For the first time in close to two weeks, I drew table 17 as my start in the line-up. SWEET! That means I was going to deal mainly $30-60 and lower limit holdem, one $20-40 stud game, $10-20NLH and lower…the part of the poker playing public that comprises most of the poker world and the most fun people to deal to – with the least ATTITUDE!
I admit to signing the E/O and play list in the hope that somehow, somewhere, I would escape the line-up at any given time. NOT! I was there til graveyard pushed me out at 3 a.m.
Before I started my first down, another dealer approached me, asking me if I’d swap in the line-up when he hit table 1. All we had to swap for was that one down, he would pay me $20 out of his pocket and all of the tips he made during the down he dealt in my line-up. Even though I knew it would be around $40 in my pocket, I grimaced and thought about it for close to a half a minute. The other dealer said he just didn’t want to put up with the players. I finally said yes.
So let’s fast forward to comments I received on my last post. The comments I received are all about tipping. My post was not about tipping, even though tipping is why I go to work. I write about the whole picture and tipping is part of the picture. And this is not a public forum. This is my blog, if you don’t like what you read here, please take your delicate little eyes and go read somewhere else.
No dealer wants to deal through that game or thatline-up.
Both Table 10 and Table 1 were running. I glanced in to see Sam Farha, Bobby Baldwin, Brian Townsend, and a few others on table 1. I know Jennifer Harman was playing on table 10 simply because I watched people continuously being herded away from the glass as they stood to stare at the action, and I could see her facing the glass. If I don’t have to deal a section of the room, I never look at it or even know what games are being played there unless I’m looking for someone specific that I know is in the room.
Table 1 through 15 can be really brutal when there’s a big tournament in town. Almost all of them are black chip games and the only breath of fresh air is on table 8 and 9 where people are laughing and playing either $4-8LH or $2-5NLH. The rest of the games are dealer death by irritated players that know everything, are normally stuck, usually have an ego bigger than GOD, and no – they don’t tip. So why in the hell should a dealer be happy to spend the night in that atmosphere?
My first game was $30-60H, easy and smooth. My second game was $30-60 Mixed. Imagine my surprise when the 1s asked me if I was Linda from PokerWorks. His name is Matt. He’s very young, from Colorado, and appears to have a very good handle on his game and attitude. He’s been a reader here for around two years and when he won a pot, he gave me a nice tip because he likes my approach to life and poker and appreciates Tango.And no, this subject isn’t about tipping, it’s about meeting Matt, but he was more than kind and obviously didn’t have to do anything soI am thankinghim publicly for his introduction to me. Thank you so much, Matt.
I went through $2-5NLH, $30-60H, took a break, went to another $2-5NLH game and the dealer that wanted me to switch with him came by. He said he’d decided to deal table 1 and I didn’t have to switch and he figured the worst that could happen would be he’d end up with a 3 day suspension. We both laughed.
I was relieved because I wasn’t looking forward to it. I didn’t just accept the ‘switch’ to make money, I did it because he had so much stress in his face when he asked me. For all of you hardcore, never been there, have no idea what it’s like, I’ve switched with other dealers for no $$ because I knew they were ready to blow. I won’t do it very often, but I will if I think someone really can’t handle it. We have one dealer that never has to deal through there. The rest of us feel that it’s unfair to us but we can’t change it so it is what it is. We have another dealer that always ‘trades’ off because she can’t stand it.
I passed the dealer I was going to switch with about two hours later, he was sitting a deadspread, and he said, “I saved $20.”
I just shook my head. He followed with, “You know what I mean?”
I said, “Yes.”
He said that he’d heard that no dealer in the last eight hours came out of the table with anything in their pocket. That’s pretty damn grim. The players always want the best dealers. Obviously no one cares what a dealer wants.
The rest of my night was calm and easy. I was exhausted when I clocked out – the room is 1000 degrees at least and each down seemed to last for three years. When I passed Bobby’s Room at 3 a.m., Table 1 was still swinging with Brian, Sam, Bobby, and more. And I heard it was all NL and PL without a cap. Kee-rist!
anyone that reads you with any regularity knows that you are not all about tip count in your blogs. It’s fun to hear these things because we don’t have that kind of money. I once witnessed a big name talk show host leave a 10% tip for breakfast. Love your blog please don’t ever change a thing!
I’m not sure I under the last replier’s point. 10% for breakfast is standard. 15% lunch; 20% Dinner.
As a mid-stakes gambler I am always amused by low-stakes gamblers who assume high-stakes gamblers tip exceedingly well. $1 per hand,regardless of the size of the pot is normal.
As for this story, I’ve been playing 75-150 Omaha at the Rio recently. The dealers who come in just get torn apart by the players! That and they are dealing a game where 12-16 hands per down is average and frequently people don’t want to tip at all because it is a split pot game. Especially in that game I try to make a point of tipping even though I haven’t won a hand if the dealer is on top of his/her game and getting us more than the usual # of hands per down. A good dealer makes a good game.
How do they "get torn apart"? In that game you’ll frequently hear 3 different players "helping" the dealer by telling them how to split a pot in half. True, some dealers need the help, but the tone is always aggressive/impatient/frustrated. "JUST LEAVE THE BETS IN FRONT!" is another often-heard phrase at that table. We had one dealer who was so fed up with a loud-mouthed customer, that she threw the cards down and demanded to be relieved. She wasn’t much of a professional, but I can certainly understand her feelings.
Dealing those high limit games has got to be the worst part of dealing. You’re way over the "OMG! I’M DEALING TO SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN ON TV!!!!" thing, and in general, all you get is more abuse and less compensation. I’ll bet that just about every dealer would prefer to work 1-2NL tabels instead of my 30-60 game.