How do you handle a (physically) sick player at the table right next to you?

So sick

I don't know if it would help, but I would definitely call a floor.

This question is better suited for the live poker section though.

There's a foolproof solution that everybody hates.

Wear a mask.

A mask isn't fool proof against infection. They are good at limiting spread probability...and if anything it should be the responsibility of the sick person to wear a mask to avoid spreading virus load not everyone else.

It wouldn't have mattered anyhow because most people don't carry masks on the off chance something like this happens (but I will be sure to do from now on..and also as a handout to the sick person)

Even if everyone had worn a mask I think in the 3 hours I was at that table someone would have caught something.

Will definitely check what the floor say next time, though. Or just quit playing during flu season if there's nothing they are willing to do.

Not at all foolproof.

The bonus question is much easier for me to answer. I play 2-3 times a week with the same group of guys. We play mixed games and most of us are 50-80 years old.
We have had a very open and honest discussion about this a couple of times. After the first discussion it was more about reminding the group.
We all agreed that everyone plays enough poker so if you don't feel well - stay home.
If we think someone is sick at the game - which is very rare - we ask them to go home and come back next week.
Simple put - we ask everyone to act responsibly and respect the other players. This shouldn't be too hard to ask for in a home game.

Call the floor and ask to at the very least provide coughing/sneezing player with a mask and enforce he wears it as long as he wants to continue in the tournament.

Wearing a mask and having the flu shot will go a long way to keeping you safe, but if you're going to play in a crowded poker room you could get still sick from someone who may not even know that they're sick.

Oh, I agree...but there are levels of risk here. Being in a large hall with someone sick and getting coughed at for hours seem like different qualities of risk. If I want to eliminate the former I wouldn't be able to leave the house anymore.

But the idea of looking for getting annual flu shots is something I hadn't considered. Might actually do that.

I'd call someone and ultimately refuse to play at the same table. God knows what he has and this attitude would be distracting to me, so playing there would probably not be worth it for me.

The worst is...... You know your handling his snot on the dealt cards, as a bonus, you will get an idea of his ranges because of sticky icky cards with a green tinge.

Seriously though? It's a complaint, it's fckn disgusting for one, it's off-putting and its the casino's responsibility to keep players safe.

Some people have no self respect, that's why they don't respect others.

Your health should be your priority. If the gaming environment becomes too difficult to tolerate due to another player's physical situation, it is entirely legitimate to request a table change or to leave the tournament.

In my opinion, I alert the dealer to find a solution, and if the illness seems serious, I go home. Health first

^ There, they said everything. I hope this situation doesn't become common place or tolerated, I hope I never face it.

Influenza can infect people through their eyes.

It's why covid masking was moral posturing, and nothing more. (The virus was smaller than all masks could protect against as well, and only the n95 is/was valid, but also requires eye protection).

I won't discuss covid beyond using as an example of what doesn't work.

Feel better?

I used to get sick every year same time during/after one poker festival - best solution I found, I don't play it anymore. At least where I live, there are some periods where you just guaranteed to get sick if you go to a 150+ person event.

Of course you won't discuss it because you know you will be shown to be pitifully wrong.

For one, COVID is not influenza. They share some similarities and some differences. Bring one up in relation to the other is useless. It is like offering good double board bomb pot PLO strategy in a NL tournament. Yes, they are both poker, but they are different.

For two, saying the COVID virus was smaller than the holes in a mask is being disingenuous. The holes in the mask are smaller than the spit particle that contains the COVID virus among other things (such as spit). That is what matters. COVID doesn't travel person to person as just an independent virus. It is encased in spit.

Sigh....

I think he was meaning that wearing a mask yourself would not protect you from covid, as it could come in through your eyes. If the person who was already sick wore a mask, that would make it less likely to spread.

I always thought the masks were worn mostly to protect others from you, not to protect yourself from others, as they work better that way.

NIH confirms that it is possible to contact covid through one's eyes.

Exactly what I was saying, but the reason I don't like talking about it is because of exactly how he responded. Those who are logical can go through 1 by 1 and point to everything wrong, but you won't win a logical argument against emotional people. (To be clear; they did state originally it was to protect yourself, then they kept changing rhetoric surrounding it. By the end, what you stated was the rhetoric they stated. At one point Fauci was quoted as saying natural immunity doesn't exist, and to wear 2 masks along with stating "I am the science")

I think I support him getting his 10th booster shot while pretending to be morally superior and dying to blood clots.