I know how many players, especially in the low-limit games, will answer this question: A good dealer is one who deals me a lot of winning hands. This is, of course, completely wrong. So, then, what does make a good dealer?
I have some ideas.
But before I begin, I should note that a dealer at a card club or casino is not an easy job. Far from it. And the job entails so much more than making sure the deck is shuffled correctly, the cards are dealt correctly, the hands are read correctly, and the pot is pushed to the correct person. The job is, at its heart, a customer service job.
But problems arise when the rubric of “the customer is always right” is applied too liberally at the poker table. Too often this occurs at the expense of the integrity of the game, and with the idea, especially where customers have plenty of choices of places to play, of making sure the customers–the players–do not get upset and leave the game or the premises.
Fortunately, some dealers don’t kowtow to that idea. Unfortunately, those dealers are few and far between.
Personally, I like dealers who run the game, who don’t’ just sit in stone-like silence and simply deal cars and push chips. Dealers who call the action and who pay attention to everything that goes on at the table (as difficult as that can be) are aces in my book. I see too many dealers who, when a hand is in play, simply stare at the felt in front of them and let the action proceed willy-nilly. These dealers may be competent in the technical aspects, and they may not ruffle any players’ feathers, but they tend to let the players run the game, to the game’s detriment.
One of my pet peeves, something that I see in establishments with jackpots, is when it’s folded around to only two hands preflop, typically the blinds or the button and the large blind, one of the two remaining players will speak up and suggest something along the lines of “check it down?”
Now, you might read this and thing “well, what’s wrong with that?” And because most low-limit games tend to be “friendly” games, most people really don’t see anything wrong with it. Yes, it’s just a little thing, but it is in fact collusion. You cannot discuss openly with another player about how to play the hand while it is in progress. “Yes, but it’s just a little friendly game,” you say.
Yes, it is, but it’s a slippery slope. And in a game where gambling is involved, establishing gray areas is the surest way to undermine the integrity of the game. And if the game cannot be trusted, no one will want to play the game.
And so we establish rules. Rules that prohibit such collusions. Rules that state one player to a hand. Rules about the order of play. “Show one, show all.” And so on. All to keep the game fair and above-board, to not give certain players advantages.
The problem is that many dealers just let the little things slide, likely in the name of “customer service.” Too many dealers let the games slide, even if just a little bit, down that slippery slope. I maintain that dealers who let that happen are not the highest quality dealers.
But you cannot blame just the dealers. Floorfolks and management are responsible as well. If they believe that dealers who just keep their heads down, deal the cards without mistake and push chips to the right seat are all it takes to make a “good” dealer, then we won’t ensure that “real” good dealers are the rule, rather than the exception.