I see nothing wrong with clarifying action on the current street. Especially since this situation could look confusing if someone wasn't paying attention.

Yes. Tell them that it was a call of the previous amount. They know there has been a raise and if they weren't watching at the moment they wouldn't exactly know if the oversized chip was the raise or the next player. It is a fair question.

I call the floor multiple times each night. Its usually something like a player wants a table change, there is a request for a rake reduction, damaged card, clock, players want to consolidate tables, and other things that you can't control.

But I am very liberal about calling the floor for decisions. I think perhaps sometimes the floors may think I call them too often .... but I think this relates to my seeing issues that others don't. For example in the incident that I recently mentioned about the exposed card that I thought had been exposed by the player until after their had been action, I think most of my coworkers would have just shrugged and moved on (the players weren't raising the issue as something that needed a decision) and when the floor got there I'm not sure he really understood why I would call him for something like that.

But I am very inclined both to see these issues and dump them in the lap of the floor.

Also sometimes if the floors look like they aren't busy.... I like to call them with nonsense. If a player is going on and on about how they haven't seen a face card in hours .... sometimes I'll call over the floor to relay the complaint. I mean really if I have to listen to this crap why shouldn't the floor.

Hate you

Then you wonder why they take forever to get to your table when you have a real issue...

I'm laughing thinking what a game would be like if a dealer couldn't tell a player the action on the current street. Welcome to 8 hands a down!

Yeah I don't yell across the room for that. Its more like they are standing around near my table or walking by.

Poker is also a trickle-up economy.

We're pretty good about kicking out the bad apples, and we're mostly regulars, so not too often. I'd say the players call them more than the dealers, for things that a typical low limit O8 player would freak out about. Mostly it's just to let us know a player is coming up on three blinds, or for table change requests. I'm lucky.

I'd like to do a big tournament again. They can be a fun change of pace. 1/2 NLHE all day is boring as hell.

Anyway, yeah, you can say. This is action this street.

Breaks are for little girls.

The thing I can't figure out is why so many of my coworkers complain that they aren't getting enough breaks .... while I complain that I get too many and management can't figure out a way to make us both happy.


My buddy tells me that in his room they had a dealer throw a tantrum and refuse to deal a third table in a row .... apparently working more than 1 hour without a break is an unreasonable practice.

Seems most of my coworkers want no more than a two table push.

Give me a sip of water and a quick trip to the restroom every two or three hours and I'll keep dealing as long as you want.

Four or five table push in good cash games is okay by me. Besides, the more breaks I have, the longer the night feels.

Four is about right for me. Any more than that and my back starts to lock up. Any less and my box isn't as good as I'd like.

Id like to know how that was dealt with. That type of entitlement is so ludicrous it is almost offensive. Its amazing what some people take for granted.

Ok - tournament scenario I keep running into:
Heads up, flop goes down and before P1 can act, P2 bets. P1 throws a hissy fit saying he didn't get the chance to act first. House rules are that out of turn actions are binding if the action doesn't change.

Technically the bet isn't actually made unless he checks but all wordings I've tried to state this seem to fail. They either muck or put out an amount matching P2's bet and now P2 has the option to fold or raise.

How do you handle this? Say nothing and act as if the check happened and action is back on P1? Or have you come up with a way to explain P1's options that is understood?

It would be uncommon for P1 to WANT to void the bet, but I have seen it happen.

I treat it as though P1 is acting P2's bet unless P1 makes a ridiculous stink and demands to act first.

Heads Up OOT action should always be binding. It just doesn;t make any sense not to treat it that way.

I'm sure nothing happened to dealer. Its just the way things work in big corporations these days. The spoiled brats who feel entitled end up being protected by the HR departments and the burden of their **** falls on those employees who are willing to work. From what I am told this company also lets employees refuse overtime .... and guess what there are dealers who will walk out at the end of their 8 hours with no regard for anything but themselves. Now I get that there are situations where anybody may be in a spot that they can't work some overtime. ...... But every job application I have filled out in this indistry has asked me to confirm that i can work overtime, holidays and different shifts. And maybe if they ask me today to work overtime I might tell them gee ... I'm sorry I have to pick someone up at the airport. But the next time they ask I'm going to stay and work.

"Why are you upset? He just did you a tremendous favor! Before, you had to go first; now, you can go first or second, your choice! That's a huge advantage he just gave you!"

I think first to act should be able to decide if heads up OOT action as binding.


You're explaining to first player how he can take advantage of the OOT action,
and explaining to second player how acting out of turn can backfire on him.

That's more poker lessons for both players than I like to give.

I keep quiet to give the player a chance to check raise if he desires.
If he says something or even give me a look I'll say "Hold up, the action is over here.".

In the places I have dealt, I can clarify action on the current street (even the "who raised" question when only one person in the hand has cards and raising chips in front of them which happens all the time), I just cannot get into how the action went on previous streets.

Re: Breaks

Even with my advancing age, I still maintain that the best day for me dealing is to me to get in, deal seven downs, get a break, deal six downs and go home an hour early.

I hate up-downs. But when you are dealing in a small room, they often comprise way too much of one's shift.

Can you give me any reason why he should want the OOT bet to not be binding other than utter stupidity.

There is more risk of confusion and choas if you don't just treat it as action and proceed.

Player 2 bets OOT player won pushes all in ..... did Player 1 raise player 2 or did he bet and release Player 2 from his OOT action .... this is actually how Player 2 turns this into an angleshot. So just treat it like a bet and Player 1 acts on the bet.

Perhaps I'm just utterly stupid.

He raised player 2. And I announce, "This is a bet and this is a raise." while motioning to the chips.
If player 1 says ,"No, I'm first, I,m betting.". Then player 2's OOT action is not binding.

But if player 1 has nothing he now has zero options but to just muck.

room i used to work at if dealers saw less than 4 down strings, we were eyeing the EO list

The one time I recall this happening was because P1 wanted to bluff. P2 had bet 2/3 his stack and was now committed but if the bet went back he would be able to fold. It worked and P1 showed his hand and explained the whole thing afterwards.

I said OTHER THAN UTTER STUPIDITY.

Re: Breaks

I'm with NYC.

6-ball
break
6-ball
out

Is way better than

first break
3-ball
break
2-ball
break
2-ball

......

The more breaks I get, the longer the night feels (and obviously the less money you make.)