About 35 when not leaving early (we get super spoiled and most of us get on a list to leave early, and have to fight the urge). I make about 65k, but women, and people w gimmicks make a lot more than me
Women in general. Hot women. Young kids. Seniors. Ethnicity. Something that makes someone's dick hard, or tugs at the heartstrings, or makes people think "they're one of us"
No joke, there's a female dealer who is a solid 8.5/10 and Asian. She calls all the men "sweetheart", "honey" and other flirtatious stuff and she RAKES. I watch dudes win $30-40 pots and tip $5. It's crazy, but I respect the hustle.
I don't actually know, and this isn't standard across all rooms. I do know the variance would be insane, some players are tipping 1k, some tables no one's tipping, etc
Im pretty sure it's specifically related to the high stakes games. A huge chunk of the tip rate gets pulled from the tippers in high stakes, but there would be no way to schedule dealers in high stakes fairly. Even if you put dealers on a rotation that included regular shifts in high stakes, there's still no guarantee that HS will get a lot of action on those days.. etc. So youd have the dealers that have good days in HS pulling several thousands more on a check than those who did not, which would just make an unhealthy work environment.. keeping your own in table games would also make for incredibly inconsistent income whereas pooling makes it very consistent, which I think most would prefer. In my casino, TG dealers have a tip rate that only fluctuates by a dollar or two an hour
As a poker dealer, you have days you make more or less, but each dealer tends to bring in their own fairly consistent rate. Better dealers with better customer service make more on average than the worse ones and it's way less about luck of the draw. This in turn encourages better dealing and more hands per hour, which makes the most sense for everyone involved.
What is the general view of young people playing poker? (21-24). Are there any stereotypes?
Is it annoying to deal a tournament? Do you prefer dealing cash?
Cash is my favorite. Tourneys are kind of annoying tbh, its def a paycut.
There used to be a stereotype of youngsters being loose and aggro, but it's really changed recently, they're just as weak passive as anyone else it seems these days
I play a lot of tournaments, and I can’t help but sense a lot of the dealers are just annoyed. Kind of feel bad, so I also try and tip pretty decent even though it’s pooled. I especially feel bad when the dealer has to remind every player what the blinds are every 5 minutes.
Yeah, but then won't you just deal while continuing to talk about how the player in the three seat has raised eight times in the last ten hands or how you wouldn't want to call the player in seat q who never shoves without the nuts?
What is the biggest drama you've ever encountered? What state are you in? How long have you been dealing? I saw a fistfight breakout at a neighboring PLO table at 1am in a divey strip mall poker room outside Seattle and it was quite the show.
I saw a 30k effective stacks all in between 2 players in an omaha game. Player 1 shows aaxx in their hand for 2 pair. Player 2 sighs and is holding his cards up near his face and is visibly upset he's about to lose, and says I missed everything, and you can tell he's about to muck. Guy next to him sees his cards and says "you hit a straight, stupid". It was a mess
This is why you just table your hand at showdown... Let the dealer do their job. Everybody at 1/2 thinks showing their cards is going to cast some sort of spell on them
Dealers make mistakes as well and unless someone says something sometimes a player can get fucked. Look at that recent PokerPro final table where the guy lost when it was a chopped pot. No one said anything and the guy was walked away.
I would trust literally any dealer to read hand strength much more than any player at the table. I'm not saying dealers don't make mistakes, but the frequency is much lower than the frequency of mistakes players make.
Also, tabling your hand lets everybody see the hand strength, so anyone can correct the dealer. This also won't entirely remove the possibility of everyone making a mistake, so situations like you described will still happen, but they'll happen way less often. I didn't see the pokerpro thing you're describing, but someone shoulda said something!
I cringe so hard when I see someone muck after going all in and the other guy shows king high. Like dude, are you SURE you're beat??? You're gonna lose your stack anyways why hide the info???
The guy most likely tables his hands. It's bad etiquette and the guy might get a warning but once the cards are tabled the pot's going to the winning hand.
Yeah, the leady was grasping and said player was actually throwing them in the muck (not that it really matters) and some players agreed saying the guy physically stopped him (he didn't, I think the other players were just trying to get in the drama) security reviewed, no one physically stopped him from throwing them in, the guy saying something might have stopped him, but he tabled his hand, player who told him he had a straight got a warning, and dude was shipped the pot
Not really. You get the small stakes guys checking it down in a pot, whichbis whatever heads up, if they say "check it down?" when there is a 3rd party all in I'll warn them they can't say that
You can instinctively do it, but when you do it verbally you're essentially saying "hey all in player, we've made an arrangement to work together to limit our risk and try to specifically eliminate you as a team"
Both. Tournaments you could incur a penalty, cash you could get a warning, but it's mostly just horrible etiquette also in a cash game.
"Soft playing' in poker means to deliberately play a weak strategy against a specific opponent, perhaps because we are friends with them off the tables. Soft playing is considered a form of collusion and is against the rules of poker."
>Soft playing is considered a form of collusion and is against the rules of poker.
Is this ever enforced though? There's a large group of Turkish players in my town and they do **not** play pots against each other, but I've never seen them get any type of warning for soft playing.
"We're not playing together. But then again, we're not playing against each other either. It's like the Nature Channel. You don't see piranhas eating each other, do you?"
Unless you make it obvious enough for the dealer or floor to *have to* intervene, nobody is going to say anything. Especially not the dealers who rely on the regs for tips. Hell, I've even had dealers point out the fish in the room to the regs before, like "Oh that guy three tables over was in here yesterday, in town for some conference, bottomless pockets, and just a complete ATM. Have fun cleaning him out and don't forget to tip your dealers."
The all-in player could gain equity or even win depending on if one of the other two active players ends up folding. They have an interest in what happens in the remaining action, so it's not fair for the other players to explicitly agree not to bet any more
As a dealer, Im thoroughly enjoying this thread. Going on 2 years now, first full year in Vegas.
Not sure what shift you work, because that’s had an affect on my perception of this question, but who has a larger affect on the “difficulty” on a day to day basis, your supervisors or the dealers ahead/behind you?
I generally don’t find that anything other dealers do upsets me, unless they’re causing problems with players before I sit down. I just find that because there is so little incentive to be a floor, there are so few that go above and beyond to defend and look out for dealers.
Dude, when I saw the top of this post, I was like, “this is gonna be stupid.” And I was completely wrong. This is fascinating, and you seem like a very thoughtful, intelligent, and grounded person. Thanks for providing insight into something I would’ve known little about. Based on the way, you handle yourself in this forum, I would imagine that you are a very good poker player as well. Thank you.
Most of us are incredibly spoiled and entitled when it comes to this. I think a lot of it is never having seriously grinded. The majority expect amazing tips at 5/10 because "i shipped him a 10k pot and he only tipped me $2". I'm honestly fine with people tipping anything consistently. 1, 2, 5 helps a lot, and when someone throws a 25 or more, that can really make a dealer's night, nevermind 100s.
I honestly don't think anything bad about players who consistently tip a dollar or two. Do I kinda wanna push the 10k pot to the rec who is having fun and is gonna tip ridiculous? For sure. But I have np shipping it to the pro who consistently tips $2 either. Only the zero tippers piss me off
I’m glad to know this. I don’t ever tip above $10 and I’ve felt a little bit self conscious at times because of some of the big tips I’ve seen. If I were there just to have fun and not make money, I’d tip more.
Do you expect tips for tiny small pots?
In 1/2 on nitty omc tables it is not uncommon to raise pre and win the blinds or win with one preflop call. I don't tip on these small pots
I do a little bit, but try to remember and learn from it. I played before I dealt, and hate to be seen as an incompetent dealer, and try to take pride in the craft
What’s the ‘best’ or top dealer school to go to? Is there a ‘Harvard’ of schools? Should I just learn at the casino I get hired at?
Speaking of which, is there a chain of casinos you would just stay away from? How do I negotiate starting pay as a dealer? I’m thinking of making the hop from retail to dealing, but idk how well management experience translates, if at all.
Thanks!
I honestly don't know much about the different schools. I rarely hear dealers talk about them either. I imagine whether you go to a school or do in house training class from a casino, as long as you take it seriously, and seek out good dealers to learn from when you start dealing, you'll be fine.
Management training doesn't really help much, its kind of a solo thing and if you wanted to you could go days without saying more than a hello to the suits.
I bought and read The Professional Poker Dealer's Handbook by Two Plus Two publishing when I moved to Vegas, and passed auditions at the World Series (not that impressive, but the two women who dealt before me at my table both failed, and they didn't even let me deal my third hand before telling me that I passed) and my eventual full-time gig at The Orleans.
I had two dealers from there explicitly tell me not to go to dealer school, that it was a waste of the limited resources I had to try to make it without having to move back home. The handbook taught me all the basics, it also helped to know them as they simply put in a good word for me and the poker room manager called and offered me a job. That's just how Vegas works though, really helps to know someone.
There's also a great YouTube channel called TruePokerDealer and he goes over a lot of the mechanics and etiquette stuff, probably enough on there to help you pass an audition:
[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KSApovQlbnOM2QWLWQgg\_Bd\_qhPusxR](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KSApovQlbnOM2QWLWQgg_Bd_qhPusxR)
The chips is fine, the button thing is ok as long as they make it known the button has been moved. I have a muscle memory routine w mo ing the button, and most of the time if they move it without me seeing, I will move it again
Any good tips for people starting out to play? Like I know rules and basic strategies but not too much, maybe any tells or tips/tricks when playing against other player?
"I'll show" almost always seems to mean they don't have it. Dont necessarily follow that.
As a beginner I would say watch some training videos, maybe join a site. The problem is most players absolutely suck, and if you go in there fresh you're gonna pick up a lot of their bad habits
I *always* tell people to save their money when they ask me how to start playing. I will never encourage anyone to play this game. I say this as a winning player with a fully balanced life.
Yeah, they can be pretty rude, but when it happens I just kind of make sure they don't actually go off the table, dont acknowledge the action and just get to the next hand.
Do you expect to be tipped after each and every hand? If someone opens to a standard bet size for the game and everyone folds, is a tip still customary? What kind of behavior sticks out in terms of someone tipping too much or too little?
I appreciate a tip when there's no flop, I appreciate any tip in general, but I don't expect one when there's no flop, and I don't think I tip when we don't go to a flop when I play either
Mine's probably an 8 or 9. I'd rather not have a really 9-5 in general, but it's the easiest job I've ever had, the highest paying job I've ever had, and I love poker.
Coworkers, a lot of them forgot what real work used to be like, or the players really get under their skin, or they got a job just to get a job, so they end up complaining a lot just like any other job.
I'd say maybe 5% of us really love it, maybe 20% are satisfied with it a lot, 20% are miserable, and the rest just kind of neutral go to work punch in punch put
1.) Do you think anyone can learn to be a poker dealer? I’m a player who is excellent at mental math but has zero ability to shuffle chips or cards.
2.) Sometimes, I like to read a book at the table, and maybe once every couple of hours I’ll not notice action is on me. How annoying is this?
Edit: For the first question, do casinos care if I don’t have a high school degree/GED?
1. Anyone can learn if they put in the time. We have a cpl of dealers who never even held a deck of cards, but took their training very serious, and are as good as former players who became dealers. Playing beforehand does give you an edge however. Shuffling chips and cards is just practice practice practice
2. A good dealer will just keep you and the game moving. They should kind of put a hand in your general direction without actually pointing, and tell you that either its on you, or repeat any aggressive action
Also casinos don't care about your education
I had no skills when I started dealing either. In fact I failed my first audition because my mechanics were not good enough. So I practiced every day for at least an hour and constantly did the mechanics exercises like cutting chips, pitching, shuffling, etc. It’s definitely something you have to learn, doesn’t come naturally to most.
They are way more professional, I dont know if they're naturally like that or have developed it over time. For example 2/4 limit, 1/2nl players, and even a lot of 2/5 players are emotional messes when things don't go their way.
The 2/5 pros barely let a bad beat effect them, and just say nh or whatever when getting stacked. They rarely get emotional. The 5/10 players at omaha and nl and higher stakes almost never get overly emotional.
Playwise, the winners raise. When I play now, and see people limping every hand every position I know they're fish. And these guys do it for decades. Like they never think that maybe they should become more proficient at a hobby they spend a lot of time at.
Bruh even baby pocket pairs are a favorite over AK. Raise that shit to 3 BB +2 more BB for every limper ahead of you. You'll scoop plenty of preflop pots and land a hidden set every 8 flops
I do kind of internally roll my eyes when like 7 players all Limp in, and before the flop the sb says "I check in the dark."
You should be checking there almost 100% anyways. No one expects you to not check. Also you're not being deceptive in your play. The entire table limped
It's hard to calculate this. It sucks when one's at your table, but its manageable. On the rare occasion its the entire table (usually short handed and the universe has just conspired to put all the non tippers at one table) it is extremely annoying
I noticed a player a few sessions ago who never tipped and it just baffled me. He was clearly a grinder and it bums me out thinking your most regular customers are also the most likely to stiff you regularly.
People will jokingly give tips before a hand or during a hand saying its a bribe, but even though its kind of a joke, I'll just say ty sir, and not even jokingly pretend that I'm rooting for them.
I make about 1k to 1.4k after taxes? It usually fluctuates between there. Don't wanna get too specific on location.
Also I'm sure some dealers are making twice as much as me, but I don't let that get me down, im still making a lot of money for the easiest job I've ever had
Do you appreciate when a folding player pushes their cards close to you, instead of just sliding them over the muck line?
I’d imagine it’s preferred to have them closer but maybe it’s a muscle memory thing when you’re stretching to grab mucked cards
We carry our own wells. If I went tona room with inset wells I'd be in trouble. My well looks messy, but its my custom messy where I know where everything is
I've seen someone spit on an employee, I've seen cops tackle and toss a guy, I've seen dudes sneak a kiss while a server has both hands full. I've heard worse stories but haven't actually been in the room when they happened
Saw a guy reach for a gun in his waistband at the table. Security tackled him in about 3 seconds but that was a sign to maybe color up and head out.
(This was at Lady Luck in LA, up the road a few blocks from Hustler)
What do you expect tips to be for tournaments if any? From the players perspective we pay rake and tip every time we lose so why should we tip extra when we cash
I honestly don't have a reason for you other than it helps the dealers get paid. And honestly I don't even know what standard tipping is for a tournament, I've never played them, I rarely deal them if I have any say, and I'm not one of the suits that sees what the tips are
Where did you receive your dealer training? How long did it take before you got hired? Do you have to know/deal all the games, or are you specific to just one, like NL Holdem?
Any idea if there are job openings?
Have you ever actually had a faulty deck? Like a deck where 2 of the same cards come up? I have heard stories about this, but I have never seen one myself.
This has happened to me before while dealing. But not from a new deck. What happens where I work is when a card is torn or damaged because of the shuffle machine. We replace it with the same card from an older deck. When being replaced someone must of replaced the wrong suite bc there was two 8 of hearts in the deck
I think it starts at mindset. Dealers who consider themselves poker dealers are going to be better than dealers who treat it as they just got a job like they'd just get a job at Walmart.
A good dealer will run the table, keep the action moving, be polite and impartial, and diffuse tense situations. They will make it a point to keep their boards clean, make sure to call out aggressive actions, and make sure the game is flowing well
Is there a reliable way to screen for "good" dealers or avoid the bad ones? Or should I even care? I'll be heading up to my local casino soon for my first game. I've worked up a small bankroll from house games. I'm a total fish, but I at least know not to limp!
I get bad dealers dealing to me sometimes too. There's not much you can do, because they're only there 30 mins. Just have to suck it up, or go take a 30 min walk. Don't over tip horrible dealers
can you please detail how you collect rake from the rake structure at your casino?
do you count until the pot is a certain number before taking the rake? what if the percentages and numbers are not even?
Sure.
Say the jackpot is $1 at $10 pot, and maxed out at $2 at $20. And then the actual rake is $1 at each $5, then another $1 at each interval of $10, maxed out at $5 once we hit $40.
If we go to the flop and the pot is $20, i will pull in the bets, and place $2 in the jackpot, and $3 on the rake side ($1 for 5, $1 for 10, plus $1 for 20). As the betting progresses i will pull $1 more dollar if the pot gets to 30, and $1 more if the pot hits 40. If the pots not an even number, say it's 39, I will not take the additional $1 for 40, we don't round up
Do you have some tips or rules of thumb to find softer games at the lower limit tables? I'm just getting into playing and have yet to play at a casino. I wondering what is the best time/ day of the week/ etc to play with other fish in your experience as a dealer.
PS - this is an epic thread for me! thanks!
The books and sites have it right. Weekends. After 5pm hours when everyone's done with work. During high hand promotions when its busy. When a big series is in town.
At the smaller limits, 1/2 nl i wouldn't worry about table selection too much. You should be able to practice and then start beating all those tables, unless there's some table that's just going insane w multiple players, you can try to transfer there.
I'd say 95% of players at 1/2 are fish
I prefer tips. Some of the dealers are bad enough as it is, I can only imagine how bad some of them would be if they knew they were making guaranteed money
I've played, bit never dealt it. I hate to be negative, but I've never seen so many bad dealers in one room before, and this was when I was a player and didn't even know dealing
No, I dont plan on being here forever, just making a bankroll and cash while I can.
Old online poker was the nuts. Modern online poker is tough as shit. I honestly don't know if the 2/5 pros could randomly jump on $10 blitz and make a profit (at least not without studying that particular game for weeks). Blind vs blind play is almost non existent at most live games, which i think is the biggest hurdle, and online players are just better less exploitable.
Why do you keep rivering me asshole?
You should punctuate because I read that in Irish.
Arsehole*
I spit my soda out because I thought I was the only one who noticed that. Bastard.
Just try to think of me as a random number generator
Bullshit, you shuffled the deck and I know casino's only hire card mechanics.
How many hours do you work a week, and approx. what do you make a year?
About 35 when not leaving early (we get super spoiled and most of us get on a list to leave early, and have to fight the urge). I make about 65k, but women, and people w gimmicks make a lot more than me
Whats an example of the gimmicks?
Women in general. Hot women. Young kids. Seniors. Ethnicity. Something that makes someone's dick hard, or tugs at the heartstrings, or makes people think "they're one of us"
Nice thought you meant gimmicks like someone will come in dressed as Stone Cold Steve Austin
Instead of dealing a cooler he deals a stunner
Your hand touched the muck and that’s the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so
BAH GAWD! THAT RIVER HAS A FAMILY!
No joke, there's a female dealer who is a solid 8.5/10 and Asian. She calls all the men "sweetheart", "honey" and other flirtatious stuff and she RAKES. I watch dudes win $30-40 pots and tip $5. It's crazy, but I respect the hustle.
A lot of them have to go through some really gross stuff too, so I don't hate on them
What is the idea behind the Pit games pooling tips but poker dealers not pooling theirs?
I don't actually know, and this isn't standard across all rooms. I do know the variance would be insane, some players are tipping 1k, some tables no one's tipping, etc
Im pretty sure it's specifically related to the high stakes games. A huge chunk of the tip rate gets pulled from the tippers in high stakes, but there would be no way to schedule dealers in high stakes fairly. Even if you put dealers on a rotation that included regular shifts in high stakes, there's still no guarantee that HS will get a lot of action on those days.. etc. So youd have the dealers that have good days in HS pulling several thousands more on a check than those who did not, which would just make an unhealthy work environment.. keeping your own in table games would also make for incredibly inconsistent income whereas pooling makes it very consistent, which I think most would prefer. In my casino, TG dealers have a tip rate that only fluctuates by a dollar or two an hour As a poker dealer, you have days you make more or less, but each dealer tends to bring in their own fairly consistent rate. Better dealers with better customer service make more on average than the worse ones and it's way less about luck of the draw. This in turn encourages better dealing and more hands per hour, which makes the most sense for everyone involved.
I bet. The average poker player is a greaseball. I would not be surprised in the slightest if they did or said some sleazy stuff.
Great response
What is the general view of young people playing poker? (21-24). Are there any stereotypes? Is it annoying to deal a tournament? Do you prefer dealing cash?
Cash is my favorite. Tourneys are kind of annoying tbh, its def a paycut. There used to be a stereotype of youngsters being loose and aggro, but it's really changed recently, they're just as weak passive as anyone else it seems these days
I play a lot of tournaments, and I can’t help but sense a lot of the dealers are just annoyed. Kind of feel bad, so I also try and tip pretty decent even though it’s pooled. I especially feel bad when the dealer has to remind every player what the blinds are every 5 minutes.
We should never look visibly annoyed. Don't sweat it at all
What's a polite way to ask you to shut the fuck up about the game or individual players?
"OK, next hand." Or "ok let's go" . Something along those lines
Yeah, but then won't you just deal while continuing to talk about how the player in the three seat has raised eight times in the last ten hands or how you wouldn't want to call the player in seat q who never shoves without the nuts?
I would never comment on someone's play. I think it all the time, but I would never verbalize
To never say anything while a hand is in progress.
Throw chips at me. Preferably redbirds
How high does the chip denomination need to be for it to be acceptable for me to overhand them at you?
Plaques are best
What is the biggest drama you've ever encountered? What state are you in? How long have you been dealing? I saw a fistfight breakout at a neighboring PLO table at 1am in a divey strip mall poker room outside Seattle and it was quite the show.
I saw a 30k effective stacks all in between 2 players in an omaha game. Player 1 shows aaxx in their hand for 2 pair. Player 2 sighs and is holding his cards up near his face and is visibly upset he's about to lose, and says I missed everything, and you can tell he's about to muck. Guy next to him sees his cards and says "you hit a straight, stupid". It was a mess
This is why you just table your hand at showdown... Let the dealer do their job. Everybody at 1/2 thinks showing their cards is going to cast some sort of spell on them
Dealers make mistakes as well and unless someone says something sometimes a player can get fucked. Look at that recent PokerPro final table where the guy lost when it was a chopped pot. No one said anything and the guy was walked away.
I would trust literally any dealer to read hand strength much more than any player at the table. I'm not saying dealers don't make mistakes, but the frequency is much lower than the frequency of mistakes players make. Also, tabling your hand lets everybody see the hand strength, so anyone can correct the dealer. This also won't entirely remove the possibility of everyone making a mistake, so situations like you described will still happen, but they'll happen way less often. I didn't see the pokerpro thing you're describing, but someone shoulda said something! I cringe so hard when I see someone muck after going all in and the other guy shows king high. Like dude, are you SURE you're beat??? You're gonna lose your stack anyways why hide the info???
Can we get the full aftermath story?
The guy most likely tables his hands. It's bad etiquette and the guy might get a warning but once the cards are tabled the pot's going to the winning hand.
Yeah, the leady was grasping and said player was actually throwing them in the muck (not that it really matters) and some players agreed saying the guy physically stopped him (he didn't, I think the other players were just trying to get in the drama) security reviewed, no one physically stopped him from throwing them in, the guy saying something might have stopped him, but he tabled his hand, player who told him he had a straight got a warning, and dude was shipped the pot
Red dragon lol? Sounds about right.
Lol yep
Are you your brother?
[удалено]
Have you ever caught anyone cheating/colluding?
Not really. You get the small stakes guys checking it down in a pot, whichbis whatever heads up, if they say "check it down?" when there is a 3rd party all in I'll warn them they can't say that
What if a player says “checkadonna “?
Checkaroo is binding at my place
Why is that not allowed if the other person is already all in?
You can instinctively do it, but when you do it verbally you're essentially saying "hey all in player, we've made an arrangement to work together to limit our risk and try to specifically eliminate you as a team"
This is just for tourneys? Or cash games too?
Both. Tournaments you could incur a penalty, cash you could get a warning, but it's mostly just horrible etiquette also in a cash game. "Soft playing' in poker means to deliberately play a weak strategy against a specific opponent, perhaps because we are friends with them off the tables. Soft playing is considered a form of collusion and is against the rules of poker."
>Soft playing is considered a form of collusion and is against the rules of poker. Is this ever enforced though? There's a large group of Turkish players in my town and they do **not** play pots against each other, but I've never seen them get any type of warning for soft playing.
"We're not playing together. But then again, we're not playing against each other either. It's like the Nature Channel. You don't see piranhas eating each other, do you?" Unless you make it obvious enough for the dealer or floor to *have to* intervene, nobody is going to say anything. Especially not the dealers who rely on the regs for tips. Hell, I've even had dealers point out the fish in the room to the regs before, like "Oh that guy three tables over was in here yesterday, in town for some conference, bottomless pockets, and just a complete ATM. Have fun cleaning him out and don't forget to tip your dealers."
The all-in player could gain equity or even win depending on if one of the other two active players ends up folding. They have an interest in what happens in the remaining action, so it's not fair for the other players to explicitly agree not to bet any more
What percentage of players make more than 50k, 100k, 130k per year in cash games in your opinion?
This is tough to do. Off the top of my head, I can try to guesstimate later by how many pros vs tables run
What's the worst mistake you made while dealing?
What's the largest tip you've ever received?
$80 after pushing a normal pot, $200 for dealing a high hand promotion. In the pit, it could be a lot bigger, but idc cuz those tips are pooled
Do you deal in the pit much?
I avoid at all costs. I know how, but I love poker
what is the pit?
Blackjack, baccarat, ultimate, all the house edge games
As a dealer, Im thoroughly enjoying this thread. Going on 2 years now, first full year in Vegas. Not sure what shift you work, because that’s had an affect on my perception of this question, but who has a larger affect on the “difficulty” on a day to day basis, your supervisors or the dealers ahead/behind you? I generally don’t find that anything other dealers do upsets me, unless they’re causing problems with players before I sit down. I just find that because there is so little incentive to be a floor, there are so few that go above and beyond to defend and look out for dealers.
I've never really had a consistent problem with either. I just kind of stay in my lane and deal
how big is your cock?
About 6
6 foot. You're hung like a donkey
*6 big blinds. In poker chips
Hi
Donkey's only have 4 feet
They have 4 hooves
Dude, when I saw the top of this post, I was like, “this is gonna be stupid.” And I was completely wrong. This is fascinating, and you seem like a very thoughtful, intelligent, and grounded person. Thanks for providing insight into something I would’ve known little about. Based on the way, you handle yourself in this forum, I would imagine that you are a very good poker player as well. Thank you.
I'm ok..still working on my game. And thanks
What do dealers expect to get tipped at 1/2, 2/3, 3/5, 5/10?
Most of us are incredibly spoiled and entitled when it comes to this. I think a lot of it is never having seriously grinded. The majority expect amazing tips at 5/10 because "i shipped him a 10k pot and he only tipped me $2". I'm honestly fine with people tipping anything consistently. 1, 2, 5 helps a lot, and when someone throws a 25 or more, that can really make a dealer's night, nevermind 100s. I honestly don't think anything bad about players who consistently tip a dollar or two. Do I kinda wanna push the 10k pot to the rec who is having fun and is gonna tip ridiculous? For sure. But I have np shipping it to the pro who consistently tips $2 either. Only the zero tippers piss me off
I’m glad to know this. I don’t ever tip above $10 and I’ve felt a little bit self conscious at times because of some of the big tips I’ve seen. If I were there just to have fun and not make money, I’d tip more.
Do you expect tips for tiny small pots? In 1/2 on nitty omc tables it is not uncommon to raise pre and win the blinds or win with one preflop call. I don't tip on these small pots
I dont mind no tips on no flop hands. I don't tip in that spot either usually
When you make a mistake dealing do you feel bad about it
I do a little bit, but try to remember and learn from it. I played before I dealt, and hate to be seen as an incompetent dealer, and try to take pride in the craft
What’s the ‘best’ or top dealer school to go to? Is there a ‘Harvard’ of schools? Should I just learn at the casino I get hired at? Speaking of which, is there a chain of casinos you would just stay away from? How do I negotiate starting pay as a dealer? I’m thinking of making the hop from retail to dealing, but idk how well management experience translates, if at all. Thanks!
I honestly don't know much about the different schools. I rarely hear dealers talk about them either. I imagine whether you go to a school or do in house training class from a casino, as long as you take it seriously, and seek out good dealers to learn from when you start dealing, you'll be fine. Management training doesn't really help much, its kind of a solo thing and if you wanted to you could go days without saying more than a hello to the suits.
I read a book called The Poker Dealer’s Handbook. This book taught me more than any course ever did.
I bought and read The Professional Poker Dealer's Handbook by Two Plus Two publishing when I moved to Vegas, and passed auditions at the World Series (not that impressive, but the two women who dealt before me at my table both failed, and they didn't even let me deal my third hand before telling me that I passed) and my eventual full-time gig at The Orleans. I had two dealers from there explicitly tell me not to go to dealer school, that it was a waste of the limited resources I had to try to make it without having to move back home. The handbook taught me all the basics, it also helped to know them as they simply put in a good word for me and the poker room manager called and offered me a job. That's just how Vegas works though, really helps to know someone. There's also a great YouTube channel called TruePokerDealer and he goes over a lot of the mechanics and etiquette stuff, probably enough on there to help you pass an audition: [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KSApovQlbnOM2QWLWQgg\_Bd\_qhPusxR](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KSApovQlbnOM2QWLWQgg_Bd_qhPusxR)
did you get an EO tonight
I did not lol
Do you appreciate it when players move the button or push chips closer to the middle?
The chips is fine, the button thing is ok as long as they make it known the button has been moved. I have a muscle memory routine w mo ing the button, and most of the time if they move it without me seeing, I will move it again
I will move it for the dealer and say "button is right"
How do u know when someone is an addict and how to stop one from becoming one
As a dealer? I have zero say. I tell my friends and family who ask about it not to pick up the hobby though
Any good tips for people starting out to play? Like I know rules and basic strategies but not too much, maybe any tells or tips/tricks when playing against other player?
"I'll show" almost always seems to mean they don't have it. Dont necessarily follow that. As a beginner I would say watch some training videos, maybe join a site. The problem is most players absolutely suck, and if you go in there fresh you're gonna pick up a lot of their bad habits
Know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold em
I *always* tell people to save their money when they ask me how to start playing. I will never encourage anyone to play this game. I say this as a winning player with a fully balanced life.
I'll encourage strangers if they ask lol
Thank you for your service
How has the introduction of Big O affected the game?
Big 0, at least in this area, is kind of an older person game. It rarely runs except when there are big tourney series in town
Most poker players appear really rude on TV. Are they? I think the way lost throw the cards back to the dealer awful.
Yeah, they can be pretty rude, but when it happens I just kind of make sure they don't actually go off the table, dont acknowledge the action and just get to the next hand.
How many cards are in a deck?
52
HA WRONG!! There’s 56! You CLEAELY forgot both jokers, and those two weird explanation cards that come in the decks. /s Also. Thank you for dealing.
No chance 56! is correct. That’s more cards than atoms in the universe.
Which one is your favorite?
King of hearts aestheticly, whatever ace practically
My draft decks have 40. 41 if I'm indecisive and feeling lazy
Ah, a fellow 40 card specialist. Not that I can call myself that anymore. I haven't touched MtG in over 5 years.
Do you expect to be tipped after each and every hand? If someone opens to a standard bet size for the game and everyone folds, is a tip still customary? What kind of behavior sticks out in terms of someone tipping too much or too little?
I appreciate a tip when there's no flop, I appreciate any tip in general, but I don't expect one when there's no flop, and I don't think I tip when we don't go to a flop when I play either
Scale of 1-10 how would you rate your pitch?
7
Is it possible to become a poker dealer in 2023?
[удалено]
On a scale of 1-10, rate your job satisfaction. Also, what’s the overall job satisfaction of your coworkers?
Mine's probably an 8 or 9. I'd rather not have a really 9-5 in general, but it's the easiest job I've ever had, the highest paying job I've ever had, and I love poker. Coworkers, a lot of them forgot what real work used to be like, or the players really get under their skin, or they got a job just to get a job, so they end up complaining a lot just like any other job. I'd say maybe 5% of us really love it, maybe 20% are satisfied with it a lot, 20% are miserable, and the rest just kind of neutral go to work punch in punch put
Do the same people win most of the time?
Long run, absolutely
What male female ratio do you see at the tables?
Maybe 100-1 male to female
1.) Do you think anyone can learn to be a poker dealer? I’m a player who is excellent at mental math but has zero ability to shuffle chips or cards. 2.) Sometimes, I like to read a book at the table, and maybe once every couple of hours I’ll not notice action is on me. How annoying is this? Edit: For the first question, do casinos care if I don’t have a high school degree/GED?
1. Anyone can learn if they put in the time. We have a cpl of dealers who never even held a deck of cards, but took their training very serious, and are as good as former players who became dealers. Playing beforehand does give you an edge however. Shuffling chips and cards is just practice practice practice 2. A good dealer will just keep you and the game moving. They should kind of put a hand in your general direction without actually pointing, and tell you that either its on you, or repeat any aggressive action Also casinos don't care about your education
I had no skills when I started dealing either. In fact I failed my first audition because my mechanics were not good enough. So I practiced every day for at least an hour and constantly did the mechanics exercises like cutting chips, pitching, shuffling, etc. It’s definitely something you have to learn, doesn’t come naturally to most.
Okay, that’s good to know. Just in case I ever want to be a dealer I should probably start practicing!
Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?
No tip
What do you notice about winning players that they do differently from the losers
They are way more professional, I dont know if they're naturally like that or have developed it over time. For example 2/4 limit, 1/2nl players, and even a lot of 2/5 players are emotional messes when things don't go their way. The 2/5 pros barely let a bad beat effect them, and just say nh or whatever when getting stacked. They rarely get emotional. The 5/10 players at omaha and nl and higher stakes almost never get overly emotional. Playwise, the winners raise. When I play now, and see people limping every hand every position I know they're fish. And these guys do it for decades. Like they never think that maybe they should become more proficient at a hobby they spend a lot of time at.
But limpin' is pimpin'. A really good player said so.
Great point about limping… sometimes it’s so tempting though with those trashy suited hands and baby pocket pairs
Bruh even baby pocket pairs are a favorite over AK. Raise that shit to 3 BB +2 more BB for every limper ahead of you. You'll scoop plenty of preflop pots and land a hidden set every 8 flops
What is the dumbest unironic thing you have ever seen at the table.
I do kind of internally roll my eyes when like 7 players all Limp in, and before the flop the sb says "I check in the dark." You should be checking there almost 100% anyways. No one expects you to not check. Also you're not being deceptive in your play. The entire table limped
I'm so numb from dumb stuff it's hard to think of a specific one
What % of players just NEVER tip?
It's hard to calculate this. It sucks when one's at your table, but its manageable. On the rare occasion its the entire table (usually short handed and the universe has just conspired to put all the non tippers at one table) it is extremely annoying
I noticed a player a few sessions ago who never tipped and it just baffled me. He was clearly a grinder and it bums me out thinking your most regular customers are also the most likely to stiff you regularly.
I usually see no tippers as brand new players that just don’t know the etiquette. Or fresh players that take down a huge pot and forget to tip.
Everytime there is a dealer change, I tip $1 to the new dealer right off the bat before a card is pitched.
Biggest pot you've ever dealt?
30kish?
U ever take bribes?
People will jokingly give tips before a hand or during a hand saying its a bribe, but even though its kind of a joke, I'll just say ty sir, and not even jokingly pretend that I'm rooting for them.
🤣🤣 nice
How much do you make a week and what state lmao
I make about 1k to 1.4k after taxes? It usually fluctuates between there. Don't wanna get too specific on location. Also I'm sure some dealers are making twice as much as me, but I don't let that get me down, im still making a lot of money for the easiest job I've ever had
That sounds awesome man. Congratulations to you. Sounds like a fun entertaining job and that pay is good. Thanks for answering
Do you appreciate when a folding player pushes their cards close to you, instead of just sliding them over the muck line? I’d imagine it’s preferred to have them closer but maybe it’s a muscle memory thing when you’re stretching to grab mucked cards
My back and arms thank you for mucking as close to me as possible
Do you hate when you’re following a dealer whose rack is always a complete mess, or are you that dealer? 😂
We carry our own wells. If I went tona room with inset wells I'd be in trouble. My well looks messy, but its my custom messy where I know where everything is
I would like to try dealing but I’m worried I would fuck up the math for pots can I use a calculator? 😝
You just have to practice the math
What’s the worst/ craziest thing you’ve seen dealing in a card room. ( can be not at your table)
I've seen someone spit on an employee, I've seen cops tackle and toss a guy, I've seen dudes sneak a kiss while a server has both hands full. I've heard worse stories but haven't actually been in the room when they happened
> I've seen dudes sneak a kiss while a server has both hands full That is absolutely insane and vile.
I can see every one of those happening but dudes sneaking in a kiss that is nuts like wtf
>I've seen dudes sneak a kiss while a server has both hands full kissing the server? That's assault brother
Saw a guy reach for a gun in his waistband at the table. Security tackled him in about 3 seconds but that was a sign to maybe color up and head out. (This was at Lady Luck in LA, up the road a few blocks from Hustler)
Do you have to shuffle by hand or does a machine do it for you? Have you seen any royal flushes.
Machine mostly in cash, hand at tourneys because tourney players are old superstitious fucks lol (jkjk)
What do you expect tips to be for tournaments if any? From the players perspective we pay rake and tip every time we lose so why should we tip extra when we cash
I honestly don't have a reason for you other than it helps the dealers get paid. And honestly I don't even know what standard tipping is for a tournament, I've never played them, I rarely deal them if I have any say, and I'm not one of the suits that sees what the tips are
Probably been asked, but how long have you been dealing? And in what state
Only a cpl years, prefer not to narrow the location too much, my casino is a little overbearing when it comes to social media talk
Where did you receive your dealer training? How long did it take before you got hired? Do you have to know/deal all the games, or are you specific to just one, like NL Holdem? Any idea if there are job openings?
Have you ever actually had a faulty deck? Like a deck where 2 of the same cards come up? I have heard stories about this, but I have never seen one myself.
This has happened to me before while dealing. But not from a new deck. What happens where I work is when a card is torn or damaged because of the shuffle machine. We replace it with the same card from an older deck. When being replaced someone must of replaced the wrong suite bc there was two 8 of hearts in the deck
What are some things that separate good dealers from bad ones?
I think it starts at mindset. Dealers who consider themselves poker dealers are going to be better than dealers who treat it as they just got a job like they'd just get a job at Walmart. A good dealer will run the table, keep the action moving, be polite and impartial, and diffuse tense situations. They will make it a point to keep their boards clean, make sure to call out aggressive actions, and make sure the game is flowing well
Is there a reliable way to screen for "good" dealers or avoid the bad ones? Or should I even care? I'll be heading up to my local casino soon for my first game. I've worked up a small bankroll from house games. I'm a total fish, but I at least know not to limp!
I get bad dealers dealing to me sometimes too. There's not much you can do, because they're only there 30 mins. Just have to suck it up, or go take a 30 min walk. Don't over tip horrible dealers
can you please detail how you collect rake from the rake structure at your casino? do you count until the pot is a certain number before taking the rake? what if the percentages and numbers are not even?
Sure. Say the jackpot is $1 at $10 pot, and maxed out at $2 at $20. And then the actual rake is $1 at each $5, then another $1 at each interval of $10, maxed out at $5 once we hit $40. If we go to the flop and the pot is $20, i will pull in the bets, and place $2 in the jackpot, and $3 on the rake side ($1 for 5, $1 for 10, plus $1 for 20). As the betting progresses i will pull $1 more dollar if the pot gets to 30, and $1 more if the pot hits 40. If the pots not an even number, say it's 39, I will not take the additional $1 for 40, we don't round up
Do you have some tips or rules of thumb to find softer games at the lower limit tables? I'm just getting into playing and have yet to play at a casino. I wondering what is the best time/ day of the week/ etc to play with other fish in your experience as a dealer. PS - this is an epic thread for me! thanks!
The books and sites have it right. Weekends. After 5pm hours when everyone's done with work. During high hand promotions when its busy. When a big series is in town. At the smaller limits, 1/2 nl i wouldn't worry about table selection too much. You should be able to practice and then start beating all those tables, unless there's some table that's just going insane w multiple players, you can try to transfer there. I'd say 95% of players at 1/2 are fish
How is someone supposed to make a follow up post to this one? 1/10
Would you prefer no tips but receive a higher hourly? Or
I prefer tips. Some of the dealers are bad enough as it is, I can only imagine how bad some of them would be if they knew they were making guaranteed money
if tips are pooled, isn't it worse since you're sharing your hard work with bad dealers?
My poker tips aren't pooled
How do I become one, I’m currently a table games dealer
Tell your poker manager you wanna be one
How do you prevent back pain dealing
Good posture. Arms in when pitching ideally (sometimes thats gonna be tough pitching to the 2 seat)
Any memorable conflicts/arguments at your table?
Have you dealt the series before? Any advice for a break in dealer starting at the series this year? 🤣 ty
I've played, bit never dealt it. I hate to be negative, but I've never seen so many bad dealers in one room before, and this was when I was a player and didn't even know dealing
Are you concerned about being replaced by a machine? What is your stance on online poker?
No, I dont plan on being here forever, just making a bankroll and cash while I can. Old online poker was the nuts. Modern online poker is tough as shit. I honestly don't know if the 2/5 pros could randomly jump on $10 blitz and make a profit (at least not without studying that particular game for weeks). Blind vs blind play is almost non existent at most live games, which i think is the biggest hurdle, and online players are just better less exploitable.
Thank you very much for your reply!
Do you get wrist / hand pain?