We don't have chip runners (and at the time this happened didn't have a cage, buy-in at the table dropped table game style). We change over boxes sometime between midnight-4am. Game has been going all night. I come in 2 the next afternoon look at the table data sheet, fills + buy-ins seem to balance out.

Walk around to the other side of the table about to do something else and I see a $100 bill on the floor. Normally I'd just say to the guys sitting by it 'hey did you drop something?' but something didn't feel quite right. The guy is in seat 11, tight where the cash drop box is. Or at least where it should be. I see that what looked at first glance to be a single bill actually a mountain of cash (about 3k, 20-40limit Omaha natch). During rollover they forgot to put in the new box! D'oh

Oh boy.

Hell yeah I dropped something. Here's a hundo for letting me know brotha. Oh, would you look at the time!

I don't mind, though I hope it isn't against a forum rule...

Charles Town, WV (right when they added table games to the already existing slots)

Quick question for you poker dealing veterans...

What was the best, worst, or funniest thing that happened to you either on your first shift in the box. Or, in the first couple of days dealing live poker?

-MZo

I was fresh out of dealer school and nobody was hiring dealers so I took a job as a chip runner. I was working graveyard shift and I was always pestering the shift manager to let me have a down pitching cards. The graveyard was (and still is) more low-key than any other shift, so one morning he granted my wish. We had 2 games going at around 7 AM and 3 dealers on shift. The 3rd dealer was off on break enjoying a smoke or sitting in the EDR and the 2-4 limit players showed up a little bit early that morning so I got to open the table.

Keep in mind, these were all senior citizens, all very friendly, and all regulars in the room. On any given morning, out of 9 players at the table, I would probably know at least 8 of their names.

One of the supervisors stayed, standing behind me, just to make sure I didn't screw anything up too badly. I'd already passed my audition in dealer school and I'd been around poker tables for years as a player. But I absolutely froze now that this was the real thing. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to deal in clockwise or counter-clockwise order. I'm positive I had the muck on the wrong side of the table. And I had absolutely no clue regarding which hand was the winner when the cards were tabled.

About a month later I got a chance to be a dealer at another casino and I was sent to my first table (my second table ever) and nobody supervised me. I was just thrown to the wolves. The down went off without a hitch.

A story I've told here several times before, about not being familiar with the rule that required me to keep dealing to a stud player who had folded to a check, was one of my first days on the job. Might have even been Day One, who knows, it was a long time ago.

If you don't know the story, everyone checked, one guy folded and left the table. When I pitched the next round, the players stopped me, and told me that I'm to keep pitching cards to that seat until someone bets. I thought they were having fun with the new break-in dealer, I didn't believe them. The floor was called, who assured me that the players were correct.

The hand got checked down on every street. On 7th street, I dealt a down card to this phantom hand, and they again howled that no no no, you don't give him a DOWN card, only UP cards. Now they MUST be pulling my leg, I thought...but no, they weren't.

What a dumb game.

EDIT: Just re-read this, and it doesn't sound all that funny. To be clear, it was my reactions to this nonsense that made the hand memorable for folks. I couldn't believe any game could have a rule that dumb.

I was in a game once where a chip runner was given a chance to deal, with a floorman literally standing over her. She was so nervous she was shaking.

"Don't worry," I assured her. "You can't possibly make a mistake, with 9 of us here to catch you!"

I've dealt a bit of stud and didn't know that one. I've never run into it. I did once deal 7th street up in a tournament because both players were already all in and it had to be turned up anyway. I still don't understand why players freak out about that but boy do they!

My first day dealing actually went really well considering the high level of difficulty. I'd played for a few years before this but only NLH. My first down ever - 5-10 PLO. Second down? 75-150 Omaha/8. Then Stud/8, then O8 again. I don't remember much but I survived. I didn't have my first trainwreck down until a few days later dealing a NLH tournament. Just before the flop while I was beginning to say "4 players" someone loudly blurts out "Dealer, how many players?!" "4 players". Someone else - "How many players?" I recount and say "4 players". Someone else - "Are there 4 players?" "yes." "It's 4 players right?"

I stop answering and put a flop out. 4 cards emerge. As I'm waiting for the floor to come I say that I'm not sure how it happened because I only remember pulling 3 cards off the deck. A player says no, you pulled 4 times. I guess I got the number 4 stuck in my head. I asked him why he didn't say anything and he said he wanted to see what would happen. Everything went wrong after that. I was giving people the wrong change, misreading the board, all the usual stuff crammed into one down. The next table I was fine again.

One of my first 3 or 4 downs dealing I'm dealing the early levels of the nightly tournament.

2 or 3 tables in front of me is the middle stages of an earlier tournament. Seat 10 goes all in, at least 1 person calls but seat 10s cards end up in the muck somehow. Lots of yelling ensues while the dealer apologizes and the floor rules that it sucks but seat 10 is out of the tournament, but either a refund or a free buy in tomorrow is on the house. More yelling that stops when a second floor comes over to affirm or change that decision.

After that floor says the decision stands and floor number 2 and someone at the table who is not seat 10 is so mad that they end up throwing punches.

Did that happen in the same hand?

Yes.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure. It was def the same table, almost certainly the same down. I guess it's possible it was not the same hand, and you needed to be summoned for the rulings on different hands.

One (well 2) of the few floor calls I remember.

I know that rule in Stud! I know a bunch of arcane stud rules for some reason. One of the rules I know came up while dealing. On 7th Street I recounted in my head the cards and I was pretty sure if nobody dropped that the last card in the stub would have been put into play and since we cannot do that, there would be a community card.

I wanted to be sure so when everyone checked through I explained to the table that I thought we didn't have enough cards so I thumbed through them without exposing any and sure enough my count was right.

I announced to the table that I didn't have enough cards for 7th Street and put out the community card. The whole table, grizzled stud veterans, were awed that I got it right.

One of my proudest moments as a poker dealer!

Not the ruling I would have made.

See: Burns, Shuffle the

Sometimes there aren't enough cards even if you shuffle in the burn cards. You still have to have enough cards to burn one at the beginning and have one card left in the stub at the end.

Generally this only comes up in poker auditions.

I think this rule is room dependent for Stud. In our room, if you don't have (number of players + 2) before dealing 7th street, you shuffle the burns in with the stub. If you still don't have enough cards, then you burn and turn a community card.

As this was left out of the original story, I presumed it was not considered, which is why I suggested it.

Most likely another case of me being presumptuous.

I was having such a good night tonight. A nice chunk of change in 3.5 hours and then I got pushed out! Damn it. Slow night tonight I guess, first time it's happened this quickly since I got hired. Usually 8 hours, at the minimum six. I was caught off guard. Was ready to put in a full 8 hours and make some rent money.

My second day dealing, and my first table of 3-6 O8, I had just taken my seat, and just begun to count the well when over the PA came the announcement calling the names of players to open a 6-12 O8 game. Four players at my table got up to go to that game. An old player, without any hint of humor or sarcasm in his voice, said "they're leaving because you're taking so long to count the well". I sort of chuckled to myself and thought that all the stories I had read on TPT about Omaha players being a special breed were indeed correct.

LOL yes indeed Omaha players are very special.

Looks at the player...

"Shoot, I just lost count."

Funny you mentioned that. At first I was too new and struggling to respond; usually I just tried to ignore them. As I got my feet under me a little bit, and some advice from other dealers about how they were testing me to see if I would "fight back" so to speak, I decided to give it a try. So another curmudgeon player asked me "what takes you so long to count the well?" as soon as I started to count. I replied "having to start over when people ask me questions while I'm counting". That was the last comment I got while counting the well from that group.

That's awesome.

Our most annoying, stiffest O/8 player had never said a word to me. This guy never passes up a chance to push buttons, he's one of THOSE guys...but he always left me alone. Maybe he knew I wouldn't take his ****, or maybe I just never gave him a chance to complain about me, who knows, who cares...

But last week, as I'm pushing out, I thank the players and take my leave, and he cracks sarcastically, "Thanks for the rush!" He hadn't dragged a single chip during my down, got rivered a bunch, because O/8.

"Play better, what do you want from me?", I replied without breaking stride.

He went bananas. I didn't stay and listen to it, but he chirped his outrage for several minutes. He tried to be loud enough that I could hear him from the next table while I waited to push in. He was especially loud when he told his dealer, "He's got $100 in chips coming--that last dealer was supposed to tell you that, but he was too busy smarting off!"

That's fair. Or, I was distracted by some jackass. Either way.

A few nights later, this guy is playing when I push into the game. He tells another player, "You know what this dealer said to me the other night? 'Play better!' Can you imagine the nerve?"

I took the bait, because dealing is boring. "Is that how it happened? You were sitting there, minding your own business, when I suddenly turned on you?" He made it clear that he was not listening, nor interested in my version, by scowling, shaking his head, and making puppet motions with his hand: the thumb acts as the lower jaw, the fingers the upper, the universal signal for "blah blah blah, whatever."

I didn't care, I had addressed the accusation, but I wasn't going to get bogged down in this nonsense.

Props to this guy, tho: when the game stopped because a doddering old man had announced, "I'm $100 behind," when I started pitching, then discovered his wallet had <$100 and he wouldn't act until he had plumbed the very depths of his wallet, Grumpy Stiff expressed his annoyance with a pithy, "Deal better!" I lol'd, a good line is a good line. He seemed impressed that I took it so well, like when you hit somebody and he doesn't go down and you think, "Oh man, this guy isn't like the others, this isn't going to be so easy."

The third act of this tragedy was this past weekend. I pushed him a pot, got my usual $0. Instead, he turned to the reg next to him: "Hey Joe, you know what this dealer told me the other night? 'Play better!' Can you believe that?"

"Really?", Joe replied. "Wow." Joe didn't give a single ****, lol.

Again, I stupidly felt the need to not let this one-sided account go unchallenged. "Joe, have I ever told YOU to play better?" Joe could not think of an occasion where such an exchange occurred. Angry Stiff again expressed shock that I would dare to double down on my position, so I interrupted him with, "Because Joe leaves ME alone, and I leave HIM alone, if I have to spell it out for you!"

Angry Stiff: Doesn't seem smart to me, tho, to smart off to customers when you work for tips.

YTF: Are we talking about customers who tip? Or are we talking about YOU?

I guess O/8 players would rather discuss politics and racism than tipping. When I sensed that no one found that funny, I STFU.

But I don't care if I ever say another word about this again. I don't get to call out stiffs very often (read: never), so even if it was dumb, it still felt good.