Dealer Training
All of the dealers, with the exception of craps, are volunteers. Some are good, some are not so good. We try to provide training but mostly, they simply show up and start dealing. We keep close tabs on all but, mistakes are made. Plus, play is slow for some (not good).
Was wondering is anybody could recommend any dealer training manuals or DVD for blackjack, roulette and craps? I want to make these available for current and future dealers before the events. Again, I'm not trying to make these people in to a casino professional but rather, simply use as a primer. Thoughts? Thanks.
Quote: RivaAs I have shared previously, I am involved with a non-profit that has frequent charitable gaming events for fundraising. It real money wagering however, it's mostly on the $1-$10 variety. Still, we have about 50 tables in all and the place rocks sometimes.
All of the dealers, with the exception of craps, are volunteers. Some are good, some are not so good. We try to provide training but mostly, they simply show up and start dealing. We keep close tabs on all but, mistakes are made. Plus, play is slow for some (not good).
Was wondering is anybody could recommend any dealer training manuals or DVD for blackjack, roulette and craps? I want to make these available for current and future dealers before the events. Again, I'm not trying to make these people in to a casino professional but rather, simply use as a primer. Thoughts? Thanks.
My thought is you have to do it one on one. Most people are simply not going to go all-out to learn to deal great on their own. You will have perhaps 10% of the people who will, but mostly adults just do not put in such effort. I've trained a few folks and even the ones who really want to learn to the top level need the "live" feedback.
You can get a list of course topics ...
but it has to be a real table layout even if its on a piano top or something.
Small groups maybe, individual lessons better but feedback for sure.
How to have Reds in one hand and Whites in the other, how to anticipate chip needs, how to handle players in the proper order, how to position chips properly for place bets and odds bets. How to make change. Above all, pretend its real. Real money and real cameras ... the players like that and so will the dealers.
2. Deal cards up left to right then dealer. One card each round, not two-two-two-etc.
2a. Peek for dealer BJ when appropriate. I would not bother with Insurance with new dealers, too much to learn.
3. Play left to right. Collect busts, leave open hands out. Can't stress enough to collect losers at the loss.
4. Players never touch the cards, like the real thing.
5. After dealer plays their hand pay right to left. Ignore players with no cards in front of then (ie, losers)
Most common new dealer errors I witnessed over the last few years:
1. Paying split As as BJ. Even AZD did this at first. Mine was not for real money.
2. Correctly handling splits and DD.
3. Losing control of their table--THIS IS #1 ISSUE! Limits are limits, rules are rules. It is hard to teach them to maintain control while not being a jagoff, but I have seen dealers get run over.
4. Keeping to the rules and knowing the games. If one person lets people split Q-J and another does not you have issues fast.
And sorry if I said it before, but do not skip cheque-handling. If they cannot size in they are in for a loooong night.
Quote: AZDuffman1.
And sorry if I said it before, but do not skip cheque-handling. If they cannot size in they are in for a loooong night.
Could you expand on this point a little more? Thanks
Quote: RivaCould you expand on this point a little more? Thanks
Cheque is another name for chip/token. I think the caution concerns dealers handling color-up requests, exchanging chips for money, etc.
Quote: BleedingChipsSlowlyCheque is another name for chip/token. I think the caution concerns dealers handling color-up requests, exchanging chips for money, etc.
No.... there are two techniques for chip handling. Drop cutting and sizing into a bet.
Dealers should be able to hold a stack of chips and drop them one at a time but that is just an exercise in dexterity.
The one that is most often used in paying off a bet is to Size Into the bet.
Lets say the player has a "stack" of Red Chips and is to be paid even money. The dealer does NOT count the chips visually and drop the required amount. The Dealer takes a tall stack of Reds and sizes into the bet leaving a stack of the same height. So no matter what weird amount the player bet.... he is paid off correctly. Five reds, Seven Reds, Eight, Nineteen... whatever.. the dealer does not have to count or do math,,,he just sizes into the bet and pays off properly.
When dealers don't need to count and don't need to do math.... things move faster.
Dealers should avoid unnecessarily translating chips into dollar amounts. If there is a Red chip on a bet and the payoff is two to one then the dealer does not say "five dollars so I owe him ten dollars" .. Dealer simply thinks One Chip is there, so I owe him Two Chips. That way, the dealer can pay off Red,Green, Black, Purple, Orange or anything with the same technique and not have to do any math.
One night after my friends restaurant closed for the night we all headed down there.... they liked to play blackjack. Me i just watched and was amazed at what I saw the last 10-15 minutes to closing time. The guy sitting THIRD BASE was having a great night .....$10 max bet per hand playing one hand. He would win get paid, he would lose get paid. And the amazing thing about it was well he was getting $30 a hand either way. Dealer was giving him a red chip on top of a green. You know how they cover the greens up with a red chip.... well that's where he was getting paid from each hand.... and others at the table that lost well one of those reds always found its way back to the green row, ready for the next hand
Closing time was 3 am I believe and the casino opened at 4PM so it was an 11 hr run each night. By the last hour of the night all the supervisors were all tired and sitting down at their table talking with each other while this dealer and his buddy cleaned out the charity of the night. Guessing they took down $500-600 in that short period I watched.... they had this down well as my friends who played the game never even noticed what was happening....wonder how long they had this going ?
Quote: BleedingChipsSlowlyCheque is another name for chip/token. I think the caution concerns dealers handling color-up requests, exchanging chips for money, etc.
Thanks.
Actually, here in Michigan, the rules for charitable gaming prohibit anybody from playing with real money. Chips are purchased from the house and used at all games. If a player wants to buy more chips and/or cash out they can not do it at a table.
Saying what Flea said in an ergonomic way;
When paying bets, the dealer has a stack of chips in their hand of the denom in play. Using the same hand, they drag a finger lightly on the player's bet, then across the stack of chips they're leaving behind (might be 1,2,3,10) to make sure the stack is the same size; they've paid even money. 2:1, they leave 2 stacks behind. 3:1, they leave 3 stacks. Paying more odds than that, they usually do the math and pay in larger denom chips, or stack in 5 chip increments (again doing a sort of math) showing the total amount paid to both the player and the house oversight. It's fastest to just "size" the stack, rather than pay a multiple you have to figure out first.
It isn't hard but it isn't intuitive. Without holding them right knowing to size is near useless. You should be able to hold 20 in your hand at one time.
Look on youtube, this is not the easiest thing to explain in writing. Good luck.
Quote: coilmanIn Windsor prior to the Casino opening what was it about 15 years ago they had charity Casinos in the city. Basically blackjack tables and maybe a BIG 6 wheel
One night after my friends restaurant closed for the night we all headed down there.... they liked to play blackjack. Me i just watched and was amazed at what I saw the last 10-15 minutes to closing time. The guy sitting THIRD BASE was having a great night .....$10 max bet per hand playing one hand. He would win get paid, he would lose get paid. And the amazing thing about it was well he was getting $30 a hand either way. Dealer was giving him a red chip on top of a green. You know how they cover the greens up with a red chip.... well that's where he was getting paid from each hand.... and others at the table that lost well one of those reds always found its way back to the green row, ready for the next hand
Closing time was 3 am I believe and the casino opened at 4PM so it was an 11 hr run each night. By the last hour of the night all the supervisors were all tired and sitting down at their table talking with each other while this dealer and his buddy cleaned out the charity of the night. Guessing they took down $500-600 in that short period I watched.... they had this down well as my friends who played the game never even noticed what was happening....wonder how long they had this going ?
I remember the action in Windsor. Bingo was HUGE over there. Plus, back in the 70's, the age to legally drink was 18 and in MI, it was 21.
Your point is well taken with regard to dealer/player collusion in blackjack. As mentioned, most of our dealers are parent/volunteers so most have good intentions. When we do have to rent dealers because we are understaffed, we try to keep them off of BJ for this very reason. Some rent dealers will call a pal and tell them where they're working on a given night and show up, just like you said, during the last hour or so. We caught one guy doing this a few years ago. The way we caught him was, after switching to a new table to deal, the pal would always follow him to the new table.
We came close to getting really clipped by a professional cheat on roulette a few years ago. I was dealing craps so I could not go over to watch was going on. He played for about 20-30 minutes and was up by over $5,000. I think he was past-posting and our people (volunteers) were just not savvy enough to catch it. Anyway, he went to cash out and there is sign there and throughout the room telling players there is a $500 maximum on winnings. He went frick'n ballistic as he working alone and did not have anybody to off his chips to (a common practice when somebody exceeds $500). Had to call in the cops. At the end, we paid him a flat $500 and told him he had to leave ALL the chips at the window. He hasn't been back.
A player following a particular dealer will stand out strongly if that dealer has to go from a 20 dollar table to a 50 dollar table.
