I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

I used to be a regular poster on 2+2, but lately I've become more of a lurker than a poster. The last couple of weeks I've seen a trend of negativity towards poker dealers. As a poker dealer myself, I've been particularly disturbed by the bashing of poker dealers. Bigfishhead and Photoc are the most prominent Las Vegas Poker dealers that posts regularly and I usually enjoy reading what they say. I wanted to chime in my two cents of what being a poker dealer is all about and what I see from the box.

1) I work for a major Strip casino, but our poker room is small in comparsion to other huge casinos, so our major clientel are tourists with a sprinkle of locals. In generally many of these players are reasonable people who have a good time, so crap like dealer abuse, bad attitudes, and nits are little or non existent where I work. It makes the environment very pleasant to work at when you know the players are there to have fun.

2) Tipping: Listen, everyone who knows our job knows that tipping makes up for huge part of my income. When I first started dealing it used to bother me when I get stiffed on a 700 pot. BUt as I've gotten more experience getting stiff doesn't bother me much anymore. I figured in the long run the poker dealers make the same amount at the end of the year, so there's no sense of getting all worked out when someone stiffs ya on a $1,000 pot.

3) I take pride in my work. I'm always working on my dealing skills to make myself a better dealer, and fortunately I've gotten a lot of feedback from players saying they respect and like the way I deal, and how I can control a game.

4) I'm not a big talker in the box. It's my responsibility to make sure I give my game my full attention even when I'm at a table full of stiffs. but if it's a fun 3-6 game or a crazy 1-2 NL and they're talking to me, I'm not going to ignore them. I pretty much look at the table dynamics and go with the flow.

5) Finally I love my job!! I can't believe I didn't do this earlier. There's never two days the same. Everyday you sit with 10 different people with 10 different personalities and someone always happens that brings out some sort of genuinue emotions, where it's watching some young WPT Wannabee (dark sunglasses, REd Bull drinking, and iPod wearing) Donk off all their money on Q-High or watching two people fight over a 10 dollar pot.

And Finally to all the Young stallions WPT wannabees playing 1-2 NL...when you try to stare down an opponent for an eternity trying to get a read, 90% of the time you're usuall going to fold and I'm ready to drop the deck [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

That's my two cents from another Las Vegas Poker Dealer

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

post moved

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

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In generally many of these players are reasonable people who have a good time, so crap like dealer abuse, bad attitudes, and nits are little or non existent where I work.

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where it's watching some young WPT Wannabee (dark sunglasses, REd Bull drinking, and iPod wearing) Donk off all their money on Q-High or watching two people fight over a 10 dollar pot.

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[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

good post

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
And Finally to all the Young stallions WPT wannabees playing 1-2 NL...when you try to stare down an opponent for an eternity trying to get a read, facing a $10 call with $17 in the pot, 90% of the time you're usuall going to fold and I'm ready to drop the deck [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Thank you. When I play I always empathize w/ the dealers, how can they stand to be around all these annoying people all the time, hear the same comments, same jokes - how can they stand it. Not to mention the poker bums that stink to high heaven b/c they take a bath between 40 hour sessions.
Kudos to you buddy

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Okay, you guys an laugh but this happens much more than most people realize. Yesterday, Playing $2-4-4-8 at Ceasar's IN this young guy wearing sunglasses, waits until it is his turn, looks around, considers the action that has occurred, carefully looks at his hole cards (one at a time of course), looks back up considers what to do, then calls the two dollars. He plays almost every hand, at least 90% VPIP but goes through the exact rictual each and every hand.

After his fourth or fifth buy in he mentions that he is down $500 and then goes and rebuys again. We all assure him that the swings in holdem are extreme and you can't do anything when you aren't catching cards.

during the last buyin, he removes his sunglasses and folds a few hands on the turn. His chip stack grows a little (mainly after showing me a runner runner flush when we were heads up on the flop) but then the sunglasses are back on and he is busto again.

He seems like a really nice guy and I never get angry about his TV antics because it really entertaining to watch and he is not bad for the game. I like to play cards with him at the table. I have no idea what his real name is but I have nicknamed him Mike TV.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Hey balt - good post. I think that the negativity you sense towards most dealers is because from what you described - you are not like most dealers. Granted, there is a huge population of a-holes playing poker, at least some of the grief I have seen dealers get is valid. If I tip a dealer a buck I don't expect a huge acknowledgement or sign of gratitude. However, with a $5 or $10 tip after a big pot when the dealer doesn't acknowledge the tip, it is frustrating.

One thing that I have thought about doing more with tipping is giving the dealer a buck for every pot I win and then if they are pleasent and competent tipping them another $5 or whatever when they rotate. What do you think?

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

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One thing that I have thought about doing more with tipping is giving the dealer a buck for every pot I win and then if they are pleasent and competent tipping them another $5 or whatever when they rotate. What do you think?


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I think it's a good idea provided you're not playing poker to win money. The dealers will definitely appreciate it though.

Jeff

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
I used to be a regular poster on 2+2, but lately I've become more of a lurker than a poster. The last couple of weeks I've seen a trend of negativity towards poker dealers. As a poker dealer myself, I've been particularly disturbed by the bashing of poker dealers. Bigfishhead and Photoc are the most prominent Las Vegas Poker dealers that posts regularly and I usually enjoy reading what they say. I wanted to chime in my two cents of what being a poker dealer is all about and what I see from the box.

1) I work for a major Strip casino, but our poker room is small in comparsion to other huge casinos, so our major clientel are tourists with a sprinkle of locals. In generally many of these players are reasonable people who have a good time, so crap like dealer abuse, bad attitudes, and nits are little or non existent where I work. It makes the environment very pleasant to work at when you know the players are there to have fun.

2) Tipping: Listen, everyone who knows our job knows that tipping makes up for huge part of my income. When I first started dealing it used to bother me when I get stiffed on a 700 pot. BUt as I've gotten more experience getting stiff doesn't bother me much anymore. I figured in the long run the poker dealers make the same amount at the end of the year, so there's no sense of getting all worked out when someone stiffs ya on a $1,000 pot.

3) I take pride in my work. I'm always working on my dealing skills to make myself a better dealer, and fortunately I've gotten a lot of feedback from players saying they respect and like the way I deal, and how I can control a game.

4) I'm not a big talker in the box. It's my responsibility to make sure I give my game my full attention even when I'm at a table full of stiffs. but if it's a fun 3-6 game or a crazy 1-2 NL and they're talking to me, I'm not going to ignore them. I pretty much look at the table dynamics and go with the flow.

5) Finally I love my job!! I can't believe I didn't do this earlier. There's never two days the same. Everyday you sit with 10 different people with 10 different personalities and someone always happens that brings out some sort of genuinue emotions, where it's watching some young WPT Wannabee (dark sunglasses, REd Bull drinking, and iPod wearing) Donk off all their money on Q-High or watching two people fight over a 10 dollar pot.

And Finally to all the Young stallions WPT wannabees playing 1-2 NL...when you try to stare down an opponent for an eternity trying to get a read, 90% of the time you're usuall going to fold and I'm ready to drop the deck [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

That's my two cents from another Las Vegas Poker Dealer

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I'll second everything you just said.

Also: a big shout out to bigfishead for consistently giving solid advice to 2+2'ers who are considering becoming dealers. His suggestions helped me land my first dealing job -- a job which I still thoroughly love after a year and a half of solid work [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


q/q

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Glad you are doing well.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

balt999 - you know, if you told us who and where you are then I'm sure a group of 2+2'ers would be happy to sit at your table, abuse you, and help you re-think this whole 'loving your job' thing.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]

Also: a big shout out to bigfishead for consistently giving solid advice to 2+2'ers who are considering becoming dealers. His suggestions helped me land my first dealing job -- a job which I still thoroughly love after a year and a half of solid work [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]




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You shouldnt say that. It might go to his head.

Gee, Thanks. You put a smile on my face.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Are dealer tips split amongst all dealers? or does each tip stay with the dealer you gave it to?

If its the first, then it doesnt seem to be an incentive for dealers to perform harder than the others, or for the players to tip if they know that the last dealer they had was terrible, yet he is getting a piece of your future tips.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Most poker room, but not all, keep their own tokes. Most good dealers wont work in a "split toke" house.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Great post, Balt.

FWIW, my regular room is a small 2-bit affair in western Washington. Strictly mom-and-pop. The management, however, is quite serious abour running a great game. The dealers are extremely capable, professional, and friendly. Far better on average than most of the big rooms I've played in SoCal. I never see anything remotely similar to some of the stories I've read on this forum.

I don't know if that adds anything to the discussion or not. I guess just to point out that there's places out there where not only are there a few dealers who know what they're doing, but the entire staff is top-quality...and you don't necessarily have to be in a high-dollar joint to get that kind of experience.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Good post. It's good to hear from a dealer with a good professional attitude.

Although, I've never dealt, I've always been a big advocate of treating dealers with courtesy and respect. I feel like I'm in the minority. Many pro players (Even Mason?), seem to think of dealers as 2nd class citizens. At least that's what I gather from reading what they've written about dealers.

I recently spent some time in LA and was appalled at how some of these rooms let the players abuse their dealers. Dealers are not my employees, but there are just as valuable to me as a good employee. The better they deal, the less mistakes they make, and the more hands they get out, means the more money a winning player can make. I don't know why so many so-called pros don't realize that. I'm glad you're enjoying what you do and consider yourself a professional. I wish every good dealer could. Keep up the good work!

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Cool post.

The reasons you state are why I seriously thought of becoming a dealer.

b

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

Thanks for offering your viewpoint. To me, pleasant dealers, along with an interesting mix of casual players, are what make live poker so much more fun than internet poker.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

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Many pro players (Even Mason?), seem to think of dealers as 2nd class citizens. At least that's what I gather from reading what they've written about dealers.


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i get that impression as well and i've never understood it. i don't care if the dealer talks. they are people and it makes the game more interesting. plus, i want them to be able to defend themselves when i go on one of my "dis deeelah alvez keeeel me" rants and demand a new set-up, new shufflemaster, new felt, etc.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

balt,

I enjoyed your post. I dealt poker for four months last year and it was the best job I've ever had. Granted, it was in a new poker room in oklahoma that only had eight tables and it was usually all the same people that I got to know so I didn't have to put up with abuse etc. and the people in that area were just glad to have a place to play poker everyday. I would still be dealing if my family hadn't pressured me into finishing college.

Anyway, I agree, I loved the job. Everyday was different. If I wasn't in the box I would have been sitting at that same table so it was good incentive to be employed. I always had a little bit of cash since we were usually guaranteed 100 to 200 a night.

If anyone is unemployed or whatever and is looking for a new job and loves poker, I would definately recommend dealing.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

I always got the impression that incorrect dealer procedures always irked Mason, especially if their table-banter was so much that it was extremely likely to lead to errors (and the dealer not necessarily being able to recap the action for the floor if necessary).
but it also seems as though he has a lot of respect for those dealers who do a really good job.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
I always got the impression that incorrect dealer procedures always irked Mason, especially if their table-banter was so much that it was extremely likely to lead to errors (and the dealer not necessarily being able to recap the action for the floor if necessary).
but it also seems as though he has a lot of respect for those dealers who do a really good job.

[/ QUOTE ]

I could be wrong. I haven't read everything Mason has written about dealers and I don't mean to speak for him. Just on how I intrepreted what little I've read. I've disagreed with pretty much all of it. From tipping, to how dealers should conduct themselves, to how players should conduct themselves in relation to dealers, etc.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

That's the impression I get about Mason's attitude's towards dealers. Not sure why it is. On the other hand, I've never dealt to him so I can't say anything bad about the guy.

I played in LA a few months ago, it pretty much sicken me how the dealers were treated and I was only playing 6-12!! I talked to former LA dealer who works where I do and he says that when he sits in the box, he knows 8 of the 10 people hate his guts..doesn't make for a great working environment.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

That's why I always look at the table dynamics to see who I'll be in the box as far as how much I speak.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

thanks for the kind words.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

It's not really necessary. I'm pretty happy with a buck or two a hand and a "Thanks." When I leave the box. But don't get me a wrong, I don't mind the occaional redbird

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

I'm not a serious poker player, and I play mostly for fun at casinos. I've always been pretty sympathetic to the dealers, and I tip dealers well. In my experience, most dealers are friendly, and they add to the enjoyment of just playing poker. But a dealer will come once in a while who is just in a foul mood or is generally not friendly. And they totally ruin the game experience for me.

For example, today, I noticed that one of the cards I received was pretty bent up. I'm a newb, so I don't know much about new setups and stuff like that. But I saw someone request a new setup at the table earlier, and they changed the decks. So I pointed out to the dealer that this card seemed bent, and it would be obvious for others to know what card that is. The dealer then shot back at me, "Well, what do you want me to do?!" ??? I don't know; I was merely pointing it out. He just scowled at me, and I was in a foul mood the entire time he dealt because I didn't understand why he would be angry at me for pointing that out. The table talk died down, and the general atmosphere just became dead.

Later on, another player told me that the automatic shuffling machine sometimes causes the cards to get bent that way. And there's nothing much that you can do about it. So why the hell couldn't this dealer just explain that to me? He just chose to attack me when all I did was ask because I thought that particular point may affect the game.

Also, a few dealers that I've encountered get angry when you point out a mistake. Today, a player next to me requested something and everybody at the table heard the request except the new lady dealer. So the player gently tapped her on the arm and repeated it, and she turned around and snapped back at him, "I didn't hear you!" The other players at the table had to validate that the player did request a certain action. I mean, it's just a trivial matter of pointing out a fact. Why do certain dealers get so worked up about it?

Anyway, after the bad dealers left, the game got fun again. The other dealers were much friendlier and willing to answer players' questions. Even when an annoying player who kept bothering the dealers with questions sat down, all the rest of the dealers were willing to accomodate the new player by explaining things to him.

I know that dealers are people. And people come with all kinds of characteristics and traits. But dealers are providing a service. And that service is gambling entertainment. I appreciate dealers that make the gambling experience fun. But when certain dealers ruin the mood, it kills the game. How would you feel if you went to a restaurant and you requested a napkin and the waiter just snapped at you? Or if you point out that you ordered onion rings instead of fries, and the waiter scowls at you? Would you appreciate their service and tip them well (or not at all) for a mistake that he/she made?

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Today, a player next to me requested something and everybody at the table heard the request except the new lady dealer. So the player gently tapped her on the arm and repeated it, and she turned around and snapped back at him, "I didn't hear you!"

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What a douche. How did this dealer know there was something said a second time if "I didn't hear you" was her response? If she didn't hear the player, then she wouldn't have said that because it would be the first time she was aware of it. "I didn't hear you the first time". wtf genious, how did you know I'm repeating it then?

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Today, a player next to me requested something and everybody at the table heard the request except the new lady dealer. So the player gently tapped her on the arm and repeated it, and she turned around and snapped back at him, "I didn't hear you!"

[/ QUOTE ]

What a douche. How did this dealer know there was something said a second time if "I didn't hear you" was her response? If she didn't hear the player, then she wouldn't have said that because it would be the first time she was aware of it. "I didn't hear you the first time". wtf genious, how did you know I'm repeating it then?

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Gee i don't know how the dealer could know this lets see

Player taps dealer and says I asked you to change the deck. Wouldn't that be a give away top the dealer that there was a first time that she didn't hear?

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

The reaction about the bent card was not reasonable. Plastic cards will usually return to their shape, but any time a card is rendered distinguishible, you have not only a right but a duty to point it out.

It might be a lot to ask of a B&M newbie, but you had every grounds to call for the floor and point out that the deck was marked.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
The reaction about the bent card was not reasonable. Plastic cards will usually return to their shape, but any time a card is rendered distinguishible, you have not only a right but a duty to point it out.

It might be a lot to ask of a B&M newbie, but you had every grounds to call for the floor and point out that the deck was marked.

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Thanks for the validation.

I mostly play online, so I never realized that there were so many intricate rules and details and such that a B&M poker room has. I witnessed one player the other day point out a marked card. So I thought I was doing the right thing by pointing out the severely bent card. In fact, I noticed that same card when I got it again a few hands later. I still have no clue as to why the dealer got angry at me and basically whined like I requested him to do something that is horrible and difficult to do. I guess it's just that one dealer.

Re: I\'m a Poker Dealer and I still love my Job!! (Long)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, a few dealers that I've encountered get angry when you point out a mistake. Today, a player next to me requested something and everybody at the table heard the request except the new lady dealer. So the player gently tapped her on the arm and repeated it, and she turned around and snapped back at him, "I didn't hear you!" The other players at the table had to validate that the player did request a certain action. I mean, it's just a trivial matter of pointing out a fact. Why do certain dealers get so worked up about it?

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I can't believe nobody else pointed this out. You do not touch the dealer. To the player doing it it seems like a friendly tap, but when someone has been working in an environment where a lot of the people hate her (this case it was a woman, that makes it a little worse) they do not want to be touched. Peronal safety is a serious concern for dealers so please don't touch them, particuarly if htey aren't looking at you.