"How To Deal Poker: A Life Long Money Maker"How to deal poker professionally is about being first class. It’s the key to your success! Her are some "how to deal poker professionally" tips.
MINIMUM TALK IN THE BOX Your goal is to deal a smooth and efficient game, free of mistakes. A "Chatty Cathy" in the box (where dealer sits at table), makes mistakes. When mistakes happen the game s - l - o - w - s down. When that happens, tips slow down too. After a while players stop playing on your shift! Your talk should focus on speeding the game up, keep the action rolling! Announce where the action is, how much it is to call, when a player raises etc. When a player DOES engage you in conversation or asks a question, don’t be rude and ignore them. Answer or say a few words. You can even wait until the hand is over. There are about 10-20 seconds when you’re shuffling or dropping house money in the drop box. Use this time to answer or talk with players. Then end it as you finish dealing cards out.
KEEP OPINIONS OF PLAYERS AND THERE PLAY TO YOURSELF This is how to deal poker professionally. Some people play poker horribly. That’s my opinion. Actually saying that to a customer will hurt your profit and the poker rooms. Not only with the customer you just told, but other customers. What does it accomplish? Absolutely nothing, it’s a waste of time and energy. Maybe the customer views their time in the poker room as entertainment. They see their losses as the "payment for fun". They feel that playing every hand to the river is FUN. Encourage their fun time. Plus if other customers profit from "fun-time-player", they wont appreciate you wising that player up. Who knows, maybe you’ll play against fun-time-player. They’re willing to play extra loose against you, because you treat them well and never scold them for bad play. One exception is when a customer takes a "bad beat". That situation calls for your sympathy. When someone loses in poker they FEEL pain and want to know they aren’t the only one. This is when you come in and save day! Let the customer know you understand, you’re their "crying shoulder". When you do this, benefits (tips) go your way.
KEEP TIP TALK TO YOURSELF It's an easy "how to deal poker professionally" concept, that's easily overlooked. Discussion of how much tips you get (or don’t get), is between you and yourself. Maybe coworkers and family members, but never customers, that’s how to deal poker professionally. When you talk about tips with or in front of customers, the outcome is usually negative. I heard a dealer, while in the box, actually say to the WHOLE table "Well if you guys would tip me bette..." This particular dealer was frustrated by the lack of tips they were receiving. The dealer was attempting to guilt players into tipping more. The dealer got the opposite outcome. For the short term, the dealer got tipped the same amount. In the long term, the dealer lost tips. Customers don’t want to hear about how little they’re tipping you. They’re there to enjoy themselves. They’re less likely to come back to your poker room if they’ve had a negative experience there. Thank them for what they DO TIP YOU! (That dealer no longer works in that poker room) Some customers will ask you how much or how good/bad your tips are. Give them your most positive (un-revealing) answer. It pays dividends on your future tips.
AVOID GOSSIP Another overlooked "how to deal poker professionally" idea. A lot happens and is said in a poker room. This person did this. That person said that about so and so. And on and on and on. 1% of it is 100% spot-on truth. The other 99% is skewed or fabricated. If someone asks you about what another person did/said, play the "dummy" card. Unless it's important. Say, "huh, I have NO IDEA". Or tell them to talk to the person they’re inquiring about. This keeps you out of trouble. That way no one will come to you and say "so and so said YOU SAID such and such about me!" Play the dummy card again! Well play it in the first place and you’ll dart around this problem.
PRACTICE THE THREE C’s Always stay... · Calm · Cool · and Collected Situations can turn for the worst when people lose money. They can also turn potentially dangerous. Your goal is to spot these situations BEFORE they are out of control, and defuse them. If a person just lost a huge pot and starts using profanity and pounding on the table, you have to calm them down FAST. Even faster if it’s directed at another customer. Practice the three c’s on yourself, and you’ll be able to better use them on customers. That is how to deal poker professionally.
Ways to snag a poker dealing job. My top poker-job-getting tactic is unconventional and simple...
HAUNT the poker room you want a job at! Hang out all day and play poker. Do this at least twice a week, consistently, until a dealer job opens up. You can keep the job you have, while you "work" on getting a job dealing poker. Show up before/after your regular job or on your days off. This gets you familiar with the dealers and managers of the poker room. Also you’ll learn how the room is run, any special rules the room may have and how the room enforces their rules. This also gets the dealers and managers familiar with you! While you do this process, continue working on dealer procedures and rules. Know the poker games the room offers, by heart. When a job opens you’ll know EVERYBODY that works there and they’ll be more likely choose you. Also express to the manager (way before job opens!) that you know how to deal poker professionally and would like to work for them. Then the seed is planted and come job opening, you’ll be able to harvest the "fruits of your labor". Know someone on a "friends" basis that works in the poker room. Even better know the manager! This way you’ll know when the job opens and it’ll be easier to get. Fill out an application. At some point you’ll do this anyway. If you combine it with one or two tactics from above, you’re almost guaranteed the job! The last tactic is if the poker room is LOCATED IN a casino. No poker job openings? Grab any casino job! This "gets your foot in the door". While your foots there, work the rest of your body in! Get to know the poker room staff. Make some friends there. Make sure you let the poker room manager know you want a job dealing poker. You’ll also have access to their poker tables. Make full use of the room and PRACTICE poker procedures and reading hands. Ask if you can deal a "fake" game to get used to interacting with players. When you find that poker-dealing job, be prepared for an audition.
What is a poker audition? It’s your chance to show your stuff to your potential employer. They want to see that you can... · Shuffle and handle cards well · Handle poker chips · Deal a smooth and efficient poker game · Do everything discussed here! With enough practice, dealing poker becomes second nature. And your audition will WOW your potential employer(s).
I hope these keys and tips on how to deal poker professionally have helped. I also hope you find your POKER-DEALING-DREAM-JOB! Good luck! |
