If you're sitting on seat 9 as the BTN, the hand has just finished and you need to pass the button over to seat 1, how do you do it?

I see some people throw it over the dealer's head but sometimes they get told off for that. I see other people roll it sideways but that takes some serious skill to get right.

How do you pass the button over from seat 9 to seat 1?

You don't. You let the dealer move the button (from any seat).

The method most often used while I'm dealing:
1) Wait until I reach to grab it. Just before I get it, pull it out from under my hand.
2) Attempt to roll it across the table.
3) When it reaches the 3 seat, have that person roll it back.
4) Pick it up off the floor, place it directly in front of dealer.
5) Have the dealer move it the rest of the way.

Seriously, don't ever move the button unless it's out of the dealer's reach. Unless the dealer has very short arms or the table is very large, it's usually not out of their reach unless someone had previously moved it for them and placed it too far away.

I've encountered approximately zero (rounded up) dealers that appreciate player assistance with moving the button.

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I hate it when people do it without letting me know. If they get my attention while moving it that's fine by me, although it kind of defeats the purpose because I could have easily moved it myself at that point. I deal a very small game not in a casino so it's not a big issue even if the button ends up wrong.

Are you trying to find new ways to anger your dealers?

When I want to pass the button from Seat 9 to Seat 1, I always take the button, throw it into the air, and then stand up and bounce it off my forehead over to Seat 1.

That being said, I've never wanted to pass the button from seat 9 to Seat 1 so I've never gotten a chance to try it.

Bank it off of Seat 5's stack is the standard beginners method.

But the true pro move is similar to the massé shot in billiards. But since you are obviously an amateur in such things, I would advise against it. You will probably end up with the button on the next table and a hole in the felt.

Sometimes I grab the button and move it one to the left and say loudly "Button move". I'm sure I'm not being helpful, you should just let the dealer move the button...

Unless you pick it up and try to throw it completely across the casino because you want a break from playing at that particular place then I recommend this...

I am a good player who always likes to help the dealer. I will move the button, but I don't want to disturb the concentration, so I don't say anything. I will consolidate the blinds at one end of the table in front of one person, so that it is easier for them to scoop up. And I will always make change for players, even though there will be enough in the pot to make change, because I am sure that I can do it faster and with less confusion than the dealer.

Bounce it off the opposite rail at an angle like a billiard ball shot.

Whatever you do, if somehow you move the button perfectly, you should rip off your shirt, run circles around the table, and yell "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL !"

Don't be a selfish button mover. Rather than take the tough shot from the corner, do a quick slide pass to seat six, who then slides it to seat three because the pot and muck is still in his way, and then seat three brings it home to seat one as he has a better angle and no one is expecting it from that direction. Don't force it yourself. Be a team player.

You didn't know that's why you're so eager to help.

No one does.

I wait til the deck mate opens up then chuck the button in there.

Why wait? Put it on top so it gets flung into Seat 6's face.

The best thing about doing little things to help the dealer, like...

- moving the button for them
- making your own change from other player's bets
- pointing out when a possible straight or flush is on the board

... is that you don't have to feel obligated to tip the dealer at the end of the hand when you scoop a nice pot. After all, you've contributed enough to make the dealer's job easier so they're already ahead just by having you at their table.

If no one touches the button, it's always right. It's like the passenger shifting my car for me while I'm driving. It's such a normal automatic part of what I'm doing that I have to go out of my way to fit this new thing into my procedure. If I have to use conscious thought now where it was automatic and "muscle memory" before, it's actually more disruptive (I only mention this because you say you're doing it in an effort not to 'disturb the concentration'). Now I have to let the passenger shift because I'm the jerk if I tell them that they're not actually helping all that much and it's not necessary.

Pushing bets in that I'm already reaching for unless they are genuinely going to be hard to reach is annoying. Also, if you're flinging in bets from the right side of the table while I'm scooping up the bets from the left side of the table, it's very likely that it's barely in my peripheral vision and now I may not know 100% that all the bets were correct or from the right people, etc. Other times, if I'm already pushing my arm toward scooping chips, now I have to recoil backwards to avoid getting stabbed by your disgustingly long nails. Very likely I already had the trajectory and force necessary to scoop them up and now I have to pump the brakes.


When you make change for someone and I already have the change in the pot, I very often have already done the calculations and know exactly what to grab to make the change very quickly. If you did this while I was on the other side of the table, now I have to pause to figure out why I had 1375 in change ready to be passed out because when I turned back, the 5K chip is gone.

(that last one is very minor and I highly value the moments when players make change when I actually need it and was about to ask for it)




Look, I know I sound unappreciative and like a total jerk and there's not really a nice way to tell someone that's trying to be helpful that it's not necessary. It IS appreciated on a human level and it is definitely the thought that counts. It's just not always as helpful as you think.


*edit* lol I really do sound like an ass. Sorry guys =P

LC- what you say is likely what almost all dealers think, but I think spewing was being sarcastic in his comments.

I think dealers really appreciate the help I offer. Like when I see them trying to figure out side pots, I help by shouting at them a different way of divvying it up. I have to shout, because there are already two other players offering advice, but my advice is the best, so I need to make sure the dealer hears me so that I can help him. I think it really helps the dealer, trying to maintain their train of thought, to have a bunch of different numbers shouted at them.

**** I thought you might be trolling. I suck. That's what I get for being up for 28 hours...Carry on everyone. lol @ me

Don't move the button unless the dealer is short and she has trouble reaching to the far end seats. If you do move the button, you should do it in sync with the dealer, don't move it when it's clear the dealer's not gonna notice and when you don't verbalize the button's good. Let the dealer stay in their groove.

Some players, after they have folded their button, will move the button one seat to the right. This gives them a chance at the button 2 hands in a row if nobody id paying attention.

Better watch out or this will get moved to Low Content/Breakroom ...

If I move the Button I always keep my hand/finger on it until the Dealer acknowledges the move.

I have occasionally rolled the Button from 9/10 to 1, but typically there's a lot going on in the Dealer's area and it actually slows things down if/when the Button comes strolling through, probably hitting either chips or cards along the way. GL