Rolling eyes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since I started dealing poker at The Poker Room NH in Hampton Falls I have met hundreds of poker players. Some of them I have met on my days off when I play poker, and others when I am dealing poker.

Like all people, some days I am better at what I do than others. I think it is not a matter of trying harder but a matter of focus. I can get easily distracted so focus and paying attention to detail helps keep me on track. I regularly deal two days a week, Friday and Saturday, two of the three busiest days at the poker room.

I have yet to develop a style or personality at the tables that would be my signature except for the fact I have a “santa like” beard. Some people call me “Santa” or “Methuselah”. I get comments like “give me a santa flop”, whatever that is.

Now the thing is, as a poker dealer, I do well to make sure that each player gets two cards, at least in Hold’Em. I do not determine what they get. I have heard players at the table say that I continually give them bad cards, hand after hand. After a while, these players become superstitious and when they see me coming, they cringe or roll their eyes.

Even though I am right there in front of them, they talk about me out loud to their fellow players, saying that I am the worst dealer ever, that they never get any good cards when I am dealing. I usually just ignore these comments and go about my business. About the only response I might give is that I can only try to give them two cards. It is best not to say anything because nothing you can say will help or make a difference.

This last Friday I think I finally have tipped one player over the edge. I have seen this individual at both the tournament tables and the Hold’Em cash games tables. Now I don’t remember how he did nor did I know or remember what I dealt him for cards. But at this point in the day, he was steaming a bit. His losses from both the tournament buy-in and the cash game, he said had cost him over $80 dollars so far and if he lost more at the table I was dealing at, he was leaving.

Needless to say, he did not do well at the table I was dealing at and when another seat opened up at another Hold’Em table he elected to move. Just as soon as he sat down at the other table, I was tapped out (another poker dealer was coming in to my table to replace me), and I was being moved to the next table, the same one that the aggravated player had just moved to. He must have heard that I was coming, because by the time I got there, he was gone. He moved to the blackjack tables, which I have not yet learned to deal.

Yes, dealing poker is defintely interesting and challenging. And you have the opportunity to create new friends and non-friends.

Stop Signs A well signposted junction near Mountmellick. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Disputedsign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most important tasks that a poker dealer has is to do, is to control the action at the table.

Right before everyone is dealt cards, I, the dealer, might have to ask for the small and big blinds to be posted as well as for the antes.

After the cards are dealt, I, the dealer, must indicate which poker player has a decision to make and keep the other players from acting out of turn. This is a lot like herding cats, by the way. Once a player folds out of turn, it sometimes creates a cascade of folding players (this is because the wonderful cards I dealt to them are sometimes not playable).

The same is true of betting. I must announce each bet or raise as they occur and hope that the players are also paying attention (it is the player’s responsibility to pay attention but guess who they yell at if they make a mistake and call a raise that they did not hear).

All verbal bets and calls are binding which can lead to some interesting problems created by players who did not pay attention to what was being said. The worst case would be when someone says “all in” and an inattentive player says “call”. Even those that say call to small raises are sometimes surprised that they are calling a raise and not just the big blind they thought they were calling.

My voice is a bit soft and low but the players do need to pay attention to what is going on. It does not help that we have TV’s all along our walls with sports games playing, sometimes distracting the players as well (we should tune “Sponge Bob Square Pants”, but some would watch that as well, I guess).

Controlling the pot is another duty of the poker dealer. I have to make sure that I have collected all of the blinds, bets and antes and that the pot is correct. Some players will call using a larger denomination chip and I need to make sure that they get back change. This is done after all of the players have acted. By the time the action gets to the last player, I must remember that player one needs change. Most of the time I have nine or ten auditors at my table, so I am never allowed to make a mistake on change or the pot.

Side pots are something else. Whenever we have three or more players involved in a hand and two or more players are all in, there is a proper way to account for the pots and there is the player’s way. The dealer must take care to use the proper way, which is slightly more time consuming but creates less problems when the hand is finished.

As an easy example, we have four players, one with 4,000 chips, one with 3,000 in chips, one with 2,000 in chips and one with 1,000 in chips. The big blind is 100 chips. Both the 1,000 chip and the 2,000 chip players go all in and the other two players call.

I first take the 100 chips from each player and move that to the main pot. I then take the smallest chip stack, the 900 chips and take 900 chips from the remaining three players and move that to the main pot.  The main pot is all that the 1,000 chip player can win, for a total pot of 4,000. Next I take the remaining amount of 1,000 chips from the 3,000 and 4,000 chip player, creating a side pot of 3,000 chips that the remaining three players can win. That would leave the 4,000 and 3,000 players with 2,000 and 1,000 respectively that they could bet against each other, creating yet a second side pot.

If I were to wait until after the hand is completed to create main pot and the two side pots or use the quick math that the players might suggest that I use, I might end up with more time being taken after the hand is completed. By creating these pots before the hand is completed,  it makes it easier and more accurate to know which pots might be going to whom.

Who knew that practices and procedures and math would be so highly needed in the game of poker, not to mention diplomacy.

Last Sunday evening, Diane and I do what we always do for an evening of free poker. We drive to Manchester NH to the City Sports Grille located on 216 Maple Street.

We play free bar poker sponsored by City Sports and run by TavernTainmenT. This weekly event draws more than 45+ serious people to play No Limit HoldEm tournaments. There are two sessions, the first starting at 5 pm and the second around 7:30 pm, depending on if the first session has completed.

Player experience runs from total newbies to extremely skilled. Usually someone volunteers to deal at each table. There are usually five and sometimes six tables filled with poker players, young and old, male and female. For the most part, the tables are cordial and fun (at least at my table, where I am dealing; fun people come to my table even though the seating is random).

The only costs that the players have are those for buying drinks, snacks and meals from the City Sports Grille. It is a win win for the bar and for TavernTainmenT.

That being said, the costs at the City Sports Grille are not extremely expensive. Except last Sunday night. For me personally.

I forgot to charge my cell phone and before the evening was out, my phone shut off due to the battery running down. I placed my dead phone in my back pocket and forgot about it. Later, while in the restroom, I some how managed to drop my phone into a body of water (Don’t ask!).

Needless to say, the phone did not survive. Luckily, I had insurance so the total cost to me to replace it, was $90 plus my annual premiums of $96 a year. This is the second time that I used it this year, so I am ahead. If I had to pay for the phone itself, out of pocket would be about $600, so the insurance is a good thing. I now have to be extremely careful as I have used up my entire benefit for the year.

—- Note: This post also appears on MompopPow.com

For the past four months I have been working regularly on Friday’s and Saturday’s from 3:00 pm on, at The Poker Room NH in Hampton Falls NH.

My first time dealing poker as a professional started on January 3, 2012, this year.

I am probably their least experienced and least capable dealer but I am trying to improve each day that I go to work.

Currently, I am only dealing Texas Hold’Em:  cash, tourneys. and “sit n go’s”. I soon hope to be dealing Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo.

Each time I sit down at a table to deal, I never know what is going to happen. Sometimes the cards I deal out are very interesting.  Sometimes I make little mistakes that can irritate the players and slow down the games.  Some players are more understanding than others.  But I have no problem dealing with complaints and accepting them, when I am at fault or not.

Each day that I work, I have as a goal to have one perfect session, where nothing goes wrong.  Even our best dealers make mistakes from time to time and I hope to become more like them.

On the plus side, I am one of three dealers, so far,  at The Poker Room NH that has dealt out a “bad beat” that has resulted in players winning hundreds of dollars, so most players are  happy to see me coming to their table.

Last night I worked from 5:20 pm to 10:00 pm. I did not even start dealing until 6:30 pm as I was at a table waiting for more players to enter our 5:30 pm tourney. We had set up six tables but ended up filling only four.  When it was my turn to go to an active table and to deal, I was able to do so and I dealt with the minimum of problems.

About my biggest challenge was when the antes kicked in.  Antes are small amounts that every player must put into the pot in addition to the big blind and the small blind.

So after I am done my shuffling of cards and before cutting the deck and dealing cards, I must collect the antes and make sure that the blinds are posted. That adds an additional 20 to 60 seconds to each hand being dealt, depending on if I have to ask for the antes and if I have to make change etc.

For the first night since I have been there, I had a practically perfect night dealing. But I must not rest on my laurals, as I know I need to improve in counting bets, chips, side pots, etc.

Still, I did feel good and went home in high spirits.

This post also appears on MomPopPow.com

Bad Santa?

Dealing poker at our local poker room, The Poker Room NH, can become very interesting at times.

I work two days a week, Friday and Saturday, and I get to see many people coming to play at our tables.

I deal at the tournament tables and also at the cash Limit Hold’Em tables.
The cost to play at the $2/4 limit table is a buy-in of $20 minimum.

Some of the players that I see are regulars and most of them know how to play. Occasionally we do get new players that have never played a limit hold’em cash game.

There is a certain basic strategy that good players follow. Good players do not play in every single hand unless they have very good cards.

New players however may not understand or know that concept and think that every hand that they see is an opportunity to win a pot.

Recently three young ladies have been becoming regulars at the cash tables and I have dealt to them when I have been assigned to their tables.

English is not their native language, but they speak it rather well. I don’t know if these three ladies are related or not but the younger one smiles when she sees me coming to the table and says “Welcome Santa”, I know you will be kind to me.

Now my basic task is to try and make their experience enjoyable, but I am only able to guarantee that everyone at the table gets two cards each. Beyond that, it is the players responsibility to do what they can with these cards to win the pots.

The problem that I see with the young lady who calls me “Santa” is that she plays every single hand that she is dealt regardless of what they are.  To her sorrow and dismay, she usually finds that she has lost all of her chips within an hours time. And she usually buys a hundred dollars of poker chips at a time.

I am not always at the same table for long periods of time because we are moved from table to table every 30 minutes or so, and I do not see when she ends up re-buying more chips so I do not know how she is doing.

One evening however, I did end up dealing to these ladies twice in the same evening, although at a different table.

The story was the same. Big smile and a “Welcome Santa”, but at the end of the session, with her chips all gone, she looked at me sadly and said “Bad Santa”.

You know how it goes … you cannot please everyone …

(This post will appear on MomPopPow.com)

Collect and Connect (Photo credit: fengschwing)

One of the things that makes for being a great dealer is consistency.

There are at least 42 steps to each hand that a poker dealer deals.

There is the shuffle, shuffle, riffle, shuffle. Making sure the blinds are posted. Dealing out the first hand. Collecting the bets. Burning a card. Dealing the flop. Collecting the bets. Burning a card. Dealing the turn. Collecting the bets. Dealing the River. Collecting the bets. Awarding the pot. Moving  the button. (in cash games, dropping the rake (the poker room’s profit), and dropping the toke (the dealer tips). And this is just in  one hand. (Note: I did not list all of the 42 steps).

In addition to the above tasks, there are also the collecting of antes, the counting of chips when a player is all in and the other player(s) need a count. There is also the creation of side pots in the events that someone is all in and two or more players are still in the pot. There could be up to seven side pots, heaven forbid.

At any given time, I do make mistakes,

I may miss a player altogether dealing at a tournament. (you must deal a card to each chip stack regardless of if the player is there physically or not). In cash games, you must deal to the actual people and not the chips stack. Some players walk away from the table for various reasons. Some are gone to play in a sit n go tourney and leave their chips behind. If a player is not at their seat for a cash game, they are still responsible to put up the big blind or small blind, I must take care to leave a token that says they owe for the big blind and/or the small blind and must settle before they can resume play if they choose to return and play.

So I must take care to not deal to someone that is not there in a cash game, but deal to the stacks in a tournament even when someone is not there.

Other ways I can err is to flip over a card when dealing it to a player. I can miscount chip stacks when awarding a player chips from another player.

Oh the things I could do wrong are numerous.

This brings me to the point of this blog. Too many errors at one time and some players get very upset. Some even get vocal. Some are downright mean in their comments. But they are the customer and the custumer is right.

So I always apologize for my error(s) and try to keep on going. Now the problem is that after it happens I am now trying too hard to not make an error. Oh well.

The good news is that all dealers are rotated from table to table every 20 or 30 minutes, for the most part. This gives us the opportunity to walk away from our mistakes and start fresh at a new table. As a dealer, I need to get over the bad expierences quickly and move on. After all, as they say, it is nothing personal.

In spite of the downsides of having to deal with upset players, the upside is the satisfaction when things run well. When the players get excited to finally be getting good cards. Yes I am that dealer that gives out the dreaded 7-2 or 2-8 or 3-9 or other garbage hands to players, sometimes two or three times in a row. At least that is what they tell me.

On the plus side, I now have players that greet me warmly when I approach their table. I now know many players by name and the banter is friendly or at least cordial. After all, they are here to play and/or have a good time while they are doing it.

My favorite table to deal at are are the ones where most of the players are smiling or laughing and having a great time.

Now if it could aways be that way …

Next post:  Bad Santa ….

Deutsch: Dealerbutton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been working as a poker dealer at a local poker room, The Poker Room NH, at least two days a week, since January 3rd 2012.

I also play at the same room, “The Poker Room NH” on my days off, schedule permitting.

My dealing skills are improving, albeit slowly, but I am getting better.

How do I know?  My supervisor, Chris, tells me that he is getting less complaints from the players. I even have had some players tell me that I have improved from when I first started.

I still have a long ways to go. Who knew that my math skills would be needed and that these same skills have eroded from non-use over the last four years.

My dealing goal is to have one perfect session per day. A session consists of when I sit down at a table and perform all of the duties as a dealer until my replacement comes.

We are usually moved from table to table in 30 minute plus intervals. This is done for many reasons. It keeps dealers fresh, it keeps the players happy if they think the reason for getting bad cards is the dealer.

Some days, I come really close. On other days, I don’t even want to talk about it.

The reason I wanted to work there is still valid. The staff of dealers, floor personal, wait staff, and custodial staff, are all nice and friendly people. They are who inspire me to be a better dealer. I am even getting to know the regulars by name (we are encouraged to do so). It is a friendly place and a lot of smiling employees who really love what they are doing or if off duty,  playing.

Plus it is fun dealing, I never know what cards the players are going to get. The cards that I flop always amaze me – like flopping three of a kind or three cards to a flush and then watching what the players do afterwards. Are they bluffing or did the flop make their hand that much better..

All in all, I think I found my perfect type of employment. Did I mention that if I am dealing, I am not losing at the tables? Another plus!

Image via Wikipedia

First day as a Professional poker dealer is complete. I worked for a total of six hours at “The Poker Room NH” on Tuesday, January 3.

Right after I checked in, I was assigned to deal at a Limit Holdem 2/4 table (2/4 means that the bets start at $2 for the first and second round of betting, pre-flop and flop, and $4 at the turn and the river).

I was being shadowed (an experienced dealer was right behind me), and I was all nerves. This poker room is where I have been playing for the last year and I have a high regard for the dealers and their professional demeanor. And now I am one and I am in the hot seat.

It was not as easy as I hoped it would be. It turns out that each poker table has character. I was having trouble shuffling the cards and did not know why. I have had hundreds of hours practicing at home and dealing at free poker events.

It was not until a few hours later that a fellow dealer pointed out to me that some of the tables are worn in spots that makes handling and shuffling the cards very difficult. Thank you fellow dealer for that very important and helpful tip. I was having a loss of confidence until I learned about the differences between individual table tops.

I was moved from the cash games to multiple tables tournaments. It was quite an experience. The big difference is that the betting amounts and chip values are different from the cash games. There is more demand on math abilities and concentration abilities.

The main goal as a dealer is to keep the game moving as smoothly and quickly as possible. Whenever I did something incorrectly, the players would let me know, in a nice way, since I was a first time dealer. I have a limited amount of time to improve as they will not be as kind the next time I err. That so called Honeymoon period, you know.

There is always something to learn, both from my experiences and from the suggestion of other players. Last week when I was playing in a tournament, one of the players suggested that when I was the dealer that I move my arms back to my sides as soon as I spread the flop cards (the first three cards to be displayed once the initial round of betting has concluded). She had a hard time seeing the cards until the dealer moved back.

Another player suggested that I put my cards down first before pushing the pot to the winner. Sometimes the betting causes all other players to fold before dealing is completed.

Normally, I place the deck down after dealing the river card, the fifth card.

I appreciated all the suggestions, both from my fellow dealers and from my customers.

My next day at dealing will be Friday and until then I am going to practice, practice, practice.

Last year I had my worst losing year on record in online poker.

My live game is a lot more profitable. I am going to stick with live brick and mortar poker until there are more weaker players online.

In fact, I will try to wait until online poker is legal in the US. By that, I mean the money transfer part.

My goal for 2012 is to become a professional poker dealer and then become the best dealer possible.

Last year I started dealer training by purchasing an online dealer training course. The local poker room, “The Poker Room NH”, advised me to get live dealer training from “The Dealing Academy” run by Le-Ann Anderson in Haverill, MA and I did.

Last week, I went to “The Poker Room NH” and filled out the  initial employment paperwork. I also received instructions from one of their more expienreced dealers on how to deal for the MTT – multi-table tournaments – that they are offering on a regular basis.

I am one step closer to starting my goal of being a dealer.

Tomorrow, I go to “The Poker Room NH” for more orientation and hopefully a dealer assignment.

While waiting, I practice at home on the basics – the mechanics of shuffling and pitching the cards. I want to do this well enough and fast enough so that I keep the game going at a reasonable pace. The one thing I do not want to do is to interfere with the action from the players. I will control the atmosphere and the pots, but I do not want to influence the players in their decisions.

To that end, my goal is to be friendly and fair and enforce all the rules in a non-biased manner.

(this post is also posted on MomPopPow.com and titled “Here I come!”)

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday I planned to enter the 7 pm Railbirds.com ranking event on LuvinPoker.com. To that end, I took a nap just before the tourney to assure that I would be at my best.

Of course, I had failed to let Diane know of my plans so when I woke up 30 minutes prior to the event, she thought I was being quite helpful in getting dinner ready.

I started to prepare the sweet potatoes while she pan fried the pork chops. I did not have much time before the event, so I wanted to speed dinner up.

With the potato in the microwave, I then warmed up our soup appetizer and served it. We ate the soup and by that time I had told Diane about the tourney.

After we finished the soup, I got online and quickly registered for the tourney. I hastily cut up my pork chop into bit size pieces and prepared the sweet potato for easy eating. I sat down on the couch with my meal and my laptop just as the tournament started.

My first two hands were easy folds. My third hand was a pair of Kings. When it was my turn to bet, I raised to $30, which was three times the big blind. I got two callers.

The flop was 5 6 10. When it was my turn to bet, I lead out with bet of $65, about 2/3 of the current pot. The two players called and the turn was a 7. Not a good flop for Kings. The pot now had about $280 and I bet out again with $160 and this time I got one caller.

The river card was an eight, a terrible card because this could complete a straight for my opponent if he already did not have one. I checked, he raised and I folded. I know my opponent and he does not bluff much, so I saved the rest of my chips for later.

My next two hands were uneventful except that I was dealt a 4 7 off suit one hand and a 7 4 off suit the next. Then I was dealt a pair of pocket Aces, AA. There were two players ahead of me that called the minimum bet of $10.

When it was my turn, I bet out $40 or four times the big blind, hoping to get only one caller. But the two players that had limped in quickly called my bet. The flop was 4 5 6 offsuit. This was not a good flop. The two players ahead of me checked. I thought it over and decided that the board looked two scary to allow either of theses players to stay in the hand and catch up to my pair of Aces.

I decided to go all in and force them to fold. Well that worked for the first limper. But as always is the case, when you get called in these situations, it is usually by somebody with a better hand.  My opponent turned over 7 8, showing a straight on the flop.

My only hope was for either of the two remaining Aces to hit the turn and the river or for an Ace and a card paring the board to give me a full house. Otherwise I would be out of the tournament.

No miracle cards hit and I was out. Just like that.  I had lost 40% of my starting stack with KK and the rest with AA.  I did not feel too badly about my play. At least I made decisions that I felt gave me the best chances based on what I thought my opponent had. I was wrong, but I could accept what had happened and not let it bother me.

In less than 10 minutes from the start of the tournament, I was out. And I was not going to reward myself with dessert.

Do you play with a plan for every hand? Do have ideas on what you will do pre-flop, flop, turn and river?  Do you also take into consideration your position at the time?