There are 3-4 dealers where I usually play who are not very good - slow with actually pitching the cards and not really engaged in the hands to keep the action moving. One has been there a few months and is still painfully slow. Most of them have been around for a while with no improvement. Does the poker room not care much as long as they show up for work and are semi-competent? Do they ever get performance reviews and are instructed what to work on? Would players giving feedback to poker room manager help?

All depends on the joint.

There are a lot of places that the evaluations consist of things like "do they smile?" I have seen a few evaluations where the evaluator does not have the experience or knowledge to evaluate poker dealers.

Poker dealers don't get evaluations or merit raises in my room. When I asked my boss about it, he jokingly said, "You're doing a good job. If you want a raise, deal faster."

If you have a problem with a dealer, you should bring it up with the room's manager or head person because the players are the only ones watching the dealers consistently. Just one report won't do anything but if multiple people speak up, something will be done. You don't have to worry about getting someone fired. What is more likely to happen is someone will sit down with the dealer and fix whatever issue they have.

If only...

Perhaps you have a well run room, but it seems to me if management can’t even properly train someone they certainly aren’t going to support them after the fact. And if the OP is just hoping to improve someone’s speed and demeanor then consider yourself lucky. The bottom 3 dealers at my home casino are so slow and make so many mistakes it puts me on mega tilt. I can weather the sickest beats, but I have to take a break when I see certain people push in. One dealer got 5 hands in a down at 1/2 PLO this weekend.

I live in California, depending on the venue they're not always great. I've seen dealers toss cards where if someone was short or slouching in their seat they can see the cards. It's worse because it's always crowded, but I'll leave a table when a dealer does it.

Then they ask why you left, and I'll tell them the cards were being dealt too low but they don't seem to care at some places. The ones that do are fun, but those are usually over a 3 hour drive.

Talk to the lead dealer or DC. That's the only way to get people to stop sucking.

Depends on the room. Most will correct a dealer if they find they're doing something wrong, but many will do nothing for general suckiness other than talk about them behind their back. If they get better it's usually a combination of them putting in effort and other dealers helping them.

Keep in mind there may be a probationary period where they're much easier to fire. Where I am it's 3 months, though it likely varies. If someone is really bad, try to bring it up to the room manager at around the 2 month point. That gives them a couple months to get better and leaves time for the manager to watch them and decide what to do.

TBF, 5 hands at 1/2 PLO isn't terrible. You guys are the worst to deal to.

Generally it takes several players (and management knows if you're gaming the system with your buddies) before more than a quick word is said IME.

Stiff the bad ones is probably your best option.

I've never heard of a merit raise. You ever hear the joke: what do you call the doctor who graduated last in her class? Doctor.

The cards are being dealt too low?

too high

Don't get me started on major league quotes... Classic!

They had to pick up the pot and cut out the chips to count ‘pot’.

My chief complaint is about the ones who talk incessantly and prefer talkie talk to worky work.

Yes dealers get performance reviews in my room. They should everywhere but I guess it depends. As others have said, the majority of the instruction, once they are at least competent, goes towards getting more hands out. But I have personally given hundreds of helpful tips of advice to my dealers that are on the bottom of the food chain. But admittedly it takes a LOT to cause a manager to let a dealer go based on his or her skill level. If he shows up on time, gives out good customer service, and doesn't cause problems, we will work with him on how to be a better dealer. Eventually, if they just aren't succeeding, they will know it and leave on their own.

As a manager, I always welcome input from regular players on things that my dealers can improve on. Players see the evidence a whole lot more than I can.

There was this one dealer at my local Casino. This was at a Casino mind you, not a local game. He used to talk to the players and encourage what action he thought they should do. He'd say things like "you going to fold again honey?" to female players as he stuck out two fingers and moved them towards his palm as if to signal it was time to fold.

The Dealers in our casino most definitely get reviews ... and stats to back up a portion of the evaluation. The system keeps track of rake drops per down to develop a hand per hour statistic. Some Dealers even delay swiping in until their first deal is out in order to put that time on the previous Dealer!! If the Dealer has yet to swipe in at the next table or is brush/break then it is an effective way to shave time at someone else's expense.

I can't say that anyone has been removed due to 'stats', but I do know that it's important to the Dealers to where it affects their demeanor at keeping hand moving along. GL

We tell our dealers to swipe in while they are waiting to tap in, then hit the button as soon as they sit down. Once they get in that habit it's pretty smooth.

We have had a couple instances of dealers inflating their hand count by tapping the sensor with their pinky in the middle of a hand. Didn't lead to termination but almost.

Most casino dealers would get performance reviews if they deal other games, generally. As far as poker goes, most casinos really don't give a damn so long as you're eating there and killing time on dice or BJ. There's a reason why lots of casinos are outright hostile to the game and are removing rooms.

Dealers are incentivized to deal as fast as they can and do so as professionally and courteously as possible if they receive tips from the players. I don't see what reason your system has for existing unless the dealers aren't getting tipped.

FWIW my dealers get performance reviews annually.

The room doesn't care if the dealer gets tipped, but they do want to be maximizing rake. If someone is getting in 5 less hands per down the room is bringing in less money. If the average pot has $2 taken out it is $20/hr, if average pot has $3 taken out, $30/hr, etc...