noob question

HedonismBot · #1 06-22-2007, 12:36 PM

My google skills aren't as leet as your guys im sure so please just answer, when you say a dealer dealt 20 hands in their "down" how long is that?

Mr Rick · #2 06-22-2007, 12:37 PM

Half an hour at Foxwoods. I assume it is the same elsewhere...

Poshua · #3 06-22-2007, 01:50 PM

The "down" is the period that a dealer spends at any one table. Wherever I've played that's been half an hour, but there's no reason it would have to be.

Gordon Scott · #4 06-22-2007, 01:55 PM

A down could range from 1 hand in Bobby's room (or so I've heard) at the Bellagio to 3 hours in and underground game.

I think most casinos are 30 minutes but I've seen dealer's push out every 20 minutes a couple of times.

mothmandan · #5 06-22-2007, 03:03 PM

Where I used to deal the downs were 45 minutes. Casinos I have been to have had downs as short as 30 minutes and ones as long as 1 hour.

On a side note, apparently one of the universities in Nevada (a safe bet was probably UNLV) did a study about the length of downs and the effectiveness of a dealer by the end of the down. Although I did not see the paper itself I was told they came to some conclusion that 45 minutes was the longest a dealer could work before avoidable mistakes began to increase.

Dan's 2 cents

scott2130 · #6 06-22-2007, 03:05 PM

They just went to 20 mins at the Peppermill in Reno.

youtalkfunny · #7 06-22-2007, 04:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
On a side note, apparently one of the universities in Nevada (a safe bet was probably UNLV) did a study about the length of downs and the effectiveness of a dealer by the end of the down. Although I did not see the paper itself I was told they came to some conclusion that 45 minutes was the longest a dealer could work before avoidable mistakes began to increase.

[/ QUOTE ]

45 before pushing to the next table? Or 45 minutes before they need a break?

I think any room that asks their dealers to go more than 60-90 minutes without a break is just asking for preventable errors. There's a reason why you never had a class in school that lasted two hours, and it's because your brain gets tired if you try to concentrate on something for that long.

If you routinely want your dealers to push 3-5 tables between breaks, then 20 minute downs are superior to 30 minute or longer downs.

Biggest drawback to 20-minute downs: it sucks to have a 20-minute break, if you work at a huge property and the lunchroom is a 5-10 minute walk from the poker room.

pfapfap · #8 06-22-2007, 05:24 PM

Jebus, I'd go insane with two table runs all night. That' a third of my time not making money. That's when we start doing floats and EOs. I'm a fan of four-table runs. Not like this is the most difficult job in the world. As long as people are friendly and the game is moving quickly, I can zone out and do just fine. If they're not friendly, it's still going to move quickly, cuz I'm in the f'in box, booyha. Now, five tables, that does start to push it, but if they're juicy games, bring it.

RR · #9 06-22-2007, 11:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Biggest drawback to 20-minute downs: it sucks to have a 20-minute break, if you work at a huge property and the lunchroom is a 5-10 minute walk from the poker room.

[/ QUOTE ]

The places that I have seen with 20 minute downs find a way to work in a double break so you can take 40 minutes for lunch if you want.

pokerswami · #10 06-23-2007, 02:32 AM

[ QUOTE ]
when you say a dealer dealt 20 hands in their "down" how long is that?

[/ QUOTE ]
The dealer sits down into his seat. The dealer gets up from his seat to leave the table. That was one "down." It was as long in minutes as it was, regardless of how long the period is normally supposed to be.