How annoying are "assistant dealers"?

[iversonian]

- Call hands at showdown, especially in Omaha

Annoying.

- Remind people to put their blinds or antes out

Annoying. The dealer will do this eventually before he deals the first card. Time saved -- minimal.

- Push in other people's bets if the dealer is having a hard time reaching (I try to show my hands to prove I'm not stealing from the pot)

Good. Unless the dealer is one of those short armed ladies who blames the players for her being short armed. Then, I prefer that she be made to work for her tips.

- Tell people its their action if it looks like they didn't notice, although I imagine sometimes they're just thinking. I'll look at them and say "action" or do a "palm up point" like a dealer would.

Unless the dealer's distracted by something else, annoying.

- Feed $1 chips into the pot so the dealer doesn't have to make change to take the rake.

Who could object to that?

[Mr Rick]

I do the same things you do except I have been trying to get myself to stop calling hands at showdown. I don't want to make a mistake and have that be part of the reason somebody mucks a winning hand. I will always correct the dealer when I think the dealer has made a mistake.

[Paul Levy]

I personally never go beyond "button's good", but I'm very glad if somebodya at the table makes tries to keep the game flowing.

[RR]

When I have dealt I like very little help. Push the bets in that is fine, but just about can throw the dealer off. I know a lot of people like to move the button,, I would really prefer they leave the button alone. They are likely to move it out of my reach so on the next hand I have to get someone to hand me the button, or they will put it where I am planning to pitch cards etc.

[psandman]

As a dealer I would prefer if you didn't touch the bets. often times I see the player come out with a call and I move the action even before I see whether the call is exactly correct (if the bet is $8 I don't hold up the action to make sure the call wasn't $7), Now when I go to bring in the bets is the time that I am making sure the pot is correct. Wehn you reach out and push the best of three players all in together I can no longer tell who is short if there is a chip missing.

As to calling hands at showdown, hey if I miscall it please by all means corretc me. But when 5 players flip over there cards and you start calling out hands all you stand to do is confuse me, as I am reading the hand of player 1 while you art calling the hand of player 5.

[steamraise]

You can be "table captain" when I'm dealing anytime.

Just let me know if you're moving the button and don't put it out of my reach.

And if you're pushing a bet in that's hard to reach don't mix it with another bet.

[bav]

None of these things annoys me at all, and I appreciate folks who do it as long as they are good at it. Just please be pretty good at it--nothing quite like someone saying "straight" when someone flips over T7 with a board of QJ876 to throw the dealer into a tailspin. I sometimes do all of the listed things, depending on my mood and the dealer and the players.

[pfapfap]

Sometimes it's helpful to call hands in Omaha, but usually not. I admit it's my weakest game, as it doesn't run very often during my shift, but usually people are calling hands that are mixing up what I'm trying to read myself. I know it's faster for you, but that's because you've been studying the board and you know what you have and what beats you, etc.

Yes, please use smaller denom chips if you have them, I love that. I assume you mean for your bet, not making change of somebody else's bet, tho' that can be fine too if it's not holding up action. Smaller chips in the pot helps with tips, too.

Ante reminders are fine, but no biggie.

Action prompting is fine if the dealer isn't paying attention. Or sometimes in the higher games they'll check so subtly and when I'm not looking directly at them, sometimes I'm waiting on one side when it's somewhere else, so I don't mind prompting.

I like when people move bets in of people who seem to be deliberately putting them out of reach. Overall it's somewhat helpful, but only if I'm looking at the bet or it's bleedingly obvious what it is. This is also why it can be frustrating when people cap out of turn, because I'm not watching it happen, so I have to re-assess when I look back at it, rather than watch it move from where I last remembered.

But please don't ever move the button. I'm in a rhythm to keep the hands moving quickly, and button moving goes with my rake drop and deck washing routine. It tends to lead to confusion more than it helps.

[Tablerat]

[ QUOTE ]
I like when people move bets in of people who seem to be deliberately putting them out of reach. Overall it's somewhat helpful, but only if I'm looking at the bet or it's bleedingly obvious what it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I had no idea this was acceptable. I usually just silently steam when another player barely sets out a bet.

If I understand this correctly, e.g. if I'm in the 2 seat and the 3 seat makes it difficult for the dealer to reach his bet, I can push his bet forward (as a help to the dealer, and I'm not in the hand)? I'm not sure I've ever seen this done for this type of scenario. Interesting.

[steamraise]

[ QUOTE ]
If I understand this correctly, e.g. if I'm in the 2 seat and the 3 seat makes it difficult for the dealer to reach his bet, I can push his bet forward (as a help to the dealer, and I'm not in the hand)?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is very much appreciated.
Just be careful not to intermingle it with other bets.
And make it clear that you're not palming chips.