All my players have seat preferences. This is no big deal.I play a few times a month at a weekly home game in my area. I’ve known the host for about 7-8 years. There are almost always 9 players, about 6 of whom are very regular, plus a rotating cast of occasionals.
The host is a decent guy, with a good job (i.e. he doesn’t really need poker winnings to get by.) He’s a solid but not exceptional player. Let’s call him Don.
His best friend plays in the game, and is a much better player than the host. Probably the winningest player in the game. He depends more on poker income than most in the game. Let’s call him Brad.
A friend who’s also a reg in the game reached out to me between games and asked: “Ever notice how Brad always sits to Don’s right?”
My friend had been the first to arrive at a recent game. Don (the host) already had his chips in his usual spot in the 5 seat, facing the TV.
When my friend put his knapsack and coat down on the 4 seat, Don said: “Oh, Brad is sitting there.” (Brad had not arrived.) So my friend moved to another seat.
My friend raised the question of whether I thought it was odd or in some way improper that they always sit next to each other. He raised the question if they were colluding somehow, or gaining some kind of advantage by doing so.
What do you think? (I’ll put some thoughts of my own in a follow-up comments.)
Now if Brad has the nuts, does he knee Don? Maybe…but sounds like it’s a friendly game. I’m sure there are other “checks on the river” and friendly things that happens as well.
Need some better evidence than this.