Heh.

While I'm sure they might go a little too far with it, I'm not wholly against the idea in general. We are customer service, after all. As Quads said, the answers to the questions don't really matter. Just like how reading an accurate Omaha board isn't really important during an audition, either. It's about how you handle yourself, and your ability to adapt to changing conditions.

But the side of me that favors a meritocracy does recognize that actual poker knowledge and mechanical dealing skill should be big factors. I can understand that perspective as well. The ideal dealer is good on ALL fronts.

But if I have to choose between a knowledgable dealer with nondescript people skills (ie, not "love that guy!" or "WTF is his problem?"), or a friendly outgoing personality with no poker knowledge, I'm picking (A) every time.

This past year I've been taking voice acting classes, which has also included a bit of improv training. Learning better interpersonal communication skills has been greatly beneficial to all aspects of my life, dealing included. We can't write this stuff off entirely, tho' the autistic part of my brain took a long time to recognize this.

My apologies if these have been answered many times over, I haven't read all the replies on this thread yet....

1. I don't mind it when players push other players' bets in on the limit games, but it can get confusing in the NL games. More helpful to me is when people muck their cards towards the middle. Even though I can reach, how much effort does it take to send your cards towards me, as opposed to dropping them just 2 inches over the line where I have to lean forward to grab them?

2. I appreciate it if a player moves the button for me, but only if they tell me so as they're doing it. Otherwise, I may end up moving it again.

3. Not so much of a thing to help the dealers, but I absolutely HATE IT when players take off their shoes/socks. You are inside a public building. I don't care if your feet are hot/cold/sweaty/sore. Your shoes should stay on. Nothing is more repulsive to me than to see a bare-footed player's ugly-ass toes. And even if you do remove your shoes/socks, don't you ever, EVER, prop your naked, smelly feet up on another chair. Yes, I've seen it happen. It makes me want to scream.

Ooooh, you dropped some Menthos into my Diet Coke this time!

Every time someone tries to help me, they're almost always making my job harder. Remember, players, too many chefs spoil the soup!

80% of the time someone moves the button, they don't tell me, and I move it again. Then the game slams to a halt as we debate where the button should go. If you guys could just keep your nose out of it, and let me move the button every time, it will get done right every single time. Maybe once a YEAR I'll forget to move the button (because something very unusual distracted me between "push the pot" and "move the button"), and when that happens, I hope you'll correct me. But until then, do me a favor and never touch the button.

Why do they want to "help" me move the button? Because I can't reach it, naturally. Well, you know why I can't reach it? BECAUSE SOMEBODY MOVED IT TO A SPOT I CAN'T REACH. And I promise you, it wasn't me. I have never, in my career, moved the button to a spot I can't reach. You can see the happy look on their faces, "It's MY button this hand!" They pick it up joyfully, play with it a minute, like it's finally their turn to open their presents. They they proudly put it on the table in front of their stack, like a new nameplate for their desk, announcing their new promotion, new job title, new status. They're so wrapped up in this fantasy, they don't realize that the button has migrated TWO FEET from where I put it to where it is now, and "where I put it" is also "as far as I can reach".

Pushing your bet in to a spot I can reach is the most helpful thing you can do. Pushing in someone else's bet isn't nearly as helpful as you think it is, for several reasons:

--I'm trying to get this player to put his bets in far enough so I can reach them. By now, I'm pretty good at this ("Hey pal, meet me half way, would ya?"), but as long as you keep shuttling them in for him, I'll never get him trained.

--As I pull in each bet, I'm making sure the correct amount is there. When you pull three bets together and push it all toward the center like you're pushing a pot, you've stopped me in my tracks. I need to count ALL those chips now, before I pull them into the center. And if I'm missing one, guess what? I'm coming after YOU for it! That's what you get for handling money that doesn't belong to you, you're the prime suspect if any of it is missing. Not only that, but now my count of the pot is completely disrupted.

So just sit back, and leave the driving to us.

(I should note that I find the psychological reasons that drive these "helpful" players interesting. I'm convinced that they hate being at the mercy of random cards, hate it when things are beyond their control, so they take control of everything they get the chance to.)

(One last thing, almost related. When you're in the 4 or 7 seat, my arms aren't NEARLY long enough to put the button right in front of you. Don't worry, I have a solution for this. Even though the button is so far from the rail that it doesn't seem to be in front of any single player, I have cleverly used the word "DEALER", printed on the button, as an ARROW, pointing at the player who has the button. Touch the button, and you've screwed up my "arrow" plan. Touch the button, not intending to move it, just to rotate it so that the word DEALER faces you--again, like a nameplate--I just want to drag your lungs out through your nose.)

Pplayers who want to help the dealer sometimes help but not helping the dealer is okay too. After all, we get paid to do what we do.

I can literally go weeks without having to call a floor because i have am problem with a player. Game issues might come up more often but a player who just will not let me run the game is very rare.

However...there is this guy, let's call him uh....Dick. It's not his name or even close to it but...well, it fits.

One day, during the break in a tournament, he started telling me what I did wrong. TBH, what the scenario was I forget but it was simple enough that I did not need the floor. The players in the hand did not complain, he just waited until the hand was over and we were on break to tell me how much I did not know about my job. I quoted him the rule from our rule book that I was enforcing and he told me I was wrong.

Can anyone here understand that I was a bit put off by this? I finally called the floor to come over and let the floor tell him I did the right thing, which is what happened. Immediately after that, Dick started telling me I should have made change for the BB before I started dealing.

I do not have a dealer bank in this tournament, change is always made after the pre flop betting is complete.

The floor told him he was wrong and that was when he let us know just who we were speaking to.

Dick actually DEALT THE WSOP one year!

Let me point out that there are some excellent dealers who work the WSOP and many, many dealers who can barely get the cards out.

I stifled a laugh and the floor told him just how little that meant to him as a reference.

2 hours later, at another game, I made my second floor call of the day for a player problem, it was Dick again. He disputed the my rounding up the blinds in a PLO game. He didn't want them rounded up, it would make the game play too big.

Room policy is if the blinds are not called, they are rounded up to the BB for pre flop action.

Before the matter was resolved, the same floor, the shift supervisor AND the room manager were involved in the discussion with Dick.

I was right BTW.

Haha I've heard a player use that one as some sort of magical validation of their opinion as well.

Everyone in the industry knows how funny it is to try and use that as an argument.

All I'm going to say is don't believe anything you are verbally told or see in writing in this industry until it actually happens.

lolgamingindustryaments

I know D-G and I both have chiseled good looks, pouty lips, and thick flowing hair, so I understand how you get us confused.

That's funny about Dick, tho'. Any dealer who can be trusted to be informed and well-rounded knows that "I dealt the WSOP" is only impressive to people who have very little concept about poker.

To be fair, in the WSOP tournaments, you don't round up the PLO SB. So, y'know, he was right... about the wrong thing.

I had to fight myself last year not to be the annoying table captain, tho'. These days I think the only thing I do is slide forward bets from the ends, but just a little.

Here's something that you should never do: combine antes and take the change yourself. Ugh! We're working a repetitive job here. Don't make us pause to factor in an unusual situation. I don't care if you do it "every time". In the course of the year, that's a very tiny percentage. I'm pretty good at noticing it myself, but I've yet to see a dealer who didn't stop and pause at such a thing.

Congrats, Quad! But yeah, don't believe it until after you're doing it for about five years... and even then don't relax.

I was spoiled, coming up in the Bay Area during the boom. Everybody got the hours desired, and the schedule never changed.

I'm in Vegas now and things are... different. Ah, lack of job security. One of the many reasons just "adding up the tokes and projecting out" has very little basis in reality for the goofballs in those threads.

I have people do the combining antes tings every once in a while, a little more lately due to some new faces for some reason (???). Now the regulars will stop them and tell them to let me do it, I've trained them well apparently.

Nice!

I like to say something like, "I appreciate the help, but I'm a simple man, and these complex things confuse me. Thanks for your understanding!"

It's non-challenging, and usually gets a chuckle.

I live in the Philadelphia area and believe I have the skill set to be able to get a job dealing blackjack at one of the area casinos. I am in the process of updating my resume but have run into a big hurdle and need advice on if I should even bother applying.

I've read that bad credit is a major red flag for casinos. My credit rating is very bad, around 600 with all three credit reports. Nothing major on the reports, total is around $1,000 debt I was not aware of until I checked my rating. Any chance the casinos in my area will overlook a bad credit rating or should I tailor my resume to another profession?

This is 100% false in my case. I do these things and others TO SPEED UP THE GAME.

I always help collect time and have it ready before the next dealer even sits if I am in the 4/5/6 seat.

An extra hand an hour is beneficial to both me and the dealer.

why, so you can bet kk into trup queens more often?

Dont worry about your credit. My highest score of all 3 is 530 lol and I still got my PA gaming license. They only care about criminal history.

Brilliant! for you, but most of the players probably haven't figured out your secret code, and just are trying to put the button in a spot where it is clear whose it is.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

We appreciate your efforts to help, but until asked for it, it's best to just let the dealer do his job. We don't jump in at your place of work and do things for you, no matter how much we think you might appreciate it. But I know how it is, because I find myself doing some of these "helpful" things myself. And I KNOW I shouldn't do it. Dealers can make the worst table captains...

Also remember that this is primarily a gaming employee chatter thread. We come here to relax and banter, not defend ourselves. We're allowed to let our hair down a little.

I don't mind when players help push chips in from the 3 and 7 seats.
But keep them where I can count them and don't push them into the pot.

Moving the button is fine if you make sure I know.

Pulling the button out of my reach is a real pain in the ass.

Good golly. Dick must be back in Vegas...

A couple days ago almost exactly this scenario played out. After the hand was over Dick started ranting at the dealer and telling him he was stupid and didn't know the rules and screwed him out of at least $20. The dealer explained that no, he was quite sure of the rule, but the player replied with "I've been dealing for seven years and have dealt the WSOP and I know the rules". He demanded the floor come tell the dealer how wrong the dealer was. Sorry, floor backed the dealer, explaining that yes, he's aware some rooms have different rules, but in this room the rule is otherwise. So the player ranted at the floor for a while, and called the floor names, and the casino names, and the dealer more names. And he kept ranting about it off and on for 60 minutes. And even the next day when he came back he kept telling anyone who'd listen how stupid the dealer and floor and casino are.

Sad part is, this guy is back in town to deal the WSOP this year. And he was doing all this name calling in a Harrah's Vegas property. Someday he's going to do that a couple days before the WSOP starts and then find out that the guy he was ranting at is the guy scheduling WSOP dealers. I hope.

Wow. Thank you, sending in my resume tomorrow.

When a player is facing a raise... say the raise was 5000 total.. "How much did he make it?" "5000 is the total bet sir." "So, how much more do I owe?" <<< Jesus , 5000 total. I know that it can sometimes be pretty simple to calculate for them the exact amount that they have left to call. But damn, isn't 5000 total about as simple as it gets? Sometimes we might not feel like thinking for a sec. lol


Figured I would throw a pet peave into the mix from when I was dealing.

Ooooh! I have another peeve!

This happens most often in tournaments, but at least once or twice a day in the cash game, too. And in the cash game is when it gets ugly. Player A goes all-in, pushing his mountain of chips in front of him. Player B is thinking about what to do, and all of a sudden, someone else at the table (usually someone who isn't even in the hand) will say out loud that "It looks like Player A has about $2,000."

Now, Player B didn't ask me how much the all-in bet was. If he/she had asked, then I would have made a count for them. But when a player goes all-in, the dealer shouldn't count down the chips or say anything about how much the bet is unless asked by someone else in the hand.

I don't care if Player C is trying to be helpful. They're not. They shouldn't be saying anything at all while the hand is in play. At best they're a minor nuisance, at worst they are pissing off Player A, who has just made a show of power and may not want Player B to really know how much (or how little) his all-in bet is.

Not only does this bother me as a dealer, but it really ticks me off when I'm Player A, and someone shouts out to the other players how much my all-in bet is. Buddy, if I had wanted the other players to know exactly how much my bet was, I would have told them. Otherwise, the onus is on them to ask. Don't be giving out free information.

It's cool if you move the button, just say "Dealer, the button is good."

I do this when I play and the dealer is usually appreciative.

At a recent tourney I played in, I combined antes but every time said to the dealer(s) "this is for both of us" as they came to collect. Never dealt in an ante tourney myself yet (aside from home games years ago).

This this this this this.

"Button's good."

It works wonders.

Since it's on button-issues, I swear about 4-5 times a day I catch a player either using the button as a card protector or playing with it in his hands.

Of course, this lead to an interlude that caught my semantics radar off-guard.

End of the hand(decent action between 7 &9), button is in seat 2. I go to slide it to seat 3 without looking, and push air. I pause and look befuddled.

Me: Where's the button?
Nitty Seat 10: Jesus, Dealer, that's part of your job.
Me: No, no. It's about to be seat 3. Where the actual, physical button?

It turns out, the guy in seat 2 was flipping it in the air, while on a phone call away from the table. I yelled loudly in his direction to give me the button, to which he replied, 'Just deal me out'.

I grumbled and threw the kill button(upside down) and began my deal. Another player got it back. And of course, every time a hand ended, seat 10 said, "Button's in seat x"

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

I always try and pull in the calls when I can. I even do this when the Big Blind has the option to raise. I find the game moves a lot faster that way and eveyone knows exactly how much they owe.

Also, there's psychology involved: Tell someone he owes $15 total and maybe that sounds like a lot to him; tell him he owes $11 more on top of his $4 straddle, and it sounds less and maybe he is a little more likely to make the call. It also reminds them very subtly that they already have money in the pot.

More chips pushed to a player increases the chances of me getting more chips in my box.

I also like to say "call" very clearly and loud enough for the table to hear when someone calls a raise for the same reason: If someone sees that there are callers they might be more likely to feel priced into a call. That call makes other players more likely to join the party and all puts more money into the pot.

Anyone else say or do anything in the box that might help create more action but doesn't actually encourage it?