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.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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..

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”.

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.

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.

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.