A Few Crazy "TDA" Rules Enforced @ Venetian (But they run a great tourney otherwise)

The Venetian is a great place to play a poker tournament. Their tournament staff is top notch, with strapping young men like Daniel and Anthony running around solving disputes and making excellent rulings. Being a poker tournament player myself, I can't help but point out the few shenanigans rules they have that piss me off, because they are wrong.

Some may know this, others may not - while involved in tournament play at the Venetian, while heads up in a pot, you are NOT allowed to look at your opponent and say "Do you have it?" You may not say "So you hit that ace, huh?" You are not allowed to ask your opponent "Are you on a flush draw?" and you can't say, while pondering a tough call on a 2-flush flop, "So you just have a draw, right?" and gauge your opponents' reactions. In fact according to the Venetian interpretation of TDA rule #12 you can't say anything that has to do with poker to your opponent, even if it is heads up, even if your opponent also wants to verbally discuss your options. They claim the "one player to a hand rule" applies to your opponent, when heads up, so you can't talk about the hand. Venetian dealers are instructed to say "please don't talk about the hand," and most follow these silly instructions, because it is a well-run room.

Now anyone with poker tournament experience knows that this is an essential part of poker - talking to your opponent, trying to gauge his reactions to make a better decision - your opponents will try to talk to you and gauge your reactions as well - for this is a poker tournament. Most players understand that the psychological battle of poker extends well beyond the bets and raises that hit the felt. There are many subtleties that I use when playing live poker to help me make decisions, from hand movements to facial ticks, to how their voice sounds when they say "raise," it's all part of the game. Maybe my opponent asks me a question and I decide to answer - or maybe I stay silent - or maybe I just put my head in my hands - all part of the game. Venetian has tried to make their tournaments as friendly as possible, and they do a great job of it - but this "no talking about poker" rule catches many by surprise, certainly to the novice player who has watched players talk back and forth on TV during major tournament decisions and has paid his entry fee thinking he will be able to do the same. Please Venetian! Rethink this rule and make your tournaments even better!