Yea when I played, I felt the person playing was just juicing up pots with straddles etc and making more action. I wouldn’t say I was against it etc .... just odd bc I’ve never seen a dealer in the Northeast playing at a home casino bc like another person said.... their are rules against it.

I gotta admit. It makes being a dealer more attractive in Vegas because they can play tournaments at their home casino. I couldn’t imagine being a dealer and playing poker in your off time as it’s similar to what you do for your job.

Well, if you subscribe to popular forum lore - poker dealers are the worst players at any given table - UNLESS they are posters on 2P2...

This was like 3 years ago, but at the Orleans (in Vegas) an Orleans dealer won the BBJ. This led to dealers being banned from playing there. (Not sure if this went into effect at other boyd casinos as well). I also don't even know if this is still the case at the Orleans. It may have just been a temporary measure until things "cooled off" for lack of a better term. The same guy who told me this story also said that dealer got like 10k and blew it all around vegas over the next few days lol.

In keeping with the Statistical anomaly that while around 80% of all poker players are losing players, 100% of two plus two posters are crushers

Also every poker player thinks they are super unlucky. Not me of course, I legit run terrible and have many interesting bad beat stories to prove it. The other people are just delusional though.

We can't play at any of our properties, and need to register when we enter (with management approval).

The other players where we can play generally know us, and the dealer will definitely point it out.

Honestly, we're generally not good players. But if you ever get an invite to an employee home game, do it. And tip bigger than you would at the casino.

As far as employees winning Promos I've seen it both ways. I've never seen them ineligible for BBJ or HH. But I have seen them left out in 'raffles' or freeroll events.

We did have a 10 hour raffle based on tickets previously earned and some Dealers had their tickets pulled .. but they were dealing at that time and had to forfeit their prize. Of course once they were off work and playing they didn't have a ticket pulled.

It comes down to the language in the Promo of course. I do not believe I've run across an employee winning a casino-wide drawing for cash or prizes even though they can play slots all they want to earn those tickets. GL

At my property before the poker room closed (SoCal) we could play poker showing our badges but were ineligible for any promotions/jackpots

At my casino you were jackpot eligible... but that’s it. No high hands or drawings.

My Casino seems a bit different. While employees are allowed to play and are eligible for all promotions, the majority of dealers that sit in a game are former props and are pretty good.

The one thing I hate is when a dealer changes seats to get position on me. That pisses me off and I generally shut down and leave (don't play angry). I also stop tipping them when they're in the box.

Do you leave if another player moves to get position on you, or is it just dealer-players?

Perhaps I overstated that. However, if someone skilled changes seats to get position, it changes the table dynamic and I'll do something about it, including leaving. However, when a dealer does it, they're using money I contributed to them to beat me and I don't like that, it pisses me off. Am I being unreasonable? Probably.

This happens to me when I play against people that own me money. When I play against a dealer I just consider him another player, even if I contributed with tips that are part of his stack. Maybe I'll get a chance to get my money back.

The changing seats thing is kind of rude, I think twice about changing seats myself. I take into account if the person might be offended. Most of the time when I want to change seats its because I want advantage on a player that I want to keep happy playing at the table. I don't want him to be upset and leave. So I expect other to have the same consideration with me. To be honest, I don't think that most people think twice about changing seats not.to upset me so thats poker I think.

I think it is unreasonable to view it as the dealer using "your" money against him, anymore than if you were playing against a salesman who sold you your car and got upset if he was actively trying to beat you with "your" money. But the fact is many players sort of instinctively feel that way, which is why I feel awkward playing against regs even when at a different room. To me, it just creates a weird dynamic.

I can't remember which casino it was, but I have definitely played somewhere where the shills/props/off-duty dealers were not allowed to seat change.

Shills/props should certainly not be allowed to do anything that might be considered predatory.

it just seems like it's setting up situations that are super shitty

a floor/TD loses some money to a player. sometime later the floor/TD makes a ruling against that player could be viewed as retaliation

i'm sure there are many other situations that could happen, that was just off the top of my head.

I may not like it when a casino employee jockeys for position, but a prop is playing his own money (and usually getting paid well for it) and may do as he pleases. However, a shill, which is rare in California, by definition, plays house money. So, if a shill jockeyed for position on me, it would piss me off worse than a dealer doing it.

Subtle differences, perhaps. But substantial nonetheless.

Not the same thing, but some years ago I was in a game with a prop and the owner of the cardroom. It was checked to me and I bet. The prop paused and suddenly the owner mucked his hand and left the table. The prop saw this and then raised. I was stunned.

I sat there in disbelief for a few minutes not believing what just happened before folding, cashing out and never coming back.

Whether it is ethical and whether it is good policy to prohibit it are separate questions. There is no ethical problem with dealers, floors, or other staff playing in the games so long as the employee does not reasonably believe she will receive favoritism, and she will reject any unfair advantage someone tries to afford her.

Nevertheless, it may still be good policy to prohibit it because it creates opportunities for favoritism and an appearance of impropriety.

I have seen it in Vegas where I have played with a dealer either before or after their shift at the same casino. As others have said, I don't think it is a great idea to do that when there are plenty of other rooms to play in. I mean, why would you rather play at the casino that you work at instead of one next door unless you feel like you can receive some favoritism? I would understand it if it was the only casino in town or if you play PLO and only a certain casino runs it, but I have always been sitting with dealers playing 1/2 or 1/3 pre or post shift.

Specifically for Vegas, it’s probably convenience. The same reason why you pick up food on the way home from a place that’s on the route and not a 20min detour.

“Next door” in Vegas usually means at least a 10-15min walk, except for the Aria and Bellagio poker rooms I guess. And as a dealer who parked at their place of work, they have to move their car, potentially don’t even get free parking at the other place or have to walk both directions. That’s just a lot of effort if you just want to play 1-2 hours to decompress.

What I don’t understand is dealers who play at their place of work on their off days. Aren’t you there often enough?

We do it for the brownie points.

There is one good (for the dealer) reason to sit in a game after a shift. If he knows the game is good and also knows how the people he's joining plays - having gotten that information while dealing. Granted, that only applies to a small number of dealers, but there are a few.

Example 1: Off duty dealer bets 30. Drunk guy tosses in 35 and the dealer very quickly grabs it and shoves it into the pot. Normally that dealer is very meticulous and clearly counts out every bet to demonstrate it's correct. I'm left feeling like it was done on purpose to help out his friend even though it could have just been a mistake.

Example 2: Off duty dealer calls a preflop raise along with several others. Someone on the other side of the table reraises. ODD pulls his money back and mucks while dealer is working with the other side of the table. Dealer catches it, ODD laughs and said he was just kidding. 15 minutes later it happens again. If a random player pulls this there's no way they get away with it. The floor was never called. I switch tables to get away from him. Later on he follows me over, buying in for max. During a hand he sneaks more money onto the table. I'm the only one at the table with more than the max at that time, so it's hard not to take it personally. I don't know if he was disciplined at all but he continued to work there and I've seen him playing since then.

Example 3: ODD in their own room seem much more likely to take extended breaks away from the table, like 30+ minutes. I don't know if they're avoiding specific dealers they don't like or what. If the table is already short this can be a problem.

Example 4: I have seen several dealers sneak peeks at hole cards before mucking them. If they're doing that AND playing in the games it's a problem and I don't want to have to keep an eye out for this while I'm playing.

Whether a dealer plans to play or not after his shift, he should never sneak peeks at cards he's about to muck.