executive Tour Director, founder of the Tournament Directors Association, and a respected member of the poker community. Matt is a five-time GPI award winner and a nine-time Poker Hall of Fame nominee.
You can follow Matt on X. For more info, visit PokerTDA.com and WPT.com.
Images courtesy of WPT/Charles M. Shulz/Benoit Debaix/Unsplash
