Weak Dealer on table game. Exploitable?

Imagine my surprise, when while walking through the table games section at a local casino, I stopped to watch a game I've never really taken time to observe. And, I'm glad I did, although what I learned may be "worthless".

Ultimate Texas Holdem.

I watched what I consider a "weak" dealer. Her personality and interaction with players is very good, but her card handling is so poor, weak, that she does not belong on any single deck table game.

During the process of removing the deck from the single deck card shuffler, she exposes the bottom care. During the cut procedure, she again exposed the "new" bottom card of the deck. Every deal. (Her long decorative fingernails interfere with proper card handling techniques.) She definitely does not realize she is doing this. Only middle seats can pick gain knowledge frrom this mistake.

This casino only offers Ultimate Texas Poker, and Three card poker dealt with single decks. No, they do not offer Let It Ride, or Caribbean Stud. (Of course, they have other table games, with shoes or CSM's.

Dealers work a 30 minute string in this pit. I do not anticipate this weakness will continue to go unnoticed, although management and supervision is not strong. My tentative thoughts are this weak dealer does not provide a meaningful player advantage on the two games that are applicable.

I wonder what others may think?

Is this something that a knowledgeable player could exploit on either Three Card Poker, or Ultimate Hold'em Poker table games?

Thanks.

For sure. Just check out Ibeatyouraces signature.

For some players, the advantage is meaningful even if it only appears after ten decimal places and three hours of play.

Its like a drop-dead gorgeous woman walking past the table: it doesn't change the law of averages but it sure makes the men raise their next bets to a higher level.

For some players the mere thought of a possible exploitable advantage is enough. For all we know, the casino manager may be aware of her hands and her techniques and consider her actions to be a good marketing tool for the casino.

Exploitable? Only one way to find out... play there for a long time. That is what the casino wants you to do anyway.

If the weak dealer exposes one of her cards in three card poker (assuming you play the ante) then "Yes", it is exploitable.

Shout out to Wizard for letting me know that Q64 is mathematically the optimum hand you should PLAY with. So assuming you'll call with all Q64 or better.. If you hold QXX and see dealer has a K or A.. you now fold and save a bet. K63 and you see a King or Ace.. you now fold. .. You get the point.

As for Ultimate Texas Hold'em. Lets say you get to see what the turn and river are due to weak dealing... You notice you will hit a flush, well odds are you are going to be betting these hands anyway. Unlike Mississippi Stud, you are alloweds to check after doubling the ANTE... so most people will at least call then check-check with any two cards. The only thing I could imagine would be you deciding to play a 2-3 off suit that you would have folded.. but you saw there would be a 2 on the turn.

Quote: minnesotajoe

If the weak dealer exposes one of her cards in three card poker (assuming you play the ante) then "Yes", it is exploitable.

Shout out to Wizard for letting me know that Q64 is mathematically the optimum hand you should PLAY with. So assuming you'll call with all Q64 or better.. If you hold QXX and see dealer has a K or A.. you now fold and save a bet. K63 and you see a King or Ace.. you now fold. .. You get the point.

As for Ultimate Texas Hold'em. Lets say you get to see what the turn and river are due to weak dealing... You notice you will hit a flush, well odds are you are going to be betting these hands anyway. Unlike Mississippi Stud, you are alloweds to check after doubling the ANTE... so most people will at least call then check-check with any two cards. The only thing I could imagine would be you deciding to play a 2-3 off suit that you would have folded.. but you saw there would be a 2 on the turn.

Unfortunately, this dealer weakness is exposing two cards that most likely will not be in play. A bottom card, and a middle of the deck card, which conceivably find itself in a hand, and perhaps could be tracked with skill, luck, and eyestrain. For practical purposes, I would consider that "middle" card out of play, except perhaps at a full table of 3 card, and than you are not certain whether it is in the dealers hand, or someone elses.

Given the rules of UTH... I really don't think knowing two exposed cards that will not be in play will really help you that much (if at all).

Where it is your hand against one hand... and you can not make huge bets (as in No Limit Poker), you can not bluff (in this case you can not get the dealer to fold the better hand)... It will not do much good.

If you were able to see two cards in traditional poker.. then you would be at a significant advantage in my opinion.
Traditional poker, you may:

win a 1,000$ pot with just King high
win a 10$ pot with a Royal Flush
lose 200$ pot with a straight
lose a 800$ pot with three of a kind
win a 500$ pot with a pair.

Ultimate Texas Hold'em...
Pair = X-1
Two Pair = Y-1
Three of Kind = Z-1
etc
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Now the advantange from live poker.. if you see two clubs are exposed... and on the flop you flop top set and there is two clubs on board... if somebody is drawing to flush, you know it is unlikely that flush will come... or perhaps you see ace of diamonds exposes... and you play KQ of diamonds.. flop is all diamonds.. You don't have to worry about somebody having the nut flush.. etc.

Exposed cards in Hold-Em more often than anything, help you decide to fold. For example, if you are holding two Clubs and there's an exposed Club, you're that much less likely to make the flush.

On the other hand, if one of your Clubs is the King, and the exposed card was the Ace of Clubs, now you still have the lower odds of making the flush, but you also have the knowledge that if you do make it, King high is the best Club flush possible. Also, there's less of chance of someone holding an ace to pair it, etc.

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There was an episode of High Stakes poker where David Benjamin had pocket Fours. As someone folded, the player exposed a Four. David didn't see that, so he raised. Gabe Kaplan correctly commented that if David saw it, he probably would have folded.

But, as dump luck sometimes happens, there was a Four on the flop.

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