I don't want to know what will impress you if you see a dealer do it. I want to know what you've seen dealers do in the past that made you think more highly of them compared to other dealers.

show a hand to the table that someone clearly showed to someone else without having to ask

Things I like but rarely see:

When someone shows their hand and the dealer puts it in front of the board for a second so everyone can see it.

When the dealer announces clearly who has money behind before the hand without being prompted. Often players pass money back to a chip runner so quickly I don't see it.

Dealers who can count a pot in PLO correctly.

I saw a dealer get up from the middle of his pitch and sucker punch a guy walking by the table. Security was called and he was escorted away. All he did was smile. Never did get the story.

That was impressive.

If there are side pots, do you want/expect the dealer to track them separately?

My favorite ever, dealer stops the action, puts his hand on the felt in front of the offending player to get his attention, looks him in the eye, and says politely but firmly, "Sir, please don't throw the cards. We don't do that here."

I've always loved that "here". It implies so much. "Look pal, I don't know where you usually play, but this is the brand new MGM Grand (where this incident happened). This ain't some sawdust joint, we have standards around here..."

Once I saw a dealer call the floor when one player was verbally abusing another, and said player was too intimidated to do it on his own. It doesnt sound like much but when you work on tips, its a bit ballsy

I played at the Borgata this weekend and I had a dealer that would bring the chips into the pot in a way that he lined them up in rows like they were fallen over stacks (instead of just a pile of chips). So when the hand was over and it was time to push the chips to the winner, he could literally bring them back up into stacks of 20 or 30 chips and then push the stacks to the player. So, the chips were already stacked up for the player when he received the pot and not a big pile of chips that the player had to scramble to pick up and stack while the next hand was being dealt. Never saw that before and it was quite impressive to see. Everyone was quite impressed.

At Foxwoods: 2/5NL 500max.
Never seen the dealer before, brand new and seemed nervous when large bets were made.

4 all ins. A main pot about $800, a side pot about $600, and two monster stacks h/u all in at river.

Seat 1 all in for main.
Seat 2 just under $2k, all in red.
Seat 5 has about $3k stacked in front of him red and green.
Seat 6 in for main and side pot.
I'm sitting in seat 4, and folded pre.

Seat 1 wins main.
Seat 2 wins side and all in bet vs seat 5.

In an astonishingly quick motion, dealer stands, reaches for seat 2's large stack and in two rapid fire motions pulls all his chips to the middle while also managing to mix main and side pot. (First motion was like a wrecking ball to knock all chips towards middle, second motion was like a bear hug sweep.) Took her less than 2 seconds. Table was stunned at first then everyone was yelling "whoa whoa whoa!!!!" The dealer then makes a move for seat 6's chips and the player has to swat her hands away yelling whoa! and Stop! Even louder. In that move she knocks/pulled about $4-600 towards middle.

I was truly impressed how the dealer could mess something up that quickly and that bad.

Shenanigans. Do not like.

1:
Dealer: "Okay. Post a kill"
Killer: "This isn't big enough for a kill"
Dealer: "Yes. There's 11.75 big bets in the pot"
Killer: "No, there's not."

Player counts it out and there's 11.75 big bets in it.

2:
Player: In seat 5 curses dealer and throws cards that hit the dealer in the neck.
Dealer: Leans way over and very calmly says, "Let me tell you something. If you ever throw your cards at me again, I'll hop across the table and beat the ****ing living **** out of you and just get a job down the street. Do you understand?"
Player: "Yes"

Not very professional, but it was impressive.

That's asking way too much.

Please explain. No idea what you are inferring. You doubt the truth of it? Play there over time or ask regs at the Borgata and you will get your confirmation. He obviously cannot do it in a $40/$80 game when there are 300+ chips in most pots, but $5/$10 nl and $2/$5 nl, he certainly was able to do it with most pot sizes. He was a boss dealer.

I'm always impressed how calm and professional most dealers take verbal abuse and other BS from obnoxious and/or drunken players.

The exact opposite of that one:

No matter what kind of douche or ***hole that player was, threatening to physically harm a customer is totally unacceptable.

Everybody has a bad day once in a while, but that one is too far accross the line. I can't believe that dealer didn't get fired.

Well, of course.

I'm always impressed by the dealers that know how to manage a difficult player/table without it being obvious.

I know that I have a PITA on table 20 that I'll get called over every couple hours to smooth things out with. Certain dealers aren't ever the ones that I'm called over during.

In terms of mechanics, I tend to be more impressed by dealers that run a smooth and fast game post-deal. Lots of dealers can pitch fast but can't run a game. I prefer the latter.

Calm, impressed.
Professional, impressed.
Take verbal abuse and other BS, depressed.

Dealers that can snap read an O8 hand and have the pot stacked/chopped/ and shipped to the rightful owners have always impressed me. And, in my neck of the woods, that's a pretty big deal.

In my experience (we've likely met) being able to hand read at mixed games is highly correlated to playing the game in question.

Hell it's correlated at holdem too.

And I'm not talking about mechanics or anything like that, just the act of reading hands at showdown

Had a tournament dealer who took antes from the winner of each pot so they wouldn't have to worry about it while they were stacking the chips. Thought that was cool

I was just talking about O8; But, a dealer who can hand read a Badacey or a Badugi hand? Now, that would be impressive. I do think the LV dealers are real good at it but the AC dealers just don't have enough experience, I suppose. But, imo, they should try and learn how to.

Stop your chatting and deal the hand. Then pay attention to the action and make sure the game runs quickly.

Interesting thread topic.


I don't do this because I prefer players maintain control of their cards until they receive the pot. It seems most dealers will grab the cards and put them in the middle of the table. This actually makes it more difficult for me when I misread a hand and muck it, because now the players are trained not to worry when a dealer takes their cards before giving them the pot.


It's shenanigans because a dealer should not be assisting with the counting of the pot. It's supposed to be in a messy pile. Also a dealer should do his best to avoid picking up stacks of chips, as that's how chips get palmed. He should be sweeping them to the pot.

hot female dealer at table. Guy shows a 69 and makes usual comment about being his favorite number because blah, blah. Asks dealer if that is her favorite number. She says no, mine is 68. I get mine and owe you one.