For those who have not played in Southern California cardrooms (esp Los Angeles), the OPs description of the activitites is standard fare. While poker rooms in LA have beefed up rules in recent years to slow down verbal, physical fights and player/dealer abuse (yeah--just like the online community loves to say ITS RIGGED--LA players love to say their bad luck or bad play is always the DEALERS fault), it has not stopped the underlying aggressive nature of play, for the most part, in LA rooms.
Personnally I love the atmosphere cause it adds to the entertainment factor for me. And if you can learn to play comfortably in Los Angeles Card Rooms, you can play anywhere in the world.
Myself, I have witnessed many fights at the Commerce Casino and Bike over the years (although they seem much less these days). I was even involved in an altercation, when a guy who was being a real jerk, had somehow mucked his chopped pot hand, even though he flashed it, without tabling it. The floorman came over and asked if I would consent to chopping the pot as the fair thing to do. And although I would normally do so, I decided the player was being so rude I said NO CHOP I am going to keep all the money.
After verbally threatenting me, the guy actually jumped across the table at me, with chips flying in every direction. Quite funny, I still get a chuckle from it. He never actually got to me as Casino Security had already been eyeing him because of his belligerence. Last I saw him, several Los Angeles County Sheriffs was taking him away.
