I've dealt poker for over twenty years: AMA

Naw, it's dumb to acknowledge this fact and dealers have a personal bias on this topic cuz OFC they're going to say that tips are necessary, but as poker players, we cannot escape the logic behind that if they don't have any influence on the cards, then why should they get tipped just for doing their basic job, vs not get blamed when the cards don't come out for players? Can't have it both ways. That's all there needs to be said. Anyway, enough of this topic, have fun denying.

For the $5/$10 games do you know of any regulars for over 5 years? Thanks

Tips are expected for certain jobs. Poker dealers included. That's just the real world mate gotta open up your mind to that as it's a blind spot to live a fuller more enjoyable life.

Dealers have a bias because they are making anywhere from $5-7 an hour in most cases and they are fans of food and shelter.

Some jobs derive much of the income in the form of tips. Dealing poker in America is one of them. Your opinion is inconsequential and if you don't at least throw the dealer a $1 chip when you drag a pot you're an *******.

Thanks for the reply back.

The remarkably dumb part is that you blame dealers for screwing you out of a pot and that you think the service you tip for is that sometimes the card they deal is the one that will make your hand.

You are very obviously not just remarkably dumb but also a very unpleasant individual.

Is it a difficult job? Do you have to have good memory and math skills?

I am not a big MTT player, and it's especially rare for me to be playing MTTs live. I've always theorized there are a bunch of so called "pros" out there who are actually not good at poker and just managed to rack up a bunch of cashes (or just a big one) on HendonMob but are down lifetime. Probably lots of people that get staked because of their HendonMob. The type of player who is really good at social media and putting on a persona but not actually good at poker.

Any truth to that idea as far as you know? I figure a dealer for 20 years would probably be able to spot this.

You can be a good poker dealer if you:

• Have above-average dexterity with your hands
  
• Are good at basic math/can compute basic math equations in real time
  
• Understand how poker is played and poker players
  
• Can be personable and friendly while still churning out hands and not making mistakes
  

Of course you can be all of those things and still fail if you lack the skills that are good in any customer-facing environment where you are responsible for tens of thousands of dollars that are not your own. No matter how good you are you have to handle jerks appropriately; no matter how much the players like you, your poker room management also have to think you're a positive for the room.

Once I learned the basics (which took me about two months) and learned when to talk and when to dummy up and deal (not always stakes-dependent, believe it or not) I became a very good poker dealer. I wouldn't say it is "easy," per se, but I think that most of the things you need to do in order to excel as a poker dealer are learned traits and not god-given talents.

Math comes naturally to me but I think it can be learned. I am naturally an extrovert but you don't need to be engaging to do a good job (some tables it's better to shut up). I imagine that if you're clumsy the physical aspects of the job may be harder to grasp, but it's not digging ditches and I am far from graceful (my pitch is mediocre at best) but I can still churn out the hands.

So if you think these are things you are or can be good at, you will find this job easier than those who do not/cannot.

But it's not rocket science.

I have had the fortune to deal every tournament in a now-twice yearly poker series in a big East Coast poker room. That series has some high roller events and a main event that is not cheap to enter. I also have dealt in micro-stakes daily tournaments.

You can definitely see the skill levels change as the buy-ins rise.

If someone is consistently cashing in large buy-in events, they are definitely decent players. Maybe they are losing players because Hendon Mob doesn't track the times people put four bullets into an event and don't even min-cash, but they definitely have some skills if they can consistently cash and occasionally make a big score.

If you see someone who has one or two big cashes but a lot of empty, my guess is they might have just caught lightning in a bottle.

I wouldn't want to back someone based on their Hendon Mob results or social media presence alone or even in tandem, but I also got talked into investing in a race horse by a friend of mine. I lost a few bucks (not a huge amount) but got to watch them race, pet the horse in the stables, and even glom my way into a winners circle picture while at the track one time. That was fun, even if the investment itself was unwise. So maybe it's worth it if you can back a poker player who will let you pet them? 😀

Hello. You might not be able to say, but have there been any instances of dealers setting players up—like intentionally dealing hands against specific players?

I never saw it or heard about it happening in the rooms I worked in, but I didn't deal in games big enough to make it worth losing your job and license, and I also stayed away from dealing underground games where maybe that might be more likely.

Thanks for your honest answer!