No Hablo Inglés
September 6, 2009
It’s rare that I relay an experience without detailing where it took place, but this is going to be one of those exceptions.
There are a few reasons why I do not want to mention where the following may have occurred, and those reasons will probably become obvious.
Las Vegas Poker Room - Actual sign ... enhanced for greater readability
That being said, the following scenario unfolded before me in a dream.
I bought into a game at a local poker room.
Not long afterward, an older man and a younger woman took a seat at the same table. Shortly after situating themselves, these two people began speaking to each other in Spanish. The dealer turned toward them and very politely said “English only please”.
“My father doesn’t speak English”, said the woman, “Am I not allowed to talk to him?”
“Not at the table unless it is in English”, the dealer replied … once again, very politely.
“My father doesn’t speak any English, and when he asks me questions I can’t reply? You’re saying people who speak English can talk to their parents, but not people who speak Spanish? That’s discrimination”, the lady replied indignantly.
I looked at the woman, I looked at the dealer, the dealer looked at me, and everyone else at the table looked around in a collective “oh s**t” moment.
This was the first time I had been in this particular situation at a poker table. Sure, people yap in foreign languages all the time and are frequently asked to stop, but it’s never been a major problem for them. The foreign players always knew at least enough rudimentary English to get through the game, and this was the first time I have seen the “discrimination card” played.
After what seemed like a year of silence, the dealer summoned the floor, explained the situation, and a ruling was rendered:
“English only”
While he seemed to empathize with the daughter, he explained that the rule protected the other 9 people at the table from collusion. He explained that they were welcome to play, but that they could not converse in a foreign language.
This did not sit well with the daughter.
She launched into an angry monologue about how her father played poker back home, he wanted to play here, and that they were being discriminated against. She said that she was going to complain to the “main office” and that she was going to sue the property.
Women are given a large amount of latitude in casinos, because had I directed my ire at a room manager in the volume and duration that she did, security would have surrounded me and shot me with a taser at least 84 times.
Perhaps I should go back to the room, shout at room personnel, and sue for gender (and racial) discrimination if they stop me. It could be lucrative.
Anyway, the woman and her (supposed) father finally left with the lady still yelling threats as she walked out, and play finally resumed. With the situation having been solved for the moment, the table entered a discussion about what had happened.
One guy said he wished it was still the 50’s so that he could have slapped the hysterical lady, and it probably comes as no surprise that the table was unanimous in agreeing with the floor.
“How can a room know if someone does not speak English? They can just pretend not to know it”, one person said.
From what I understand, police officers in the Southwest often have this problem. “No hablo ingles” is a common response when “citizens” from other countries are stopped, and there is absolutely no way to prove that they cannot converse in English.
If the English-only rule applied only to those who actually could speak English but chose not to, poker rooms would probably find themselves in situations in which a large number of people “forgot” how to speak the unofficial language of the US. At least for a couple of hours in the poker room.
Since universal agreement leads to intellectual atrophy (see: all religions and political parties), I felt a need to at least play devil’s advocate.
I conceded to the other players that I was not comfortable playing at tables with people who were not speaking English, but then I explained that Las Vegas is supposed to be an International tourist destination. I went on to opine that the city would die if every Asian high-roller with poor English skills were turned away, and I put forth the argument that in a tourist dominated venue such as a casino, it might be slightly unreasonable to expect everyone to know conversational English.
Either this made too much sense or too little sense, because nobody really got my point.
One person suggested that I was a bleeding heart liberal, and after I got done laughing, I was tempted to give him the URL to my blog, but I realized that arguing with this person was akin to teaching a monkey to play chess.
In the USA, everyone’s rebuttal to every argument is “you’re a liberal” or “you’re a conservative”, and the debate more or less ends there. This is why we are a nation of morons. We’ve been taught to draw a conjurer’s circle around our skull, resist the penetration of any and all information, and to parrot particular talking points without applying any real thought to the words that are coming out of our mouths.
So far, it’s worked.
Frankly, my position on illegal immigration is probably more extreme than most. I think anyone who has been in the country for more than one year and still cannot speak English should be strapped to a missile and fired as far out of the USA as possible. After that amount of time, you’re either lazy or you’re an idiot … but either way … we’re already full of both.
When I was 14 years old, I went to Mexico for two weeks and came back speaking broken, yet understandable and functional Spanish. This was accomplished almost wholly through immersion. I spent a great deal of time on my own, and I criss-crossed Mexico City via subway and bus with some problems, but nothing that could not be overcome with common sense. I have since forgotten most of the language, but I could probably learn it again were I to move to Mexico … and I can still order from the dollar menu at Taco Bell.
Linguistically, both Spanish and English share enough commonality so that anyone with a very basal intellect should be able to pick one or the other up in a relatively short amount of time.
Once inside a tourist attraction, however, the whole legal/illegal alien issue becomes muted, and the assumption should be that regardless of nationality, everyone is welcome.
Except Canadians, of course.
The other irony is that “English” is not the official language of the USA, and until the spineless analmonkeys in Congress make it so, we are a nation without a language and the Tower of Babel is our own fault.
As long as we give people the option to “Press 1 For Spanish”, they will choose it.
Las Vegas Billboard
Sign on Las Vegas Strip Parking Lot
While I personally enjoy the English-only rule in poker rooms, I am slightly torn on how it should be enforced in tourist casinos. If I encountered a table where people were yapping back and forth in another language, I would change tables or not play.
However, in a tourist destination marketed to the four corners of the globe, is the rule naïve?
I don’t oppose the rules, but in the PC world we live in, it would surprise me if this didn’t violate a law.
“But Rex, it’s private property.”
Yes, so is 7-11. I dare them to tell a handicapped person that they cannot enter the store. Hell, they legally have to devote half of the parking area to handicapped spaces so that fat people don’t have to walk 4 extra steps to procure a Big Gulp.
When all was said and done, my curiosity was piqued with regards to the practicality and legality of the English-only poker room rule for people who truly speak no other language.
My guess is that some enterprising “tolerant” group will eventually test this rule, and they very well may win.
Anyway, while yesterday’s session may have seemed rather lame, it wasn’t a complete waste.
First of all, the angry daughter was under 30 and had large knockers (which probably explains why she was given so much leeway). I watched them jiggle and bounce while she was wagging a finger and yelling, and I must admit, I was slightly aroused. I hope she comes back and yells some more with a tighter and/or smaller top.
Last but not least, I actually made money in a poker room for the first time in what seems like a century.
Even us bible-thumping bleeding heart left-wing xenophobic conservative liberals get lucky sometimes.
Now if you will excuse me, writing this made me hungry. I think I will go ahead and put some of my conversational Spanish to use before heading back out into the throngs. It’s 39 cent Taco Sunday. Seriously.
Yo Quiero Taco Bell.
Written by par88 on September 6, 2009 at 9:57 am
In some California cardrooms, the rule is “English only during the hand”. I assume that means while players are holding cards they can only speak English. Other times they can speak whatever they want. Might make sense to do it that way in Vegas.
Written by Rich on September 6, 2009 at 9:59 am
“But Rex, it’s private property.”
Yes, so is 7-11. I dare them to tell a handicapped person that they cannot enter the store. Hell, they legally have to devote half of the parking area to handicapped spaces so that fat people don’t have to walk 4 extra steps to procure a Big Gulp.
I would let the handicapped person into 7-11, but they would have to order in English. You’re using making a comparison between communication and mobility, and they’re not the same thing. I would love to be able to take peoples requests in Spanish as well as English, but what about someone speaking in Japanese, Gaelic, Hebrew, Morse code, etc.
We can’t expect to cater to everyones native languages, so we need to resolve it by having one language in the land we can all agree upon.
if I were to travel overseas, I wouldn’t expect the locals to speak English, nor would I have the gall to get mad if they didn’t. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Vegas, do as the Vegans do.
Written by helixtimestwo on September 6, 2009 at 10:19 am
Interesting situation
Perhaps the casino could provide a bilingual dealer/observer to ensure their discussion stays innocent. The obvious flaw, however, is that they may speak cryptically about their hands and/or other players tendencies, but isn’t that just as likely with players speaking English?
In any game where cash is involved there will be cheats…I don’t think that statement needs further reinforcement. Not 3 weeks ago at my local poker room a man sat down with his GF behind him massaging his back. After 30 mins of play I noticed she was intently watching the action/other players, had moved very close to his ear and seemed to be occasionally muttering to him. I became suspicious as he had won several pots, so I glared at her for what seemed to be 15 minutes until they got up and left. Was she giving him help/reads/tells? Maybe, maybe not…but table rules are in place to give players peace of mind that their performance will determine how much they win or lose, not the ‘house edge.’ This is what separates poker from all other games and is mostly responsible for it’s surge in popularity.
With all the ways collusion can occur — verbal, signaling, or otherwise, it’s best to accept that if you play long enough, and in such a transient place like Vegas, you will likely become a victim at some point. I think casinos must use case by case discretion and players must stay vigilant to minimize the incentive for scumbags to steal our money.
Just sayin’
Written by Rex on September 6, 2009 at 10:22 am
I don’t disagree with your basic point.
I would NEVER move to another country, or even spend any appreciable time there without busting my ass to learn the language.
However, Las Vegas is a special case from Rome, Japan, etc.
The Strip’s sole purpose is to serve tourists. It’s advertised as an International gambling destination, not as an “International gambling destination where you cannot speak your native language”
Again, I am far from pro-illegal immigration. It’s turning Las Vegas into a third-world butthole. When I go into a neighborhood business or encounter residents who cannot speak English, I have absolutely no respect for them.
If I ever become Governor of Nevada, I would (try to) declare English the official language of the state, order all government documents to cease being printed in Spanish at taxpayer cost. This bi/tri-lingual s**t doesn’t work for anyone but the intellectually lazy and the large corporate casinos by allowing them to pad the bottom line by hiring cheap workers.
If the government was so worried about terrorists (I assure you they are not), the problem would not exist.
The southern border is kept open to ensure a large amount of cheap labor for businesses. Period.
That being said, I have to re-iterate, the casinos openly invite foreign people, and the foreign tourist probably spends more than the domestic tourist. Regardless of where they are from.
As much as I LIKE the rule, there seems to be some conflict of interest with regards to it.
Written by mike_ch on September 6, 2009 at 11:31 am
My eyes were opened on this sort of thing by going to Toronto (the only “real city” I’ve been to since Los Angeles and to a lesser extent Seattle are sprawling with few residences near the city core.) Though it’s nowhere near as loaded with French speakers as Montreal, there were a few and a lot of people speaking Chinese as well. It doesn’t seem to be creating any problems. Admittedly, there are no Poker tables, but that’s not the only situation language might start issues.
But then again, there’s a different definition of multiculturalism between America and other nations descended by the British going around conquering things: we seem to think that people coming into a foreign land should eventually take on aspects of their new host and slowly make their identity more difficult to distinguish at first blush.
I know in Canada that multiculturalism means pride in continuing to carry cultural traditions into a foreign land where it is minority. The result is a lot of “Little (Country Name)” neighbourhoods and not for the typical American reason where a part of town becomes identified with a certain ethnicity after the white majority more or less corners them there through expansion.
What I wonder about the casinos specifically is how long it’s going to take before those guys, usually wearing dark sunglasses, standing around at the entrance to the parking garages are going to get the resort sued for discrimination. As far as I can tell they don’t seem to be on the lookout for anything more than certain ethnic characteristics presently associated with security threats. I’ve tried to be as suspicious as possible (turning my head away from the guy so my face can not be seen, etc) and never set off his better judgment.
And yes, if you’re like the other people I talk about this to, they’ll immediately say that it’s private property. But like you point out, see what happens when 7/11 tells every customer of a certain ethnicity that they’ll have to be patted down before going into the store. That won’t stand for long.
Written by mike_ch on September 6, 2009 at 11:43 am
One other thing, to call this an illegal immigration issue seems a bit sketchy to me. I really doubt illegal immigrants go into places where there’s tons of security and cameras and a detention room somewhere in the back to go play some cards.
Just because he’s speaking Spanish does not mean he’s here illegally. If all I know is “he’s speaking Spanish” then he could be a tourist from Spain, for all I know.
This may be one of those situations where those of us out here in the ‘burbs can you in your high-crime zone immediately around the Strip. If you would like to see the realistic effect of illegal immigration in Nevada, drive down Rainbow or Sahara or Maryland or any major thoroughfare that has a lot of commercial property and look at the crowd of guys hanging around outside the home improvement stores.
I know that I personally usually see a crowd outside Home Depot on N Rainbow and Star Nursery on W Cheyenne. Other Home Depots, like the one next to The Orleans, not so much. I suppose it’s the pampered/spoiled Summerlin and Henderson types who are most willing to buy a person along with their renovation project. People in the poorer areas of town where they don’t pay additional money for their house to have an automated gate protecting their cul-de-sac must be more prone to do their own work.
I also never used to know about the yard working phenomenon when I moved here. Living in a little circa 1970s burb in a commuter town far north of San Francisco, I never saw anyone but the residents themselves doing their own yard work. Shocked me the first time I saw a bunch of strangers pull up to somebody else’s house, hop out, and start mowing.
These kinds of thing are more commonly the signs of illegal immigration in southern Nevada, and probably the whole US. A guy going to a Poker Room at Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo to fritter his money away playing hold-em with you is probably not one of them.
Written by rastacat on September 7, 2009 at 4:59 am
no talking is required to play poker. if the foreigner was so adept at playing poker he could have just sat there and played it with his eyes open to see what was going on. if they wanted to speak a foreign language they could go play blackjack, craps, roulette, slots….whatever, where collusion is not an issue. all signs and phone majiggers should be in english only and we should declare that the official language. i’m tired of having to listen to all the other crap in this country. if i travel abroad i expect to have to deal with life in their language, not for them to cater to my ignorance. yes, i’m a hard ass, conservative, american snob…..thank you!!!!
Written by Eric on September 7, 2009 at 11:07 am
I’m a firm believer in capitolism. Casino’s are mere microcosm’s of this principle. A few years back, the issue was Smoking in the poker rooms. It seemed that many casino’s outlawed smoking while playing poker, And they found that their profits surged. Now, whether that was due to surge in the popularity of poker or not is not the issue, the issue is that players adapted to the new rules, or chose to patronize establishments that allowed smoking. The result? While there remain smoking rooms, collectively they are much less frequented than their non-smoking counterparts. However, ironically enough, non-smoking areas in the main casino’s seem to be floundering.
That said, I see the English only rule as much the same thing. Casino’s will do what is in their financial best interest, not necessarily what is “right”. If a casino thought that they would make more money if they were to get rid of the “English Only” rule, it would be abolished this very minute. However casino’s understand that more people will walk from their rooms if they get rid of this rule, because players will angle shoot this loophole, as suggested in the column above.
In the end, it’s more profitable for a Casino to keep this rule, as it makes the majority of players more comfortable at the table. And profit is more important than “fair”.
Written by Mike on September 8, 2009 at 10:15 am
Being proudly Canadian, eh, we do have 2 official languages. English and French. We are forced to provide everything in bilingual, from buying tampons to ceral box labels, but the problem we have here is, step across the border to Quebec and that all stops. French only and be happy they only grunt when you visit.
Mike_ch mentioned Canada and the “Little (insert country of origin here)” Well, I personally think it sucks and would like to book space with Rex’s missle. if you move anywhere, learn the language. people are here for 40-50 years and still couldn’t find there way home if you dropped them in the Middle of Toronto. My mother-in-law is from Italy and I can barely understand her, even though she has been here 57 years. People from elsewhere isolate themselves in to their communities. Others, like Rex’s example of learning Spanish, learn the language and realise they can’t get anywhere without it.
Diversity is great, but are you Italian-Canadian/American, or American/Canadian-Italian (insert ethnicity of choice).
For the lady to freak out, too bad. If we went to Mexico and they had a Spanish only rule at the poker tables would we stand a chance in trying to speak English?
Now, where is my razor..Time to shave my head..
Written by MrCDNVegas on September 8, 2009 at 11:21 am
When I go to LV to play poker why would I not think that English would be the only spoken language at the table. English might not be the offical language of USA, but I’m pretty sure that 99% ot the world thinks it is. If I go to Mexico,France Russia ect…would I think that English would be spoken at the table, HELL no. It would be French Russian….ect.
Just like it has been said when in Rome…….
Now worst is when “Rome” has two offical languages ( like here in Canada)
So Mike from Canada no need to worry about saving your head just yet. I think the majority of Western Canada hates the fact that we have to have everything in English
Written by jimmy on September 8, 2009 at 7:38 pm
In the USA, everyone’s rebuttal to every argument is “you’re a liberal” or “you’re a conservative”, and the debate more or less ends there. This is why we are a nation of morons. We’ve been taught to draw a conjurer’s circle around our skull, resist the penetration of any and all information, and to parrot particular talking points without applying any real thought to the words that are coming out of our mouths.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Written by Matt on September 10, 2009 at 8:18 am
“no talking is required to play poker”
Sure it is – if I’m in a tournament, only have $100 chips left, and want to call a $25 bet, I have to be able to say “call 25″ when I add my $100 chip to the pot so the dealer knows just what the hell I’m trying to d.
Being able to say “all-in” sure helps things move along faster, too.
I’ve seen many international tourists at blackjack tables with less-than-functional English skills (along with less-than-functional knowledge of the game) and they were able to play fairly easily using hand signals.
Written by jinx on September 10, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Nice perspective and glad to see you continuing to advocate common sense in discussions. And remember although most of our populous now believes every issue is conservative/liberal vs taste great/less filling of the 80’s. There are those of us that continue to understand we live in a world of grey and critical thinking is a valued trait.