Invisible man?

I have noticed a rather disturbing trend in my live play lately. In the last 4 or 5 tournaments I have entered I have had the mis-fortune of being in the one or ten seat at one point or another and ultimately have been taken out (or crippled) by the player on the other side of the dealer. I realize this is most likely due to my lack of attention to this player because I cannot fully see them, but can never seem to remember while I am at the tables. Does anyone have any tips on how I can be more attentive to this "invisible man", or do I just need to ask the dealer to adjust slightly so I can better see the player. I have always thought this last option was a little rude since it would essentially be making their job more difficult, and only benefiting me and perhaps the one other player to his/her side. Is this just a personal problem or has anyone else fell victim to this before?

I hate those seats, for just this reason. You really just have to make a conscious effort to pay attention to this person. Lean forward if you have to to get a look at him/her. I'd like to see what some of our dealer members have to say about asking them to move. I don't think I would ask that.

You're right, it can be a problem. I know I've folded out of turn once or twice by accident in seat 1 because the player in the 10 seat is in my blind spot.

Anywho, as a dealer (I do functions and bars, not casinos FWIW), if someone asked me politely to lean back so they could see the player opposite I wouldn't mind - if you're still weighing up your decisions, then I'm not doing anything much that requires me to reach the table anyway.

It's down to each individual dealer, of course, but I couldn't see there being any harm in asking.

Otherwise, there'd be nothing wrong with leaning forward and looking around them.

I would also think that any dealer worth their salt (as I'm sure you are ), would notice if a player was trying to look around them, and lean back with out asking.

I don't know what it is, but whenever I go to the casino, I almost always get put in seat 1 or 10. I guess I'm just sort of used to it by now.

I certainly try to, yeah - the type of games I deal half the punters are usually drunk or on their way to getting drunk anyway, so the stare-down is both comical and difficult to miss

I'm sure most rational dealers would understand if you ask them (politely) to lean back. Keep in mind a lot of dealers are avid card players.

It just seems like in order to break this trend I might need to pay a little more attenion than just when I am in a pot with the other player, but at the same time I'll start by giving this a shot. Although being only 22 i haven't had that much time to get used to this situation either. I'll try to give it a lot more thought next time I go to play and let you know if I have any success.