I finally told a rules lawyer to stop at our table in Des Moines
Last month at a local cafe meetup, this guy kept correcting every tiny mistake we made in a 2 hour game of Carcassonne. He quoted the manual six times and even pulled up a forum post on his phone to prove a point about farmer scoring. I finally said, 'We're here to have fun, not to be audited,' and he packed up his bag and left mid-turn. The rest of us finished in 40 minutes and actually laughed the whole time. Has anyone else had to kick someone out for ruining the vibe, or do you just let it slide?
pulled up a forum post on his phone" that part got me. I had a guy do nearly the same thing over Ticket to Ride, he kept looking up official rulings on the app like it was a court case. I just said "man, the train cards are right there, let's play" and he sulked but stayed. Honestly you did the right thing. Some people need that hard stop to realize the table is about laughing, not winning a rules argument. I give one warning now, just a "hey we're casual here" and if they don't chill, they're out. Takes one bad vibe to kill the whole night.