dealing on table game concept

Not sure if this is a new concept, but a casino in Australia has introduced a dealing only pit in their low roller area recently ($5 BJ and $1 Roulette). The tables within the pit are dealing only (no cash/color changes) with there being a separate table to buy in and change your chips on. They basically want the dealers to pump out as many hands as possible, and be free from 'distractions' that slow down the game.


My friend was working in this pit (called the "Hot Zone") today and told me that players are not liking this system which I can understand. Over the long term the productivity gains will probably be knocked out by casual gamers who will simply walk away because they don't want to go buy chips at a separate table and then go to another table to actually gamble. Too much effort and will come across as inefficient to the untrained eye.

Just wondering what you guys think of this concept...

Edit: screwed up the title of this post! Should be 'Dealing only table game concept'

Quote: koala72

Edit: screwed up the title of this post! Should be 'Dealing only table game concept'

This "Dealing Only" or "Hot Zone" is an area that has dispensed with the time-consuming interruptions in Blackjack and Roulette. The House has one and only one thing going for it: the House Edge. The house edge, however, only applies while the dealer is dealing, not when he is making change, selling chips or cashing in chips or any other task.

Rather than tell BJ dealers to deal faster and faster, the casino is getting the speed up by taking away the time wasting tasks.

Probably a good idea. By keeping the speed up, the casino allows these low level bettors to play otherwise the very low level tables are barely covering their own expenses.

Shuffling machines and chip muckers (both human and mechanical) follow the same notions. The House Edge does not apply when the dealer is shuffling the cards only when he is actually dealing them. Make it easy for the players to get chips and to bet them ... productivity. The house edge at roulette is 5.26 percent but it applies only to the money actually wagered.

That is the reason for all these electronic or EZ versions of games wherein something is computerized to make it go faster or commission-lammers are dispensed with to speed up the game. The whole purpose of speed is casino profit. Casinos don't much care about dealers and carpal tunnel syndrome.

I think it's a bad idea.

While I understand the rationale of trying to deal as many hands as possible, this rule will have negative results.

If you force a player to vacate his seat when he wants to reload, you're just giving him an extra reason to vacate and not return. Is his seat saved while he's getting more chips? How long is another player prevented from playing before realizing that the first player isn't returning?

What happens if a player at BJ wants to split or double-down, but doesn't have enough chips? Does the entire table come to a halt while that player waddles over to the change table?


Somehow this casino needs to be reminded that they are in the hospitality industry, and that customer service is still important.

I was in a casino in Lithuania, and you can't buy chips at any table there, have to go to the cage. They told me, it was done for security reasons, not speed, which made sense to me at the moment - everyone having to walk to the cage, and back every time they need to change money is hardly increasing any speed - the dealer may be dealing faster at times, but each customer spends less time playing.

Quote: koala72

Not sure if this is a new concept, but a casino in Australia has introduced a dealing only pit in their low roller area recently ($5 BJ and $1 Roulette). The tables within the pit are dealing only (no cash/color changes) with there being a separate table to buy in and change your chips on. They basically want the dealers to pump out as many hands as possible, and be free from 'distractions' that slow down the game.

Caesars Entertainment might learn from this innovation in view of how they screwed up their craps tables (in AC) by doing away with the box. The length of time dealers take to work on buy-ins, coloring up, refills and the like grinds to the game to a snail's pace. It's especially a pain when inconsiderate players conduct their transactions in the middle of rolls.

This type of thing is common practice at Poker tables. I.E. Buy-in at the cage, and no color-up when you leave. Although, there are times when exceptions are made.

You CAN rebuy at the table.

Of course, there are reasons for these rules:

No color up because it slows the table action down. This is undesireable to the casino as well as the players.

Re-buys ARE allowed because the other players insist on it. I.E. If a player goes broke, the other players want him to stick around - and do it again! Therefore, don't give him the opportunity to think about it by forcing him to go to the cage for a re-buy.

No initial buy-in because poker tables generally do not have a lot chips in the dealer's rack. A typical rack at a $1/$2 may have only $1,000 in it - about $200 in white, maybe $500 in red, and the rest in green with a black or two. If the rack is $1,500, it just has more green & black. Two or three people buying in, and he's wiped out of reds. So save them for re-buys. However, this is a soft rule. Sometimes you CAN buy-in.

Ignoring the other affects, it can clearly reduce the number of hands, five fingers, that is, that are handling cash. That can be a big plus for the casino self-surveilance task.

Really? I think it's a lot easier to five-finger a chip than a dollar bill.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Really? I think it's a lot easier to five-finger a chip than a dollar bill.

Really? Guess you'll be doing that to chips only, then, if you don't get to handle any cash. You can't give your buddy more chips than he pays for, either.