Dealers Must Be Actors

Yes, it is true; I have been paid by casinos, some of them big casinos. My job? Consulting.

That is not as horrific as it sounds because I would never work to catch advantage players. Even the one time I actually taught a dice control class in a casino hotel (the casino was run by a friend of mine) no suits were allowed to be in the class at any time. I did that once, around 2002 but realized this was a dumb move, friend or no friend.

My “Frank Scoblete Gamblers Jamborees” merely brought in great authors to give seminars on this, that and all those other things.

So what did I do for the truckloads of money? I taught classes in how to be an excellent dealer. No, not the paying of bets or any of the professional side of dealing, but on how to act as if you liked the customers. To be a pro, a friendly pro. Since I acted on stage for 12 years, doing over 50 shows, I know a little something about pretending.

There is little difference between an actor and a dealer – or an actor and teacher or an actor and anyone else whose job deals with the public. An actor gets on stage and no matter how he feels on any particular night, he plays his role. “Oh, gee, I have a headache” does not prevent him from playing a happy sun-shiny character. “I hate these students” does not prevent a teacher from making the students think he or she likes them. “I hate dealing and all the people I deal to” should not stop the dealer from being friendly.

It is simple really. You are pleasant even in the face of players who are stupid ploppies – and sadly there are many of those. At worst you are neutral to a player who is the definition of an anal opening. If the player is bitching like mad about losing, then you simply say (in your own words), “I wish I could control the outcome because I’d make you win!” Something like that. Even if you are secretly glad this son-of-a-bitch is losing his shirt, you pretend otherwise. You act.

Learning to act is the key to success and success for all dealers is getting the patrons to tip and feeling desire a return to your casino. Never should a dealer make sarcastic comments or engage in crosstalk at a craps table.

As Shakespeare wrote in “Hamlet,” “The play’s the thing…” and the thing in dealing is to “catch the conscience” of the player. Or something to that effect.

Do you have to actually have pleasant feelings towards those patrons you despise?

By way of analogy:

Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier (perhaps the best actor of the 20th century) were doing a scene for “Marathon Man.” In this scene Hoffman’s character has been up for over 24 hours. To get into the scene, Hoffman (a method actor) stayed up for over 24 hours.

Now as they were shooting the scene Hoffman couldn’t remember his lines or his blocking (blocking is movement and positioning). He was too tired. Finally Olivier said to him, “My dear boy, if you had learned how to act you wouldn’t have to stay up all night.”

So for dealers the word “pretend” is the cardinal virtue. You don’t have to feel it; you just have to act it.

That's a funny story about Hoffman. Spencer Tracey felt the same way
about method actors. Tracey always said acting was easy, just hit your
mark and say your lines. Of course he didn't think it was easy at all, you
also had to act.

deleted

I once heard it summed up this way:

Once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Dealers need to be robots. Deal, pay, take, and keep their yaps shut.

Absolutely not. They need to read the players and realize who likes interaction and who doesn't, then ACT accordingly. Personally I just want them to deal fast and be polite. If you're an AP I think you would want the dealer to like you.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Dealers need to be robots. Deal, pay, take, and keep their yaps shut.

At one time at Caesar's Palace that was the LAW. No interaction with passersby was allowed. A dealer could never initiate a conversation unrelated to the game.

Later, Circus Circus mandated interaction with the customer: Say Hello, introduce yourself by name and home town, ask their name and ask where they are from. If they seem uncertain as to the play they should make .... Tell them what the best play is! For a while there any dealer who had done such things in other casinos would not even finish his shift.

Now many more dealers are females, customers expect interaction and innuendo, its a change from "dummy up and deal" to "butter up and deal". Its even become a Cleavage Tax atmosphere wherein customers knowingly pay more for perceived "sociability" (cleavage plus a smile).

Robots? Some casinos are obviously going to virtual dealers. Its probably too much of an extreme.

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Smile, nod, think of the orthodontist while you bend over juuuust a little more to reach those cards.

Quote: AxelWolf

They need to read the players and realize who likes interaction and who doesn't, then ACT accordingly.

+1

That is so true. For example, I'm usually in a good mood at the tables, but sometimes when I'm not having a good night and just want to concentrate on the game, the good dealers can read this and will let me play without any distractions. This is greatly appreciated, and I always make sure to bet $1 for the dealers every now and then even though I'm down.

A chimp could deal cards if it could say "insurance?"

Quote: AxelWolf

Absolutely not. They need to read the players and realize who likes interaction and who doesn't, then ACT accordingly. Personally I just want them to deal fast and be polite. If you're an AP I think you would want the dealer to like you.

It doesn't matter to me. Some dealers like me and some don't especially when I give their tip to the waitress or the cleaning guy. I'm still going to get the same cards and they're still going to take credit when I win while blaming bad luck when I lose. It's all good from where I sit and I don't sit there all that long to care.

First day of dealer school they told us to pretend we were an actor if we were in a bad mood or just didn't like the player. While I never dealt in the casino I took that to when I did any kind of customer service work.

To say they are only an actor is a bit too narrow. You have to be able to assess a situation and the player. If your "act" is not playing then you have to change it and on the fly. Last week I had a table full of players not speaking english. So I changed to a dealer who talked little. Some players want to be friendly, some do not. At craps you really must decide how the sharps want to be talked to. Also at craps you have to determine if the player who is "messing with you" is trying to get you to banter back or is just being jerkey.

Dealers have to know people.

Quote: 1BB

It doesn't matter to me. Some dealers like me and some don't especially when I give their tip to the waitress or the cleaning guy. I'm still going to get the same cards and they're still going to take credit when I win while blaming bad luck when I lose. It's all good from where I sit and I don't sit there all that long to care.

Sometimes I tip because I WANT TO, It makes me happy to let someone know I liked how they treated me. It makes me happy, to make them happy.

Example: Normally people that work at the slot club don't get tips. In most cases the people who work in the slot clubs are nice but to the point and bland. The other day someone was very nice, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. I really appreciated it, and it made me happy. So I gave the person 3 measly dollars, this is not going to really help that person at all. But I wanted to show them I really did like how they treated me. They were really shocked and delighted. I have a feeling they were not only happy about the money but the jester alone.

Sometimes I tip because Others expect me to. Example: I'm eating lunch with friends, the waitress dose not bring me everything I have asked for and she seems a bit rude. Because I'm with others I don't want to make it an issue and I tip the suggested 10%-20% under protest, if i was alone it would have been $1.
I also tip in situations that I think it will make casino employees like AP's more. It's much less likely they will bring attention to whats going on. Also remember sometimes dealers become Pit bosses and slot floor people become managers If they like you that could be the diffidence between getting paid on some disputed bonus or error at the table or not.

Yes your right the cards will remain the same, and yes some dealers do have some bullshit thinking(I CANT STAND THEM). If i think they are like this I will stiff them. If I think they are genuinely nice and not tip hustlers i will go out of my way to tip them. Tipping dealers, bartender and other casino employees has had great benefits on many occasions. I have been lead to other plays that made me a lot of money that I would have never known about only after tipping them generously.