There was a recent post on the 2+2 forums from a WSOP dealer regarding the stacking of pots in split pot games. Traditionally, most dealers are taught to stack the pot for split pot games (and pot-limit games I assume as well) as the hand progresses. This speeds things up when it comes time to award the pot at showdown, for example.
Apparently, this procedure was changed last year in response to complaints that the dealer's action of stacking the pot was interfering with the play (i.e. reading opponents, determining who was in the hand, whether or not an opponent bet or checked, etc.). It was decided to not stack the pot until the play was over. This dealer observed that it did slow down the game considerably.
I was thinking about this problem, and I do have sympathy for the players. It is really distracting when you are at one end of the table, and you are looking over at your opponents, only to have the dealer lean forward to stack the chips, and effectively completely block your view. It reminds me of an etiquette chapter from Tommy Angelo's book where he suggests that players should not have conversations with others if it will cross the 'imaginary line' between any two players still remaining the hand. I think that players that are contesting the pot should be entitled to have an unimpeded line of sight to any remaining opponent whenever possible.
I feel that one of the reasons why all of this becomes an issue is that the "standard" placement of the pot is beside and to the left of the board cards. The dealer scoops all of the chips there, deals out the flop, and most of the time, he would then be blocking at least two players in the hand if he has to reach for the pot, since the pot is so close to the middle of the table.
Why not allow dealers to collect most if not all of the chips somewhere in front of his tray, i.e. anywhere in that rectangular space between the board and the edge of his tray? Most of the time, he may also be able to move the chips slightly to the left or to the right if needed (but closer to the tray) so that it does not impede the eyeline of any of the remaining players. If necessary, he can leave a few chips beside the board or a disk to put the burn cards under.
In the instances where the players beside the dealer are in the hand, the dealer should probably still not stack the pot unless one of them folds. But allowing a little flexibility in the placement of the pot, you can stack the pot most of the time without having to cross the eyelines of remaining players. I don't see why the procedures must be "all-or-nothing" i.e. always stack or never stack until showdown. The only downside I see to this may be a security issue. If the pot is moved closer to the dealer, will there be a worry that the chips may fall into the dealer rack? Certainly this would not be an issue at least for tournaments though. A more minor issue would be whether this would interfere with where dealers may collect cards for the muck, or to spread the stub when the deal is done.
Thoughts?