"New rule. Anyone who checks their phone sits out their next turn." The House read it in the voice of a lift announcement, and the table laughed and carried on.
Nine minutes later somebody glanced at a message. "I don't make the rules," said the House. "Well. I do." The player, who had only wanted to know the time, sat out, and the table watched them go with the joy of people who have just seen somebody else get caught.
Then a second phone lit up. Then a third. By the end of the round half the table was sitting out and the other half, hands shaking, was holding their phones face down in the middle like a pile of surrendered keys.
The House was unimpressed by all of them.