Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Tracy
Anyone here know of any longtime dealers that are fish? Always blows my mind when a person who sees that many hands, player mannerisms, betting patterns, etc. plays like complete doodoo.
I would dealers – like any given group – cover the gamut of skill levels. Among dealers as a subset, there will be some good players, some break-even players, and a bunch of fish.
Yes, they have seen thousands of hours of poker, but they've also seen the entire spectrum of play. So how much are they really paying attention to "oh that was a great play" vs. "WTF did he do that for?" They are largely focused on their actual jobs, meaning they are less likely to expend any mental energy at evaluating or analyzing the play they see.
To me, the subpopulation of poker dealers is probably similar to the subpopulation of TV poker viewers. A few TV fans take a deep interest in what they're watching, study up on the game, and get good. A few more people have a moderate interest, may visit a poker resource or two (like 2+2), and get to the point where they are a favorite in a low-stakes game, but that's about it. But most learned everything the know about poker from HSP reruns. They see Tom Dwan run a big bluff, and think "that's all poker is!" then proceed to spew their entire stack to the 80-year-old rock who was never four-betting light.