Legal but Slimy Play?

During a roll at an STA table, there was a player consistently laying the outside numbers for large amounts. I was on a pretty good roll, and had a bet on the Small-Tall-All, along with a bet on each for the dealers, and was costing the laying player a bit.

At one point in the roll, I needed one number each for the Small and Tall. At this time, the laying player decided to cash out. He took his time putting down his chips, and the denominations were all mixed together (this wasn't intentional, he had a messy rack). The cash out probably took three minutes. At the time, I wasn't particularly upset by this, but, of course, I sevened out on the third roll after I started throwing again.

My irritation was with the fact that when he cashed out, I thought he was finished and leaving. Instead, as soon as I was out, he bought in again and started laying numbers again. So it was an intentional attempt to cool the roll. I was a bit surprised that the dealers would allow this.

So I asked the floor manager why that was allowed, and he said a player can cash out at any time and, while it was poor etiquette, there was no rule to prevent it. He admitted he wouldn't like it if he were playing, but scientifically, it doesn't effect the roll one way or another, and the roll could just have well as continued for an hour. I felt better after the explanation, but I still think the guy was a jerk.

The manager was correct. No rule against it and poor etiquette. Had it happened at a casino here in LA he would have been escorted to his car by the boys and would have never been seen again.