Quote:
Originally Posted by venice10
1. Agreed.
2. Nobody is saying that dealers shouldn't speak. If asked a question, of course they should answer. However, this should not be interpreted by the dealer as an open invitation to give a 5 minute monolog. "I really like the Italian place and their veal parm. That's my favorite meal at that casino" is a good answer. Responding like a judge on "Top Chef" and going through each restaurant and your opinion on the various dishes is overkill.
Conversations are two way streets. I can give a short, quick answer to a question then be faced with multiple followup questions that require thought. There are people who play poker for social reasons and they expect conversations to be more than just a 5 second question and answer. They want interaction. A dealer is there to deal cards, but also to make the customers happy.
Are there dealers who talk to much unnecessarily? Absolutely. I 100% agree with this. I am usually fairly forgiving of dealer errors knowing that there is more going on behind the scenes, but I can easily think of 5 dealers off of the top of my head that I would fire in a heartbeat because they talk too much unnecessarily and it slows the game. Give me a few minutes and I could think of 5 more.
There are lots of dealers who talk too much. I was just pointing out that part of a dealers job is customer service. There is much more than tossing cards. Dealers are first and foremost the people deal with in a customer service industry. Talking to customers is part of their job for better or worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by venice10
3. Disagree talking is for tourist places. I think it is more for places that have a regular clientele. In those places, the regulars do like be acknowledged. Gathering information should be done more by listening than speaking. If a player comes in every Thursday night and you've heard that he comes in after work, then saying "Welcome back Joey, how was work today," is far more acceptable question. Your goal should be to get them talking, not talking yourself. That's done through asking open ended questions, not closed ended ones like, "where are you from." Of course by that point, you should know whether they want you to say anything to them or not. I'm confident for every person that is listening to you entertain a player, several of them are thinking, "Shut up and deal."
Again. I think you are arguing against things I am NOT saying. I don't disagree with much if what you say. Why pretend I am.saying something different?
Dealers shouldn't dominate a conversation. However in tourist destinations they are dealing with players who are generally there to have fun. Fun means interactions.
It should also be noted that dealers work for tips (for better or worse, different conversation). You know who tips better than most in tourist destinations? People the dealer has a connection with. How is that connection made? Through conversation.
Don't get me wrong. A big game? Dealers make most of their money from being competent. Shut up and deal and move the chips as efficiently as possible. That earns the biggest tips in those games.
Every type of game is different and it is wrong to assume what you want out of a dealer is what everyone else wants. People want different things. A good dealer understands different games require different styles to make the most money.