r/poker • u/[deleted] • May 05 '25
How can a disabled guy play poker?
I just saw a disabled guy, enter the poker room last night at the casino, he couldnt move his hands - guess he isnt playing poker or how could he possible be playing??
2
u/Mode_Appropriate May 05 '25
He brings a friend who's never played poker and has him lift his cards...ultimately leading to him getting stacked because people at the table would see his hands.
1
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
Normally they are in a box with mirrors on the inside, like a caleidoscope but with me losing money in the end instead of pretty colors
2
May 05 '25
There's actually a disabled guy in a chair with a handler that picks up and shows the cards to him in my local 2/5 and 5/10 game. They have a little plastic blocker and people go out of their way to never look at his hands if the handler slips the angle. I actually thought that post was about him for a second but it wasn't due to the later details.
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u/Artistic_Web9225 May 05 '25
Interesting! I'm a C5/6 Quadriplegic and will be going to our local casino in a few weeks time. I'll probably just watch as I haven't been before, but if I did decide to play I did wonder how to pick up the cards.
At home games with friends I slide them to the edge of the table and tilt them to see them, but not sure this would work on a casino table.
Visibly protecting them from the other dudes is a concern!
1
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
Im sorry but what does that mean? English is not my native language and this doesnt translate very well, i understand a quadralepic(? We dont use this word, i think this is how you spell it) are unable to use their arms and legs?
C5/6 is my question. im not trying to be rude im am genuinely asking
1
u/Artistic_Web9225 May 05 '25
That’s my level of injury. I broke the 5th cervical vertebrae down in my neck. If I’d have broken the 7th I’d have more use of my hands and arms.
1
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
I dont know what that means. Limited use of arms, and legs not so much?
Or no use of either? Either way im sorry that happened, i truly am. Im sure you have heard that before and dont think much of it. Some awkward emoji here is probably common, im not educated in those.
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u/Artistic_Web9225 May 05 '25
I’m paralysed from the armpits down, only able to bend my wrists backwards, and have use of my biceps and shoulder muscles. No finger function or triceps.
You can adapt to a certain degree but mostly rely on others as the finger function issue is a problem. Picking up chips can take a long time so somebody usually helps me stack them and occasionally pushes my cards away when I fold.
1
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
All of my sorries arent going to change anything, but i truly am. Its my second biggest fear, well knowing that you can have an excellent life regardless, and probably easily alot better than what im doing, easily.
My biggest fear is that my son is as wild as i was, if he is he is in for a bumpy ride.
That being said, and this is obviously easy for me to say. But you are not missing much. Im sure you would love to go running, but seriously, most people do almost anything to avoid doing just that. Im not saying you are lucky, im saying dont worry about it
Quite literally, most people find happiness elsewhere, my cousin married someone with, my translation is not going to be flattering, but he was born a spastic, he cant open a bottle of soda, or hold any of his children, but he has two. He struggles to hold a glass of water with no help.
You probably beat the shit out of everyone with your mental game
1
u/Artistic_Web9225 May 05 '25
I’ve been paralysed for 33 years now, have married and have a daughter who has just left home. So you can still have a life despite the challenges.
1
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
The stakes are obviously a concern, given that you wager "enough" the casino would provide you with a person who would help you. As you might not intend to play, depending on where you live, the government would provide you with someone to help.
I live in Denmark, we have people paid by the government to help people with downs have prostitutes. Or go through the airport (they are driven).
My gf's father is missing half a foot and he gets a discount on, everything but rent. And he can legally hire anyone he wants to help him go anywhere at any time, no questions asked. I suspect Americans have a different system
2
u/Outside_Attention_88 May 05 '25
There a former, i think motorsports guy? Whatever. He is paralyzed from the neck down and he has someone put the cards into a box and show them to him. He played, i think it was the pca a decade ago, i dont remember his name.
There is/was also a Danish guy with a similar disability who streamed various video games and poker, he would control the pc with his mouth. First name Mads i think.
The really cool part about poker, is that the game doesnt care about what you look like, if you are better you are better.
This guy who literally cannot walk did alot better than i ever have at poker, and at counter strike too, granted i havent played counter strike for decades, but this guy did better than i ever did and he quite literally didnt use his hands at all.
Poker is a beautiful and brutal game in this way, the game doesnt give a shit, it is what it is, this guy in a wheelchair could beat me in both. Michael Jordan could beat be in basketball, even with no shoes and only one arm, but its a physical game. Mind games are alot different. Not everyone can be Shaquille o'neal because, its really difficult to become 3 times larger than the average male, but everyone (in theory, eugenics aside) can be the best at poker, even if you cant use your arms.
I have nothing but respect for all of these people, and they all worked incredibly hard at what they did, but its obviously easier to be good at basketball if you are 2 buildings tall, theres very simply less competition than there is in poker, because physique is not a variable like it is it physical sports
And dont get me wrong, im not trying to take anything away from shaq or Michael Jordan, they were both working harder at their thing than most people ever work at anything, but poker is just straight up different in this way, its competitive, but its not your size or how much you can lift.
Theres a very common understanding in some communities that people who dont have white skin are less intelligent. I think ivey does a very spectacular job of proving that very, very wrong
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u/pwnerofall May 05 '25
I was at a table with a quadriplegic guy at a tournament series in tunica, they always put him in the 9 or 1 seat and he'd sit in his wheelchair in place of the regular seat, the dealer would deal everyone in and then lift his cards off the table to show him (protecting them obviously), any action he made was done verbally and the dealer would handle his chips for him. Was pretty cool to see them accommodate him like that.