Obviously you can see when a dealer is grumpy, argumentative, cocky, or lazy, but of course dealers may make a modicum of effort (the key word there: modicum) to suppress such a bad appearance. That’s where we employ tells, subtle clues, some based on dealing procedure, that give away that the dealer has a bad attitude. You should avoid dealers with bad attitudes—they will cost you money sooner or later. In the best case, they’ll toke hustle you to death; in the worst case, they’ll snitch.
As with Caro’s book of tells, these clues are not 100% indicators that mean the same thing in every context. However, I am passing on a vast experience with thousands of dealers at hundreds of casinos, and I am confident that these tells will at least entertain and enlighten you, if not save you money someday.
#1 Aligned cards on the layout. When the typical blackjack dealer lays cards on the felt, they are arranged like the spokes of a wheel. The cards at each seat point to a single focus—the dealer’s upcard. The Bad-Attitude-Dealer (BAD) instead aligns the cards so that each seat’s cards are parallel to her upcard. If you play blackjack online, the computer probably draws the cards this way. To BAD, this arrangement is neat and professional, but it shows a misguided pride in dealing. No other dealers do it that way, so does BAD think she’s being more exacting and professional? BAD obviously has the attitude that “this is my table—this is what looks good to me.” It’s a selfish attitude — if you’ve ever played such a dealer from first or third base, it’s extremely irritating, because to your vantage point, your cards are sideways! I find it very hard to look at, especially because I’m so conditioned to look at the cards spoke-wise, the way 99 out of 100 dealers deal them. When I encounter a parallelizing dealer, I tell them to deal my cards the normal way, or forfeit all tokes forever.
#2 The one-handed deal. In pitch games (single- or double-deck blackjack, THB at the Taj Mahal, UTH at Thunder Valley), a right-handed dealer will hold the deck in the left hand, and use the right thumb and index finger to peel off the needed cards one at a time. Most dealers, even BAD under most circumstances, will deal using that standard method. On occasion, though, you’ll see BAD deliver a hit card, or the turn card in THB, using just the left-hand only, either by pushing the card off with the left thumb, or by inverting the deck and dropping the top card. Either way, it’s a tell of a bad attitude. If that method is easier for BAD, then it shows how lazy BAD is to violate standard dealing technique just to save the effort of using the right hand. Most often, though, BAD is trying to show off. The one-handed deal is a slickster move, and frankly, it’s not that impressive. I can deal a hit card one-handed, too, and I’m not a professional dealer.
#3 Walking the game. You used to see more dealers “walk their games,” meaning that they would angle their shoulders, or even take a step or two to each side and angle the shoulders, in order to follow the action, but still maintain a view of the dormant side of the table. It is true that many dealers were trained to do this. It is also true that most dealers do not do this, regardless of their training. The dealers who do it will always say, “This is how you’re supposed to do it,” with the clear implication that every one of their colleagues doesn’t deal properly. But that’s why it’s a tell. Yeah, the dealers were all trained to do that, but none of them care to bother with it, so the one who does is basically the little hall monitor who’s trying to make everyone else look bad. It’s more about showing off than game protection.
As a game protection measure, it’s inconsistent with my philosophy, which is that good game protection is seamless. Good game protection is invisible to the civilian gambler, and not accusatory. The walking-the-game thing is insulting. It’s a very blatant angling of the shoulders to say, “I’m handling first base’s action on the hand, but I’m watching YOU at third base to make sure you don’t cap your bet, or mark the cards, or steal chips out of the rack.”
Winning money off that type of game is more difficult, not because of the game protection, which largely would not affect legal AP moves anyway, but because those tells indicate an attitude that the dealer does not want you to win. She’ll find ways to cost you.
Have you seen these tells before? Do you agree? Please share your comments.
Along the same lines as “#3 Walking the Game” is “Cleaning Up the Rack.” Some dealers, upon arriving at the table, immediately complain about the messy state in which the previous dealer left the rack of chips. As with walking the game, keeping the rack organized is part of dealer training, but a dealer who is extra vigilant about it–and who adds a complaint or two while moving the chips around–does it mostly to show how much better she is than her coworkers. There’s nothing wrong with a dealer taking pride in her job, but the hall monitor behavior here indicates the same bad attitude as the tells described above.
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I thought I was the only one who wondered about dealers moonlighting as chip-rack maids. For a while, I thought it meant I had a bad attitude.
Yes, chip rack housekeeping is a tell. Most dealers move a couple of lammers or swap around some colors, but the better ones do it in one or two motions: they get the rack how they like it and are dealing the next round before you know it. More than 2-3 seconds – especially if there’s a sigh – and you know somebody is either a hardcore company man, or does not get along with coworkers, or both.
Sometimes, the new dealer sighing at the state of the chip rack tells you something about the previous dealer, who also sighed when he first saw the chip rack. The example I’m thinking of also walks the game (didn’t know there was a word for it until now).
Less reliable signs that the person is possibly nuts include tidying up all the bets, square by square, before each hand, and fastidiously scooting each double-down bet against the original bet before delivering the card.
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I deal and we are concerned about chip maintenance because we have a relationship with the pit boss where they repeatedly check your rack. If your rack looks stupid you get told to fix it. This is generally seen as a minor mistake in the sense that it’s something that can annoy your pit boss. That can mean for a really shitty pit boss, he’s going to lose his shit somehow if you do it more than once or even just once sometimes. So when you’re that asshole that taps off without fixing the chips, you’re putting the guy that just came purely to give you a break a reason to get in trouble. So it’s not you guys we’re worried about. Walking the game is pointless unless the people on the exact ends on a wide enough table are both playing decent money and not flat betting. If you don’t fuck around with the dealer and force him to go out of his way to do good game protection because you’re drunk or you have some stupid ass system they will usually just deal cards and hang out.
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Wow you’re a fucking idiot. While your loser ass is sitting there it is MY table. Casinos aren’t restaurants buddy. You either do what I say or go lose your money somewhere else. Walking game is fucking necessary because assholes like you post press and try to be slick. People that look for a reason not to toke should be shot dead. You think I like dealing to you for 10 hours a day for free. Fuck. You. Fuck your philosophy. I’m the dealer that smiles when all your money is gone and you storm off the table cussing me out. Makes me happy to see you lose. And btw other people make up for your lack of tokes. So you are the only fucking loser. As it should be.
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“Wow you’re a fucking idiot. While your loser ass is sitting there it is MY table.”
So you own the casino. Good for you.
“Casinos aren’t restaurants buddy. You either do what I say or go lose your money somewhere else.”
You’re right, casinos aren’t restaurants. Food servers actually earn their tips through good customer service, as opposed to dealers like you who are closet communists, who think that a player who wins should just automatically give half to the dealer just for slinging cards.
“Walking game is fucking necessary because assholes like you post press and try to be slick.”
Walking game isn’t necessary to stop past posting. It’s just an attempt to show off fake game protection.
“People that look for a reason not to toke should be shot dead.”
Nowhere did I say not to toke good dealers. I don’t need to look for reasons not to toke some dealers. Thank you for making my point more effectively than I ever could.
“You think I like dealing to you for 10 hours a day for free. Fuck. You. Fuck your philosophy.”
I didn’t espouse a philosophy on tipping. I explained behavioral tells that are indicative of an underlying bad attitude in the dealer, since in real life, it is unlikely you would be so obvious as to openly advocate murdering people who don’t toke, as you have done here. You are, however, helping to shape players’ toking philosophy. I’ve toked purple in my career, and a teammate has toked orange repeatedly. Thank you for being the strongest example possible that such tokes are probably wasted.
“I’m the dealer that smiles when all your money is gone”
I know you are. You’re also the dealer that my blog post is about. Thank you for being what mathematicians call a “proof by construction.”
“and you storm off the table cussing me out.”
Hasn’t happened yet. You can keep waiting.
“Makes me happy to see you lose.”
I know it does–too bad you’ve never seen it.
“And btw other people make up for your lack of tokes. So you are the only fucking loser. As it should be.”
In that case, you should be quite happy and satisfied, with no need to go on tilt during the lockdown.
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The chip rack cleaning is often a sign of a dealer who just doesn’t want to deal. They take lots of time to avoid getting out that first card. You will find that this dealer also has lots of stalls when it is time to shuffle. They take the discards out of the shoe, look around the casino, then maybe look at the edges of the discards, and take far longer to shuffle the cards than other dealers. Usually these dealers would rather be standing on a dead game.
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I’ve only seen the one-handed deal performed and I tend to agree with 1 & 3.
Dealer 1 seems like a neat freak. I’ve never seen the a BJ game dealt in an aligned manner where the cards are dealt parallel to the dealers up card. That dealer needs to go on a long break. She seems like the type of person that if you went into their home you might notice that everything would be labeled, or if you looked in their sock drawer each individual sock would be neatly rolled up.
Dealer 2. I’ve seen the one-handed deal and have had dealers deal me that way when doubling down in a pitch game. I never viewed it as the dealer having a bad attitude however. I guess they were doing it for style points or because they were too lazy to do it the right way.
Dealer 3. I’ve never seen a dealer “walk the game.” This would bother me however because I would think that the dealer would be trying to crowd my space if they did do it.
The worst attitude that I’ve seen from a BJ dealer was when I sat in the middle of the table where I was the only player on the table in a pitch game. The dealer threw one of my cards completely off the table starting out a foot to my right and I believe that he did it on purpose to throw me off my game. After I retrieved the card and finished the hand the asshole then dealt the next hand to the “ghost” players to my right and left clearly missing the middle of my body by a foot to the left and right. At that time I knew I had a dealer with a bad attitude.
The next time I face a Blackjack dealer that purposely throws a card off the table when they deal me I have a plan. I will pick up the card and as I’m picking it up I’m going to hold the card perpendicular to the floor and then I’m going to fake a fall by rolling my ankle on purpose. Simultaneously I’m going to crunch and bend the shit out of their card and put a twist on it as I’m falling to the floor. I’m going to grimace and make it look good then I’ll get up and hand the card back to the dealer all bent out of shape and say, “Oops, I fell when you threw the card off the table. I guess your going to have to bring out a new deck buddy.” Lastly, I will leave the table. Now I know what to do when I encounter that type of dealer.
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Wow, this is sure indicative of a jaundiced attitude toward dealers. It’s kind of funny that a supposed professional would view them with contempt and disdain and as the “enemy” when it is the house they’re trying to beat, not the dealer. The dealer is a minimum wage-paid schlep who has no financial interest in the outcome. Viewing the dealer as an antagonist is an attitude worthy of the rankest ploppy.
When I was dealing, I dealt to probably thousands of would-be counters and APs. I amused myself (because dealing BJ is really, really, really boring after the first three days) watching their struggles and blunders–not one in a hundred was competent enough to beat the game. And they never–as in never, never, never–toked–doing so would cut into their bottom line. Certainly, I would “snitch,” as you put it, on any one of these lowlifes who actually had the competence to beat the house–but I almost never saw that. And why would I “snitch”? I would have much rather dealt to some happy-go-lucky nickel betting drink-swilling tourist, who might now and then toke me a dollar or two. I would have employed any means necessary, including a shotgun, to get these bottom-feeding so-called “experts” off my table. But I enjoyed watching them bleed out as they got the count wrong, screwed up their bet sizes, and made strategy blunders. They would then slink away, mumbling. I would just laugh to myself. So did I have a “bad attitude” when dealing to these lowlife experts and getting stiffed by them (and I didn’t “toke hustle”), even when they won $3000 in an hour? I guess I did. I know that I positively enjoyed sweeping their black chips into my rack.
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So you worked for the industry before your days as a player? The dealer is the first line of defense. I tend to view them as being on the other side and non-friendly to the player. I know that dealers have done nasty things to players in the past and their continues to be bad dealers that work in the industry who have bad attitudes towards the players.
You and the host did mention toke hustling. I have to admit that I hate it the most as far as a sign of being a lame dealer. I feel like I’m being extorted at the table when dealers try that. I hate it. The fact that you would snitch on people makes you out to be a snitch bitch. That is fucked up. Did you think you were going to climb the corporate ladder for snitching on players? What a way to suck up to the top.
I don’t like tipping dealers anymore but I may if I feel like they are player friendly and giving me a better game in BJ, however no tip ever comes early. Whenever a dealer gets a tip from what I understand in blackjack it is split up amongst all the dealers who work the floor is it not? That means when you get a $1 or $2 tip your only getting about $0.05 extra on your paycheck.
I would have to imagine that dealers do get paid minimum wage. But some dealers do have a financial interest in the outcome. Don’t tell that to Dustin Marks, Richard Marcus, and a slue of other twisted dealers who honed their craft to bleed the hand that feeds. Your were in the position to do the ultimate hack on a game as the dealer if someone would have turned you out as a dealer.
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Wow, you and I must have been reading two different articles. The one I read was about spotting dealers who may have a bad attitude. The one you read was apparently about how all dealers are terrible people and should be considered enemies. It’s almost as if you read the article with a jaundiced attitude toward the author. I mean, it’s not like he called them bottom feeding lowlifes who should be run off with a shotgun. I agree with you that that would be pathetically melodramatic.
I’m so glad that you decided to share your opinions. Your post is a perfect example of how dangerous a jaded dealer can be, both for the players and for the house. It’s an honest view into the contempt and disdain some dealers have for people who don’t give them “a dollar or two.” What better way to show the insight and importance of Mr. Grosjean’s message than to see it firsthand?
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lol
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The dealer has a bad attitude when you ask them a question and you get no response, like your not even there. The dealer has a bad attitude when they are dealing you at a casual speed and then after their short break, they deal you like the dealer just did a line of coke.
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Ok. so in most cases this can be learned by rneidag or watching other effects hold card in dealers grip but it is nice to not have to guess. I am very very happy about this new inititive. I won’t say any names but C$#*s A^631$ site is more about commercialization than what you are doingn here. I feel like I can learn more here. It’s a great time to discover magic, and to have a site like this. Thanks!
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I’m a dealer and a lot of my coworkers have shitty attitudes for sure. They don’t know how to brush it off if they get one bad customer and they take it out on the next. I am to lazy to walk my game I will admit that, and Iv never one handed dealt that sounds risky I’d drop the cards everywhere.lol I work at a keep your own casino so I make 10 an hour in San Diego plus tips. Believe me if you’re at a keep your own joint they want you to win if you’re a decent person for the small chance we might get thrown a tip. Lol Honestly I’d prefer someone who can joke around than just looking for tips it makes the night smoother. The cleaning up the rack bit is mandatory. Our floors can write us up and they definitely bitch at us if the higher denominations aren’t lamorred correctly because that’s how they keep track of how much the players are winning or losing for comps on their cards and casino bank roll. If you get caught too often with a messy rack you’ll get pulled into the office. Surveillance is always watching for counters and cheaters and mistakes we make. If they catch someone cheating and we didn’t catch it first we get a hefty write up and if it’s a big enough cheat or mistake they have fired my coworkers before. Trust me when I say most people don’t want to police you or care if you cap your bet but we certainly don’t want to lose our jobs over a stranger breaking the rules you know. I love dealing because I love meeting new people and I try to help them out slyly as much as possibly by offering to drop bad shoes and sometimes when a player makes a mistake by hitting a card and busting on accident when they meant to stay I lie and say it was my fault so they player can keep their money. Or get a better result. A lot of dealers don’t have customer service and should not be in this industry. But some annoyances that go on like rack cleaning phones on tables and stuff can’t be avoided because we will get in trouble from our supervisors if we aren’t doing our jobs correctly. Also be patient if dealers make mistakes like on single deck pitch games if the cards don’t go right too you, you never know it might be their first time and pitching cards are not as easy as it looks I have been dealing for 6 years and I still have the occasional flat tire ( when the cards drops short) or it takes a bad curve and slides off the table. And for most dealers we really do want you to win even if not for the tips for the morale of the table it is just funner when everyone is happy and the money is going out not in :). I only ever wish someone loses after they throw their cards at me or call me names and throw their chips at me or blow smoke in my face etc. because at that point it’s just plain disrespect and a personal attack when I have no control over the cards or that you chose to stay on a 9 against a 20 when I told you what the book would say or you hit a 15 against a bust card and lost. It’s the worst feeling ever when you try and help someone they ignore your advice lose and then blame you for it. Ugh.
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It’s so crazy, I just came back from a big strip casino and was playing blackjack one on one. One of the women that was dealing to me didnt say a word to me. Then a guy came in to deal and I mentioned that she was angry. Long story short he literally calmed me a scumbag to my face twice and I wasnt insulting him. I’ve been playing for 20 years and he single handedly made me so livid that I want nothing to do w ceasars properties. Security came from some reason and they got mad at me. Then I called my host and she asked me to not be mad over the phone. It makes me just not want to give them my business anymore. That was uncalled for in my book.
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I went to one casino last year to play poker. One of the dealers was real nasty cuz I wouldn’t tip him, even when I was losing.
I have no problem tipping when playing recreationally, he was so nasty about it that I refused all night.
Nobody punished him for soliciting a tip.
I made 3 complaints with the casino and they did nothing, not even getting a response back from the casino.
Meanwhile, he continues to gossip about me right in front of my face, and behind my back, and make snarky comments.
He also works when the 3 card poker table is open, so I can’t play without being noticed.
The only reason I tolerate this casino, is because it is nearby, has full pay video poker, and offers the best comps.
At one point, I got so sick of him looking back at me, and turning his back on his own game, that I flipped him off, quickly cashed out my chips, and went to video poker.
Dealer reported me to the floor. The floor did nothing.
I was never confronted, but I’m taking a break from casino gambling for now, and sticking to Mega Millions and Powerball.
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