Dealer Tokes = Big $?

[Hair_of_the_Dog]

I was talking to a friend of mine who deals at the card room I frequent, we'll call him Joe. We were talking about another dealer who plays very loose and aggressive, we'll call him Frank. He managed to loose $150 playing 3/6 in about 20 min before he had to start his shift. He didn't seem to mind. Anyway, talking to my dealer friend I asked, "I don't understand how Frank can pay rent when he loses so much so fast all of the time." Joe replies "Think about it. He is dealing 3 tables with $1-$3 toke per hand and dealing about 45 hands an hour. Even with the %15 toke to the floor he is making about $75/hr." We discussed it further and for a 40/hr work week he isn't making $75/hr, but at probably somewhere around $50/hr.

Dealers how close does this come to your situation?
BTW: This is a mini-casino/card room in Washington.

[Photoc]

It's not even close to this number. No dealers deal for 8 solid hours. Most are lucky if they get 4-5 hours of dealing in a day. It's definately not 40 hours of dealing, nor is it anywhere close. And coming on here and flat out asking someone how much they make for a living is kinda rude.

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
And coming on here and flat out asking someone how much they make for a living is kinda rude.

[/ QUOTE ]

RR might disagree, but I don't see anything wrong with it. I think this topic has been allowed since we reinstated tipping discussions.

[juanyorba]

I dealt in Montana for a couple years before moving out here to WA. In MT we would work with one other dealer 9-10hr shifts, split tips plus min. wage/maybe a little higher from the owners. So really I wouldn't deal 9 hours, although during alternating breaks I have to run chips and drinks. As far as the money goes, it depends on the table. Good tippers or bad? Drunks (slow hands) or rounders that know what they are doing and never have to be reminded that it is their turn to act? No matter what though the thought of 45 hands an hour is preposterous you would have to be superman with the quickest players ever that never thought about making a decision. I was pretty fast, and I have worked with lightning quick guys, best we ever did was maybe, maybe 30-33/hr and thats a stretch.

Avg. tip around $2 so $50-70/hr split 2 ways, plus wages. More money than I'm makin now as a entry level civil engineer LOL! (most of it the government doesn't know about either if you have a lenient owner that doesn't make you report tips that well).

I don't really think it is rude to ask, it isn't like you couldn't sit around at the casino and keep track for yourself if you really wanted to.

[Hair_of_the_Dog]

I didn't ask how much you make. I'm just asking what the salary range is for dealers. If you want to take it is as a rude question I appologize. I don't have a problem talking about such matters, but I understand other people do.

Based on Photoc's comments:
4.5hr/day * ? days/week * 45hds/hr * $2 = ?
Let's say...
4.5hr/day * 4 days/week * 45hds/hr * $2 = 1620/week * 52weeks/yr = $84,240/year - 15%(floor toke) = $71,604/year pre-tax (pre-eveything else really)

That's not bad. If you are single you could play a lot of poker with that. My interest is mainly with how can some of these dealers afford to play the way they do.

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
My interest is mainly with how can some of these dealers afford to play the way they do.

[/ QUOTE ]

losing players can win too. Thats what makes this such a great game, there is a lot of equalization.

[Hair_of_the_Dog]

[ QUOTE ]
No matter what though the thought of 45 hands an hour is preposterous you would have to be superman with the quickest players ever that never thought about making a decision. I was pretty fast, and I have worked with lightning quick guys, best we ever did was maybe, maybe 30-33/hr and thats a stretch.


[/ QUOTE ]

I thought the same thing so I asked one of the dealers if she ever timed herself to see how many hands she delt in a hour. She said that they were suppose to deal 44/hr as a mandate from the casino. I told her I thought it was more like 30, but she insisted.

[juanyorba]

There is no way you can average that, she doesn't know what she is talking about, straight up. That may be what the casino wants, but there is no way a dealer can average that let alone the entire staff.

And another thing, I cannot see how a casino can mandate what they "are supposed to get out". Impossible to do, as stakes go up, games get slower. I play 3-5 NL at Tulalip and people need time to think about their decisions. Let alone if you got a couple of drunks at the table (most annoying thing in the word btw). In either case, it wouldn't be the dealers fault for not meeting the quota, somethings are out of the dealer's control.

[psandman]

That number is substantially more than I make per hour on average (I keep exact records of everything I make). I won't discuss my personal financial situations beyond that.

I'll also add that I don't know any dealer that claims to average $50/hr over an average work week. I'm not saying there aren't any -- just saying if there are any I don't know them.

[psandman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No matter what though the thought of 45 hands an hour is preposterous you would have to be superman with the quickest players ever that never thought about making a decision. I was pretty fast, and I have worked with lightning quick guys, best we ever did was maybe, maybe 30-33/hr and thats a stretch.


[/ QUOTE ]

I thought the same thing so I asked one of the dealers if she ever timed herself to see how many hands she delt in a hour. She said that they were suppose to deal 44/hr as a mandate from the casino. I told her I thought it was more like 30, but she insisted.

[/ QUOTE ]

she can insist all she likes that the casino mandates 44 hands per hour and be correct about that, however I doubt many dealers maintain that as an average.

Its not that dealing that many hands is impossible, I have probably done it over some hours, its just not likely that you can avreage that over the long term unless you have players who are constantly on top the game. I mean I deal $2-$4 limit holdem to players who play everyday and still have to ask me how much they can raise.