Yeah I just did one. I got hired .... but I was connected....

I have a former co worker who now lives and works in LV. He is the swing shift supervisor in a Strip casino and he just auditioned for the Bellagio. Here is what he told me about the audition held about 2 weeks ago. (he was hired BTW)

He was also hired for the WSOP but he will be dealing at Caesar's and not the tournament.

Wait, what? Only the rejects get sent to Caesars, and he was top pick at Bellagio? Weird. Caesars is a good gig from what I heard tho.

Interestingly a similar discussion came up at work today about auditions. I made refernce to my my audition and having the job locked up based on the shift manager. He informed me that he had not even mentioned that he knew me to the manager and that I got the job without his assistance.

I asked him what i could have possibly done in the course of dealing 4 hands that would have made me stand out in that field. He said that it was based on my conduct when I wasn;t dealing. how I spoke to people and smiled. Which strikes me as odd ... as those are not my strong points.

So I guess you should be friendly and smile a lot.

Like it or not, our job is customer service.

So is a mortitician's job. But sometimes customer service isn't about smiling and laughing.....

Yes, and if my sister had a dick, she'd be my brother. What's your point? Our job involves smiling and laughing, because we're not embalming and burying the dead friends and relatives of our customers.

My point is that providing customer service is not the same thing as laughing, smiling, chatting, telling jokes etc.

Its a job dependent thing. And even the customers themselves may disagree on what it is.

When I go to a store and some cashier is busy chatting it up with another customer instead of just moving the transaction along .... I get annoyed. I came to the store selected my purchase .... I want it to be over with and waiting for you to chat with some other customer is just delaying me.

Likewise when I go to play poker I am very satisfied by dealers who do the JOB of dealing well.

I take exception to the current trend of poker that treats dealing poker as a secondary function of a poker dealer. Yes its fair to consider how a candidate interacts with customers, and other employees as part of the hiring criteria....... but for a good poker dealer that includes not just laughing smiling and chatting up the players but also being serious and professional and to some degree apart from the festivities.

Like it or not but if you work at a casino in Las Vegas you are in the hospitality business. If you can't be nice to others why would the brand want you representing them?

You've seen me deal, you know I'm mostly business in the box, and that I don't suffer distractions.

However, I don't see it as an all-or-nothing kind of thing. I do what I can to adjust myself to what every customer needs, without infringing on the needs of other customers. It's a delicate balance, for sure. No two tables are exactly the same.

You're a poker player. You understand certain things. You also probably wouldn't play most of the games that you deal, at least not on a regular basis. Is it fair to say that what you look for in a dealer is not what your customers are looking for in a dealer? We're here to serve them, not serve us.

And again, I'm mostly a dummy-up-and-deal kind of dealer. I'm not talking sports or leering at club girls or sharing details of my family or whatever else is going on with all those "fun" dealers. But I do feel that smiling, laughing, and interacting with the customers is part of my customer service and hospitality job.

When I deal 100/200 PLO, I'm a poker dealer. When I deal 1/2 NLHE or a $40 tourney, I'm a poker-themed hospitality worker. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be as good at the poker as I know how to be, but these jobs require different skillsets.

Why are you against smiling and being friendly?

because I am not just a dealer i am a customer too. And I'm sure there are other customers like me who feel we should get good customer service too ... and thats provided by dealers who do the job of dealing well. If I want to see a comedian I'll by a ticket to the showroom.


I'm not saying a dealer should not be pleasant to the guests .... Being pleasant and being outgoing and chatty are two different things. And even if you think that being outgoing and chatty is valid criteria for hiring poker dealers it certainly should not be the top the list,'


Hell. I got the job. Go figure. Maybe I'm more friendly then i thought.

Despite your best efforts to be a grumpy curmudgeon, you can't help but be a nice guy.

This may surprise you but I've actually witnessed him display this behavior once or twice.

I don't think he's as much of a 'wet blanket' as he makes himself out to be. LOL

Now I feel like being extra mean..... I wish I could evict some widows and orphans.....

Apparently we've moved on from "Shut up and deal!" to "Wipe that smile off your face and deal!"
But, seriously, I agree with the post above.
I (and I think most players) would MUCH prefer a dealer who's quiet and serious, but who does an excellent job of dealing the game, to one who tries too hard to be chatty and entertaining, and just gets distracting and annoying, and/or makes a lot of errors.
There's nothing wrong with a dealer smiling and being pleasant, these are desirable in and of themselves, but I think they're secondary to the rest of the job. I think that at the lower-level games more of the players are looking to be entertained, but this is much less true as the games get bigger.

Different games, different styles. The regulars at 4/6 want to chat and laugh. The regulars at the 5/10 want to grumble and talk trash. I'll chat back and throw out a one liner at the 4/8 table but I never say anything at the 5/10 except to talk the game. And at that level, I hardly have to say a thing.

In 2007 it was.

Now... not so much.

Well, that's everywhere. The sooner dealers accept that they too are affected by a down economy and the aftermath of a boom, the happier eveybody will be.

Don't forget that the suit doing the hiring is looking for someone they'll want to work with (I'm talking about real jobs, not WSOP temp employment crap). Why hire Surly McGrumpyface when there are hundreds of qualified people out there who are pleasant to be around?

Dealing the cards is just one part of the job.

I am faster than average and I run a good game. I also talk a good game and have fun when I deal. The first part never changes; the second depends on the table dynamics, or course. I can shut up and deal. But in general I make good money, my bosses like me and many regs do as well and it'd because most of the time, I can use my enthusiasm and humor to my beneit.

I get to watch people play a game all day. A game! How can that not be fun?

I've been doing it almost two years and I don't feel jaded or dead inside yet. I doubt that I will anytime soon. We have a busy room with a lot of regs and from the nittiest 2/4 bad beat jackpot chasers to the whales playing the bigger games and even the grumpy old stud players, I treat them all with respect and courtesy.

I always tap in with a smile, I almost always tap out with one. I say thank you for every thing the players do for me - from moving the button and telling me they did to making change to toking me.

My room is not perfect, my job is not perfect. But I prefer to concentrate on the many good things about my job and the many people who think I do it very well than the few things I don't like about it or the handful of people who don't like me.

Beats digging ditches.

Good post NYC. I'm sure your positive attitude is a benefit to the room and those you work with.

Last I was told, Caesars is basically double-break central with all the full-timers staying to do their hours just to keep their bennies.

That not good at all.

Yuck.

My friend has been hired to deal during the WSOP, presumably at that time it will be much busier.