"If you did throw it out there, you threw it in front of someone else." is one of my go-to lines when I'm certain the person I'm talking to is the person that didn't ante.

bolt2112, Motierre, Riverine, atrainpsu, AKQJ10, and Reducto, thanks for the responses about calculating pot-limit bet and pot sizes, that was helpful. I definitely need to just spend a couple of hourse drilling myself on some of the common numbers and some made up scenarios, and I am sure that will help a lot.

(Sorry I wasn't online yesterday afternoon/evening to respond. I usually don't post and run.)

Oh, and thanks YTF for the pro tip.

Happy Day! I just found out that a high-roller who everyone in the casino hated (except the owners) got perma=banned while I was on vacation.

Then I made a correct ruling that went against one of our most annoying players and he stormed off swearing and saying that he's never coming back.

Unfortunately I'm sure he'll be back by Friday.

Just meet him as he comes in on Friday and tell him he isn't allowed in because "Verbal is binding"

He actually came back today. I was tempted to kick him out immediately for his language.

Looks like I am actually going to go to dealer school next week. I have never dealt professionally, just a lot of bar poker. The emphasis of this school is WSOP prep and that is what I expect to be doing over at least the next year or so. After two circuits I may decide I don't enjoy it (or that I am not good at it) but I am pretty stoked that finally I am going to find out.

I'm a little older than most dealers....I don't come across as older but I have a few typical age-related challenges. Vision not great but should be fine from the box. Some difficulty hearing when there is a lot of background noise. And just not as mentally sharp as I was 30 years ago. But I think I am still able to be accurate and fast.

Time for a new challenge/experience!

My hearing is pretty bad, especially on one side. Have fun with it. First time someone mutters something as they toss in a single chip, cup your ear, lean towards them, and hit 'em with an extra loud, "EH????"

Second time: "Look, fellas, if this is a hearing test, I'm gonna fail it, every single time."

Somewhere along the way, someone will suggest this communication failure is all your fault. I tell them defensively, "I can hear you guys just fine--until it's your turn to act. Then, the volume cuts out." Usually, within five seconds, someone will mutter an action, and I follow up with, "See what I mean?"

Guy I work with is completely deaf in one ear. I don't know how he does it, or how it doesn't drive him cukoo. But he's a really laid-back guy, nothing seems to bother him, not even this.

Some time ago I went for a full hearing test. I find myself struggling to hear at work. I was positive that the test would show some level of hearing loss even if their was nothing that could be done about it.

I was surprised to be told that my hearing was within normal ranges a Ross all tested frequencies.

As a result when I can't them make a bet ... I know it's not me ... I've been tested.

Once worked for a floorman who loved telling players who didn't like his ruling, "If you had announced your action even HALF as loudly as you're speaking now, none of this would have ever happened."

It is very hot in the poker room this week.

An omaha player brought in a small portable fan and pointed it at the dealer.

Yes. I said an omaha player did something nice.

Is the world ending?

He was trying to blow smoke at the dealer

This sounds dumb but after so many years of only doing minimal mental math, as part of my dealer training I installed a "speed math" app on my phone. I've been drilling myself on very simple addition and subtraction problems. I am getting faster, of course, and I think this is going to be good for retraining my brain to do math, in general. Soon I will start doing the next level with multiplication and division. That will be perfect to "tune me up" for doing pot limit games.

I've had to learn to count by 8's and 12's, dealing $8-16 with a half-kill.

How do you count by 12 if you only have 10 fingers? Or do they let you deal with your shoes off?

Do you have more games than normal?

Your O8 players don't nicely stack all their bets side by side?

This is how I did it. A little before I dealt poker.

Fixed.

Schoolhouse Rock is the best.

This is another pretty good training video to help keep track of the bet sizes.

Yeah, old school Sesame Street was great.

From across the room, I see players getting agitated about a floor ruling. At this time, I don't know the details.

A short time later, I'm sent to that table. During my down, the Shift boss comes over to speak with one of the players about the ruling. He's seen the video, and wants to explain to the aggrieved player exactly what happened.

The story hasn't even started yet, but I'm already thinking, "This is a player who always sits next to the dealer, and never protects his cards. This guy is the worst player I've ever seen at paying attention to the hand in play. I have to rouse him from his phone, or from the game on tv, or the horse race, or conversation, or SOMETHING, every single time it's his turn to act. If he were allowed to play poker with his back to the table, he would do it. I just can't find the words to describe how Beyond The Pale he is with this."

So now I hear the story. It seems he's sitting to the dealer's right. He's got his cards so far out and to his left that they are practically in front of the drop-slide. He has a chip on his cards. When the action gets to him, he removes the chip, and the dealer quickly mucks his hand. To be fair, he never slid them forward or did anything to signal a fold, he only removed the chip (for reasons no one can articulate, but whatevs).

He's furious, other players are equally outraged. The Shift Boss is involved now, and is telling the players for ten minutes exactly what happened (there were discrepencies in their accounts of the incident when the floor was called), and the over-riding theme was how the dealer had mishandled things.

I'm biting my lip. I didn't see what happened, but I know this player. You keep telling him the dealer is supposed to look after his interests, and he'll keep wandering blindly into traffic. My blood is boiling.

The discussion raps up, with promises of comps and the players chilled out...and as he rises to leave, the floor closes with, "Now having said all that--protect your hand."

"FINALLY!!!!", I blurt, WAAAAY too loudly. It's my opinion that THAT should have been 98% of the discussion, not 2%. But at least it got a mention.

That's the world we live in now. Proceed accordingly.

(To be clear, this Shift Boss knows his stuff. He's an old-school stickler. If HE'S telling players this, there's been a shift in the business model. This player is a good customer you want to keep happy. I can understand that. But I don't have to LIKE the fact that I might be the next dealer thrown under the bus in the name of keeping a player happy.)

How do the rest of you react when a player reaches over and grabs the top of the stub to rabbit hunt after a hand?

Muck the stub so they can't.

Smash his hand. It's even better if you have an icepick.

I don't do that any more. I drop the stub prematurely 100x more often than players try to rabbit.

Reminds me of one that just happened, can't believe I forgot to post it. No, I didn't smash anything...but I did have to lay hands on a player reaching where he shouldn't.

I've got an Assistant Dealer sitting across from me in the 5-seat. AND he's stiffing me the whole down. Now I could deal with one or the other, but the sum was greater than the parts, and i've got a short fuse because of it.

I need to push a pretty large pot to the 4-seat. This pot includes a few stacked bets that i didn't knock over. My self-appointed assistant reaches into the pot, his thumb and fingers extended like a lobster, to grab one of these stacks. His body is already leaning towards the 4-seat, signaling his intent to help me push this pot.

Normally, when someone reaches into the pot (like after they accidently splashed a single chip from their bet, and they thoughtlessly reach in to correct themself), my move is to parry their hand away from the pot, using my forearm under their wrist and lifting away from the tabletop. Their eyes go wide that someone has dared to touch them, but only for a second, as they come to realize how out-of-line they are to be reaching into the pot in a casino that has procedures in place.

That's my *normal* move--but Lobster Boy is sliding his thumb along the felt, intending to grab the bottom chip of a stack. I *can't* get under his wrist.

So I attack from above. I grab his wrist, FIRMLY. I don't parry anything. I stop him cold, and keep him there for a few awkward moments, to let him reflect on his actions. Caught by surprise, he is powerless to resist.

Calmly, I tell him, "I got this," and release his wrist.

I push the pot, and await the blowback. This is not the most defensible thing I've ever done. But the kid didn't say boo, and the game continued without incident.

I don't post this story because I'm proud of it. And it wasn't his stiffing or his presumption that I needed his help that had my fuse so short--my teenage son died unexpectedly a few weeks ago, and I returned to work WAY too soon, eager to get back to a routine and to have something to take my mind off things, a reason to get out of bed and get dressed.

I've let a lot of stuff go as a dealer, the past few weeks. Now when a man bravely calls a woman a terrible player, I no longer remind him of manners and sportsmanship. I know if I get involved these days, I won't be able to keep my emotions in check. She knew when she walked in here that she was going to have to spend time at a table with poker players, and that this is exactly how they behave. She's on her own for a while.

But a guy reaching into the pot to grab a stack of chips is something that I CAN'T "let go".

Oh well. At least I didn't "smash his hand".