[Rick Nebiolo]

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At Commerce, there is indeed a rule that the hosue may make a ruling contradictory to the letter of the rules in the interst of the game.

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I have a hardcopy of the Commerce Rule Book in front of me but a year 2000 version of the Hollywood Park Rulebook on my hard drive. They are very close and to save typing I'll quote the Hollywood Park version:

"Welcome to the HOLLYWOOD PARK Casino, where we consider fairness to be our primary concern. When making decisions, we try to protect inexperienced players and those unfamiliar with our rules from honest mistakes. Our floorpersons are trained to make decisions based on the spirit of the rule, rather than on inflexible interpretations of this guide. An unintentional error is less serious than a deliberate violation. The intent of an action will be taken into consideration when rendering a decision. The player acting improperly is the person who bears the brunt of the responsibility and will not benefit from an error.

Although HOLLYWOOD PARK Casino designed this rule book to cover most situations, there may be instances where no rule exists for a specific circumstance or when a game structure varies from the one usually played at the casino. During these occurrences, the rules governing the game may be altered for the particular situation.

At all times, the main purpose of our rule book is to provide an intelligent guide for decision-making and a sensible framework for fair play. An unintentional error is less serious than a deliberate violation. The intent of an action will be taken into consideration when rendering a decision. The player acting improperly is the person who bears the brunt of the responsibility and will not benefit from an error."

To the best of my knowledge, just about every card club in town has a similar introduction to the rules.

~ Rick