being berated by dealers

i hate when the dealer starts berating me for not betting the 'bonus' bet in let it ride. it's bad enough the goofballs sharing the table always say something, but i think the dealer should just shut their pipehole instead of insisting how much money i'm gonna lose by not making the bet.

If this bet is often at a house edge of 25 percent, I see no reason for a dealer to encourage it and certainly never a reason to berate a player for not opting for it. Sure 'its only a buck' but its your buck! So its you who decide.

Its definitely something I would alter my tipping behavior about and quite frankly I'd mention it to the floor.

In the UK, it is a condition of obtaining a gaming licence that you are not allowed to encouage people to gamble(at the company i work for it is part of responsible gambling training). If people are regulaly playing side bets and I notice they miss one, maybe because they are talking, I will ask before I deal a hand if sir or madam was continuing to play the bet,as a matter of politeness so they dont miss out. But I never encourage anyone to play the side bets and people ask me about the odds I generally reply with a comment such as "The casino will always end up winning, and bets like that help the casino win faster". This doesnt always stop people playing them, but its their choice.

The example given in the first post shows a low level of professionalism from the dealer, and would lead me to reply with something like "every losing dollar on the bonus is a dollar less to tip with" and see how long it takes before he shuts up. Id probably still stiff him for the attitude. Im petty like that, as working in the service industry, i know how hard i work, and having to share tips like we do, people like him annoy me as they are costing me money.

i totally agree with you Croupier. if they try to inflluence the betting or give attitued then they are not being professional. it's not their money that's at risk. try placing that bet and say it's their tip and see if they don't change their tune. i like dealers who are friendly or helpful, but otherwise they should be neutral and just concentrate on trying to do their job correctly and efficiently so they can keep the game flowing. otherwise i just walk away, and if i can do it after a win even better. the perfect time to conspicuously grab my winnings, without leaving a tip,

Quote: brindle

i hate when the dealer starts berating me for not betting the 'bonus' bet in let it ride. it's bad enough the goofballs sharing the table always say something, but i think the dealer should just shut their pipehole instead of insisting how much money i'm gonna lose by not making the bet.

One of two reasons comes to mind:

One, the casino "encourages" dealers to hawk bets. Not sure if this is legal as another poster says it is not, but one of the "dealers stories" I saw said craps dealers were told to do it.

Two, the casino puts their worst dealers on "Let it Ride" since it is a carnival game declining in popularity. (No offense if you like playing it.)

I think you guys are being a little harsh on the dealers. Most dealers want their players to win and when they tell you to bet the side bet, its often because they genuinely believe that's where "the money is made" for that game. They are wrong, obviously, but I don't fault them for their good intentions.

I also don't fault them for thinking this way either; a lot of side bets give the impression of easy and often wins (like "Match the Dealer") and do a good job of disguising a high house edge. Not to mention all the players they see brainwashing them with their stories of how they won so-many-dollars betting on Perfect Pairs.

I refer to my earlier comment about professionalism. When I deal 3 card poker to a new player, who isnt sure about what to do, I inform them that the ante is the better bet, but that there is a higher possible win from the pair plus bet, but it isnt as good a bet as just the ante. The other players may tell people its stupid not to bet the pair plus, but I believe I have done my job if I have educated the players about the best way to play any game, and leave the decision up to the player.. If they dont want to bet the pair plus, I wouldnt even consider in any way trying to change their mind.

In Blackjack, when asked "What would you do?" regarding a certain hand, I quote Basic Strategy, and explain that this is a way of minimising losses in the long term, and not of winning. If still pressed for an answer, I usually come up with "Ive told you what the maths says, what does your gut say" and let them decide.

How a player plays is not my business. When asked I try and offer the best advice I can, but only when asked.

It's pretty common for dealers to hawk a side bet especially if the house edge is high as well as the jackpots. Caribbean Stud is the most prevalent side bet I can think of where almost all players play and are encouraged to play. Let it Ride is another (though there is no qualification so a big hand usually pays well anyway). Texas Hold-Em Bonus is another one where the bonus is strongly pushed. I think it's a combination of the dealer wanting to pay you well and also make money for the casino... a win-win, to say. The fact that the house advantage is in the 10-30% range makes no difference.

And to be frank, if you are playing one one of these carnival games anyway and you are sitting short term (<20 hands), a dollar on a bonus is not such a bad bet -- similar to playing the lottery really. But if you are playing say 300 hands over 5 hours, not so good a choice.

Here in Vegas the dealers at the nicer properties would be unlikely to embarrass a player by saying he is a fool to not make the Pairplus, or any other bet. However, in downtown Vegas, things are a lot more loose and I've been lectured lots of times there for not making it, because "that is where the money is."

On the other side of the coin, the last time I was at the Sycuan casino I noticed a side bet I had never seen before in blackjack. I asked the dealer about the rules. She replied, "Never mind that, it is a sucker bet." I had never heard that one before from a dealer.

Yeah it depends on the dealer. I've never been pressured, ever, to make a blackjack side bet. For Caribbean and Let-it-Ride, the pressure usually comes, even from other players. Every dealer has a story about the person who never played the bonus at Caribbean and then hit a straight flush, only to not have the dealer qualify (the player won $10 instead of $10,000!!!). For a carnival game like Caribbean, you kind of have to play the $1 for that reason even though you know that you are likely throwing it away. Of course, at a $10 table, the HA goes from 5.2% to 15.2% when you don't win on the $1 (flush or better).

Quote: Wizard

I asked, the dealer replied, "Never mind that, it is a sucker bet." I had never heard that one before from a dealer.

A little refreshing honesty from the dealer can be fun, though I expect the floorperson was not standing right next to the dealer at the time. I'm sure that even some rather ignorant tourist knows that its possible for any bet to win, but the tourist would still appreciate a frank and pithy comment. Sometimes the dealers adopt a compromise response "Its a sucker bet, but its only a buck". This imparts some qualitative information about the house edge, but it also emphasizes that the house viewpoint that the player is there to have fun and not be ultra-timid on a gambling vacation.

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Funny story with me and side bets, when I play Pai Gow Poker I rarely bet the side bet since the general rule of thumb is side bets are sucker bets. However, I noticed that on the occasion when I do bet the side bet it never wins, and all the times I do not bet it I have a qualifying hand, the worst was a 5 card straight flush! AHHHH

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

Funny story with me and side bets, when I play Pai Gow Poker I rarely bet the side bet since the general rule of thumb is side bets are sucker bets. However, I noticed that on the occasion when I do bet the side bet it never wins, and all the times I do not bet it I have a qualifying hand, the worst was a 5 card straight flush! AHHHH

I had something similar happen to me recently in 3 card. I never play pair plus, and I firmly believe that in the long run I'm much better off not doing so. But this last time I played 3 card poker I hit 4-5 hands in a row that would have won money from it, including a flush, straight, and, yes, straight flush. The dealer and the guy next to me and I had been talking about not playing it versus playing it (and no, she didn't berate me for not playing it), and the moment I say the straight flush I nearly fell out of my chair from laughing so hard. I still made $150 in about 45 minutes or so, but I would have probably won 3 times that much if I had put the pairs plus bet out on all those hands. I just have to keep reminding myself that in the long run I would lose all that money back if I played pairs plus every hand.