Originally posted by: O2bnVegas
OK, back to the topic, though I'll divert a little.
Why I thought Tim's post was almost humor in uniform, like the Reader's Digest section: His first and third examples were cute, never have heard these said in all my many times at tables, while "It's your money, sir" is a classic, said quite often, probably to keep things moving, or by the 'nearly out of patience' dealer tired of being asked by the same player over and over.
I believe it is expected of dealers to give assitance to a player who asks for it, and I've seen it done hundreds of time in the spirit of helping the unskilled. I've seen dealers stop, lean toward the questioning player, and give a 'clinic' as to why one option might be more advantageous than another in the particular situation at hand.
What I do know happened to one of my favorite dealers, at a Strip casino 20 or so years ago, long time dealer. She wasn't flighty or unfriendly or anything, just a good dealer. Someone, boss or surveillance or somebody admonished her, accusing her of turning away from her chip tray, a big no no. She maintained this was not true. She said she went home and cried that night, it hurt her so badly to be scolded about something she didn't think she'd done. Far as I know she wasn't disciplined or anything. definitely not fired. I played at her tables often, and she liked me, so we had gotten conversant over the years when I would be solo at her table, the reason that she shared this with me, probably a no no as well.
Mostly what I've observed is good camaraderie between bosses and dealers.
Candy
I was never told to give or not to give advice to players. It was discussed informally, and the general advice from the suits in charge was, "Do so at your own risk." They said, many times, that if you give advice and it turns out to be "wrong" (as in, results, not the correctness thereof), you might get blamed for it by the player. So I, and many of my fellow dealers, would answer such a question reservedly, such as, "Well, the book says you should hit." Toss the weight of the decision back upon the player.
I did offer the hit/stand rule advice quite a few times, when asked: look at the dealer's upcard before you even look at your own hand. Dealer 7 or higher, red zone. Hit until you have hard 17. Dealer 4,5,6: green zone. Do not bust. Dealer 2 or 3: yellow zone. Hit until you have hard 13. I only went into soft hands, doubling, splitting and insurance when specifically asked. I learned to avoid those areas of Basic Strategy, because no one would believe my advice. Hit with A7? Are you NUTS?? And so on.
Like with your dealer friend, there were always several postures, gestures, etc. we had to rigorously observe, such as the hand clap and palms-show when we left the table. making sure our aprons covered our pockets, and yes, never turning away from the table. Rigid protocols on handling chips and player cash, making sure the eye in the sky can see everything, etc. etc. How gently or savagely we were admonished when we made a booboo was a function of the personality and mood of the pit boss, just like in many other types of jobs. But we knew we had no rights and no recourse if we did screw up and got booted on the spot.
In Vegas, at least, unions have made some inroads on employee rights, and the big locals' chains, Stations and Boyd, are pretty good places to work: dealing there is almost like a normal job. My experiences were in another time, back when we were infinitely replaceable and disposable and had no more rights than an ashtray.
