MOD NOTE: This thread's first 19 posts are an offshoot of the Tipping Containment Thread.


Most regs are losers. You stole some of their thunder so they tried to make you feel small/out of place and weren't clever enough to come up with anything better than look at me I know my waiter's name shtick. Show me a reg who calls dealers by name and I'll show you a loser.

Yeah. There are no winning players that don't dehumanize the dealer by only calling them "Dealer".

I've got a nametag right on my shirt just so the players can use my name. Are the pros who come in and play 30+ hours per week and consistently win considered to be regs? They all address me by my name.

If you call me "dealer" you can count on me addressing you as "player".

If I'm in the 9 seat I often can't read your name tag. You have the Bravo display right in front of you.

In the room I play most often there's probably 30 dealers who's names I know without looking at the name tag. I see no reason to not use their name when speaking to or about them.

When a ruling is needed do you shout out "Floor" or do you yell out the Floor's first name because you are there more than 30 hours a week?

Addressing the dealer as "dealer" helps the communication for the entire table. It makes it clear who I am speaking to, and that there may be something the dealer needs to address that the table should be aware of. If I just called you Usain it could be confusing.

This is among the most absurd things said in the almost 7,000 posts of this thread.

Yours is a single-context approach to multiple contexts. If it needs to be communicated to the entire table that you are talking to the dealer, you can say "Dealer". You are not bound to one or the other for life.

Making non regs feel less out of place is customer service 101. People who do what that poster described are almost always wannabes or just miserable losers occasionally a winner who just doesn't understand gambling but did learn poker strategy.

Fwiw I think going out of your way to call other regs by name is also dumb if you're a winner. Making ppl like that poster feel like it's 8 guys (plus the dealer!) in on it together vs them isn't how you make a profitable gambling environment. Most ppl just don't get gambling though.

Most communication doesn't require an address fwiw. Also yes I don't want you to make that non reg think me and you are familiar. That's what leads him to think he got cheated/I got preferential treatment when a standard ruling goes my way. Plenty of threads on that...

I've worked in customer service roles my entire life, from sports bar to poker to digital agency. The barkeeper's name is not "Barkeep". His name is "Mike" with a handshake, and he'll be right over here if you need anything. Customers love knowing your name, hearing their names, and knowing you remember them. It makes them feel like they are the regs. There is literally a popular television show theme song on the idea.

So yes, non-regs want to feel less out of place. I don't know how the **** that translates to never uttering their names.

Your argument is a Straw Man. The room's protocol is for me to yell out "Floor" and so I do. But if a floor person happens to walk by my table and I want their attention (suppose I want to let them know the push is late) I'm just as likely to address them by their name. And I definitely call them by their name in the breakroom.

And, for that matter, sometimes I'll say, "Thank you, Sir," when a regular gives me a tip after winning a pot, even though I know their name and could just as easily say, "Thanks, John." But I never treat them in a way that might make them think that I'm unfamiliar with them or that I'm disregarding them.

And that sort of attitude was precisely what I felt compelled to respond to in my own post.... "Show me a reg who uses a dealer's name and I'll show you a losing player." I think that's b.s. and my own experience goes against that sentiment.

Try introducing yourself to the players you don't know and make them feel like they are part of the group of 10. You'd be shocked at how much more action people give when they think they're with people that like them. It's weird that you'd prefer 10 people with hoodie/sunglasses taking the game super seriously. Just because you think you need to outwardly convey a cutthroat "I'm just here for the money" attitude to everyone, it doesn't mean that will make the game better if else adheres to this persona.


Seriously. Where I deal, I know 95% of the people by name and greet them appropriately when they come in, and if I don't know someone, I ask them their name and tell them mine. I get them included in conversations at the table. I make them feel welcome. By the end of the session they can't wait to come back for more. So many people play poker for the social side of it (as sad as you might think it is, sometimes these people have literally nothing at home for them). Try making them feel welcome sometime.

if i know the dealer by name i'll call him by name.
if i don't i'm calling them dealer to get their attention especially if they're about to make a dealing error and don't hear me the first time when i point it out.

I don't usually say names when talking to someone, probably should but I think it sounds weird/phony. I say dealer when speaking to the dealer about something poker related ie "moved the button dealer", "this is for you dealer" etc. I use dealer's name if talking about something not poker related in the instances I do use a name ie) "Did you bet the game Eddy?", "I like your hair today, Sarah" etc. I also use nicknames a lot for people when I speak. Usually pretty obvious nicknames Slim for fat people, sir/maddam for people older than me, etc.

I hope people don't take it as rude or condescending. I used to officiate basketball and never took any offense to people calling me Ref, even when they knew my name.

I don't really talk to many of the dealers about things that aren't related to the game. I doubt they care about my insight, jokes or opinions and I certainly don't need anyone else feeling comfortable sharing their lives or opinions with me. I have enough people who like to pour their souls to me, when I'm off work/not around close family and friends, sometimes it's nice to just be left to my thoughts. Again, I hope that doesn't seem rude to people, but frankly I'm the customer not the entertainment.

Ref seems fine, just like calling someone Judge seems fine. It's like Officer. It's an authority figure respect thing. Dealer doesn't have that same feel. It feels more like being called Janitor

I agree with poster.

I actually thought it was kind of an authority/respect/deference thing to call them dealer, definitely don't look down on janitors or anything but I don't think most people look down on dealers either. This is a really enlightening thread.

I have zero problems with players calling me "dealer" when it's something related to the game or the casino especially if it's information I need to process right away. I have a common first name so it actually helps me know who you're talking to.

Hopefully players don't have a problem with me calling them sir or ma'am when I'm at a tournament table with no Bravo screen to refer to. It takes me a while to get to know names when I only see them for a half second when checking your receipt.

Good point on the dual standards for calling people by first name. I am fine with a dealer not using my name, I know maybe it is a show of good service but like I said earlier, I think it sounds phony when I use or someone uses my first name a several times, especially when its a new dealer I know I've never had saying "Welcome to the table, Carl" or "Action is to you, Carl." It just feel weird to me.

They are 'dealer' when I lose and 'name' when I win or having fun with them ... wouldn't want to call them out by name when I'm mad at them as someone might think it's personal!!

Poker players usually get their names used if they are regs since they rarely know what seat they are in ... 'seat 4, action is on you ... ' doesn't work well. Usually you need to call them out by their hat or shirt color or something. GL

I feel like Im stuck under a bridge with this one.

Call me name or Dealer its all good with me. However its nice to know they know my name.

I use players names when action is on them, or away from table. Otherwise its Maam or Sir.

Sent from my LGMS330 using Tapatalk

You are getting mad at the dealer when you lose?

Chapter 1 in onguard's eagerly awaited poker book.

If you know somebody's name, why wouldn't you use it?

This is a bit different. Dealers are instructed to call 'floor' because there is often more than one floorperson. Also, calling 'floor' is an indicator to those working the floor that they are needed ASAP. If I'm in the middle of five things and hear "Floor on 2", I'm dropping everything and going to table 2. If I just hear my name, I'm ignoring it.

I wasn't going to even reply because I know it'll sound oversensitive, but this is exactly what I mean by the word "dealer" being sorta dehumanizing. Your actual internal intentions are fine, but the fact that you normally use their name and then you bust out the word as a rolled up newspaper to the nose has an effect. You know the dealer isn't the cause of your loss, and the dealer knows that you know it's not the dealer's fault. Also, even "as a joke" it perpetuates the never-ending blaming of the dealer for bad things happening in a game about statistics and uncertain outcomes.

I know it's currently part of a dealer's job to shoulder some abuse in the box and most of us get paid "enough" to just deal with it, but being told multiple times a day that you suck and that you're at fault for someone losing their rent money, it does add up over the years even if you rationally know it's got nothing to do with you.