Incident at Wynn

[goofball]

Earlier this morning I witnessed a mild incident between a player and a dealer at Wynn, please comment on how you think the dealer handled the situation and, if you think he/she handled it poorly what he/she could have done better.

The player won a and tipped the dealer a buck. Dealer may or may not have said thank you, I didn't hear. A few seconds passed and the player commented "you don't say thank you when you receive a tip? The dealer responded curtly "I said thank you sir." Player comes back with "no you didn't" and they argued for several minutes, slowing down but not stopping the action. Obviously in the dealer's corner was "I said thank you" and in the player's was "no you didn't"

The player decided to rack up and leave. As he was doing so he was bitching about dealer to his neighbors. The dealer interjected "if you have a problem please call the floor." Player responded with "shut up, I wasn't talking to you." At this point the dealer stopped the action and called for a floorperson.

[scipio10]

Must have been Gates, an older black guy who doesn't thank the players for small tokes. Really is a shame though, most of the Wynn dealers are pretty sharp.

[NT!]

I'm generally pretty tolerant of a dealer defending himself from an abusive player, but I don't know if this would make the cut for me. Especially if the player is leaving. Seems like he's just escalating a situation that is going to be resolved anyway when the player leaves.

Obviously the player is a big douche, who cares about making a big demonstration of your demand for gratitude? If you don't like his attitude, don't tip him next time.

[psandman]

Perhaps the dealer did thank the player. Assuming the dealer believes he did thank the player what is he to do.

He basically has two choices.

1) Say he did thank the player.
2) Apologize for his "oversight"

Now if he takes option 2 here he would effectively be lying (remember I am assuming the dealer believes he did thank the player).

So he took option #1. The problem is that the player is the kind of person who isn't going to be told he is wrong so now an argument ensues.

At this point dealer has to be extremely diplomatic to come out of this. Player wants nothing short of an admission of guilt and an apology. When you are dealing with this sort of player you can sometimes diffuse him by basically telling him he is right . . . of course you right that I should have thanked you sir...I very much believe that I did thanks you, perhaps I mumbled a bit, some people say that I mumble too much and you know how loud it gets in hear sometimes perhaps you just couldn't hear me over the the guy shouting at the other table, but I truly do appreciate every toke that you guys give me.


Once it escalated the dealer should have shut up and not pured gasoline on the fire.

[UMTerp]

Meh, the dealer needs to diffuse the situation before he "argues with a player for several minutes" - that's just bad form, and nobody at the table wants to hear it.

If he did thank the player:

"I did say thank you." "No you didn't." "You must not have heard me then - I appreciate the tip." Then if the player continues to harp on it, thank him one more time before offering to call the floor.

If he didn't thank the player:

"I apoloize sir, I appreciate the tip." Then follow the same procedure as the first option if the player won't let it go.

So basically what psandman said.

[ThreeBeers]

The Dealer should have simply said "Thank You" again. What is the harm? The reason I take this position is because if the Player was an action player then the rest of the table takes a lass. Especially, if the player is replaced by a solid-player. However, if the player was showing his rear-end and a NIT, then show him the door. Notwithstanding the above, in no event should a dealer take abuse from a player. I am just not sure if this raises to the level of abuse (pre the "shut-up" comment from the player).

ThreeBeers

[pfapfap]

Maybe it is the dealer who doesn't say thank-you, in which case the player still went over the line. It reads like there's a history there, the way the dealer reacted. Maybe the player's a big a-hole in general and the dealer has to put up with a lot of abuse and no tips, and frankly doesn't feel like whoring himself when the abusive player decides to throw him one every now and again. Plenty of possibilities.

To expand on what psandman said... It's a double-bind, and exactly the sort of situation the personality disordered like to create. I don't believe they do it deliberately, it's just in their nature, but it's a big part of why they feel the world is out to get them, because they put themselves in situations where they're always "wronged" in some way, or set up arguments that bait someone else who has no chance of getting out alive. These situations naturally tend to unfold in such a way as to irritate the aggressor, thereby reinforcing the world view that everybody sucks and deserves abuse. Repeat cycle until death. The poker room is full of such people, and it's very sad.

It's also a pain in the neck when dealing with it. psandman's approach is a good one, but it can also backfire if the target perceives condescension. And it could backfire 9x as much if the other players pick up on it, too. I'm of course not perfect when in the box, but looking at it now, I'd try a slimmed down version of psandman's. "I thought I thanked you, but maybe I forgot or was facing the other way. Regardless, I do appreciate it, thank you sir." Of course, the player is still going to grumble and will probably feel as if he won the interaction (Ha, I got him to admit he was wrong!) and may continue to say nasty things, but the dealer is really performing for the other players at this point anyway. There is no way to "win" against abusive players, simply because it's a falsely-created binary situation. It's not about win/lose, it's about living peacefully with your neighbors, and those with personality disorders don't understand that.

[Dids]

For all the crap dealers put up with, getting dick hurt because somebody didn't say thank you seems demented.

That said, also seems like a bad spot for the dealer to make a stand. Just move on and realize that this is the cost of working in this horrible environment.

[psandman]

[ QUOTE ]
For all the crap dealers put up with, getting dick hurt because somebody didn't say thank you seems demented.

That said, also seems like a bad spot for the dealer to make a stand. Just move on and realize that this is the cost of working in this horrible environment.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is you can't move on. Players like this won't let you move on. No matter what you say you will be wrong and the Player will not let it go. if you don't say anything you will be wrong and the player won't let it go.

[Clarkmeister]

Poorly handled by the dealer.