Hello grumpy

[Muses_nightmare]

There is one guy I deal to on occasion that is always in a bad mood. Always. Yesterday I was dealing to him, and a couple other people. He constantly complains about me not giving him any hands, despite the fact that his stack of chips hasn't shrunk noticeably. He's not even playing the part of the game that pays the most. So the most he's losing at one time is maybe $20, and he has gotten some decent hands, he's just not playing the bonus which would pay him more for the hands.

Then I hear him go "You're the worst dealer in here", but almost like it was under his breath. I was trying to be nice, put my friendly customer service face on and hope that he lightens up, but after that, he gets nothing from me. I'm not allowed to stop dealing to him (which is what really sucks about the casino, at my last job all of my bosses were of the opinion we don't pay you enough to deal with assholes).

Then he asks my supe when I'm off the table. and proceeds to grumble and still play saying he's waiting for me to leave, as if I have anything to do with the way the cards come out of the shuffler. Then he throws up $300 in black chips ($100) and asks for a colour change into $5 chips, he just tossed them so they went all over. Too bad none landed on the floor. At my casino, even if it is the patrons chips they have to wait for surveillance to prove it. Especially for bigger chips dropped near the tables.

He's not even the worst customer I've dealt with, but the one thing about this jobs is the amount of time you have to spend with them. Imagine even just a mildly rude grumpy customer, then imagine them sitting directly in front of you for 8 hours.

I hope he lost everything. Karma's a bitch.

[Princess-Snake]

I imagined it. I didn't like what I imagined. Usually I like imagining.

[One-Fang]

Yeah I'm with PS. I like imagining nice things. That wasn't a happy trip to imagination land.

People like that should just take their freaking chips, go wait in a corner, and watch the table. When the dealer eventually does change - come back. I mean hey, if you hate this dealer, if you truly believe THEY are responsible for you not winning big, why are you still playing?!?

[Angry_Hippie]

Grrr that guy sounds awful. I like to gamble I live a casino town. But, I hate most other gamblers. Was there another table with the same game open he could have gone to?

Blackjack scares me, I don't have basic strategy memorized yet (cards myth me). So the only time I play blackjack is when I have a match play coupon so I'll play one hand with the coupon (using a basic strategy card the whole time) tip the dealer at least $1 no matter what and leave. Yesterday, I had a $5 match play and went to a single deck pitch game to play it (better rules than the double deck and 6 deck CSM games at this particular casino). I wanted to wait until the table was empty and play it, but my brother forced me to jump in when there were two people at the table, and of course the only place I could get it was 1st base (hate it for reasons I'll mention later). If I was thinking I would have remembered cards can ONLY be touched with one hand (helps prevent some forms of cheating). I have cerebral palsy and poor vision, sometimes its hard for me to pick things like cards up one handed. I inadvertently scoop the cards up with two hands and some jackass at the table tells me "cards must only be touched with one hand". I mumble sorry and play my hand. It pissed me off hardcore, I think ONLY the dealer should point things like that out to customers. I think it was obvious to the deal that my little two handed scoop was a accident and didn't really effect the game (why would I mark cards if I'm playing one hand and one hand only?). At least the basic strategy for that hand was pretty much the only sensical way it could be played. I'm sure if basic strategy (mathematically proven as the most correct way to play each given hand) differed from the way most people would "wing it" that same jackass would have bitched at me how I effected his hand. I don't like playing blackjack with other people at the table because many seem to buy into the myth that how you play your hand effects the cards that come out for their hand (it doesn't when you stop and think about it but it sure looks like it does). At least I got to watch him walkway from the table with no chips less than 5 minutes later

I'm a lover of craps and I miss playing with my favorite dealers (the economy has caused me to go to a casino with a lower minimum and a higher allowable odds bet). They were freaking awesome and I'd tip them liberally. One time I was playing at an empty table and the dealer and I were talking to other imaginary players at the table and it was a blast ("sir, watch your hands the dice are out" to an invisible man). I do my best not to pay attention to other players bets, they tend to kind of look down on me because I make one of the most basic bets that happens to be the most mathematically sound while they make the fancy looking sucker bets (one guy put a huge place bet on 4 with a point of 10 (obviously attributing some sort of pattern to perfectly random dice) and gave me shit for having a match play on the don't pass next roll was a 7 the whole rest of the table lost and I won and walked away after tipping the dealers).

Wow that makes me feel better, I have uber respect for casino dealers.

[Muses_nightmare]

A lot of the chronic gamblers bother me, because they're usually the miserable ones. (Otherwise I'd call them regulars :P) There are one or two guys who come in quite often like him, which sucks. They're mostly poker players, and, no offense to anyone here who plays poker, but they think they own the place because they play poker there. They like to think they're big shots. It's actually pretty sad.

If I was thinking I would have remembered cards can ONLY be touched with one hand (helps prevent some forms of cheating). I have cerebral palsy and poor vision, sometimes its hard for me to pick things like cards up one handed. I inadvertently scoop the cards up with two hands and some jackass at the table tells me "cards must only be touched with one hand". I mumble sorry and play my hand.

I just was curious about this, why would you have to touch the cards in blackjack? Players aren't allowed to touch them at all on the BJ tables at the casino I work at. I find the different policies and proceedures at other casinos interesting. Apparently mine does things differently than a lot of casinos (though, I don't know how true that is considering it's usually comeing from patrons.)

You sound like an awesome player, just so you know!

[Muses_nightmare]

if you hate this dealer, if you truly believe THEY are responsible for you not winning big, why are you still playing?!?

The million dollar question :P. Jerkwad gambers =/= logical. It amuses me greatly when people are bitchy about the dealer going slower than they would like, since the slower the dealer goes usually the better the odds are for the player (or so I'm told), we're always hounded about hands/hour, so I'm assuming there is something to it.

[Angry_Hippie]

Yep your grumpy customer plus a lot of your regulars are SUCKY. The dealer can't effect the game at all, the dealer has to play their hand by the table rules in a forced way. The only thing effecting the players is the cards they are very randomly dealt and the way they play them.

You are right and your players are wrong. The slower the better for the players. Unless one counts cards their is always an edge the casino has against the players (and with counting the player only gains a very small edge over the casino). It is very possible for the players to win in the short term but they players will never win in the long term (millions of hands). Over time the actual winning and losing will get closer to the house edge. The more hands played the more the edge grinds down the players and the casino wins. That's why the casino wants to keep your hands per hour high. Slow games can be annoying for some people but for smart people slower means more entertainment for less money spent. If your grinding though coupons or looking to rack up comp points faster, a faster game can be better. That is also why casinos love the continuos shuffling machines (no break in play while the dealer shuffles, also make card counting more difficult).

Some of the single deck games here are designed to be super old fashioned. The cards are dealt face down so you pick them up with one hand peak at them and put them back face down and do the hand signals for whatever you want to do (I am in the minority that prefers to speak and signal to make my intentions clear). Play continues around the table the dealer plays out their hand and then flips the players cards face up. Personally I don't like these "pitch" games but some of them have really favorable rules (but there are also bad single deck games out there for people who don't know what to look for, the worst games pay either even money or 6 to 5 on a Blackjack). I'd much rather not touch cards and have them dealt face up (but heck I hardly ever play more hands than I have coupons (Blackjack only match-plays, first card is an ace, ect.) so my preferences really don't matter. I think hands on face down rules increase the potential for sucky customers because it gives the illusion that the players are playing with each other (keeping cards secret from each other) instead of what black jack really is, each player versus the dealer, and it increase my fear of being perceived as "ruining" someone else's hand. I did just realize a face down game does prevent card counting as well (I'm of the school of thought that most people who think they can count well actually can't, one needs to really know basic strategy perfectly inside and out and the exceptions to basic strategy before they can even think about adding counting to the mix) BTW I can't count cards and I don't have basic strategy memorized to my liking yet (I am very quick as using basic strategy charts and I bring different charts depending on the rules I'm expecting to play under).

I work in telephone customer service for a chain of casinos (I book free rooms and offers for players club members) I'm extra board and my hours have been shit now due to the economy. I have enough money in savings to get by, but I do slightly supplement my income with gambling. Unless I'm playing for entertainment I don't play unless there is something putting the odds in my favor (coupons, non-negotiable chips bought at discount prices, advantageous comp situations, free bet offers). One won't get rich doing this, and you can and will lose money in the short term, but in the long term you will come out ahead. It takes the fun out of it too. It a a lot of playing at one casino for minutes at the most, and then moving on to the next (tons more walking and waiting in line at players clubs and dealing with random tourists than actually playing). I used to play craps for entertainment without coupons, even thought the house edge is really low if played right, the variance is high so you either really lose or come out a little bit ahead. I just don't have the stomach for it without steady regular work hours. Knowledge and logic is definitely power in gambling, most hot-shots I see at the casinos are playing very much by the seat of their pants without and not playing in a way that makes mathematical sense.

Do you get coupon grinders at your work Muses? I'd love to know what dealers think of the play a coupon and leave people (I'm convinced players don't like it because we momentarily interrupt their long ass sessions, and they fail to see how valuable the coupons really are even though they usually come in small $ amounts)

'd love to learn poker because the casino has no edge due the players actually playing for each others money. They only part the casinos make money on is the rake they take. But cards confuse me to much to learn how to play poker well and I think I'd encounter way more assholes than I care to deal with. But if I were trying to make big money gaming I'd go for poker, video poker (some machines have a player edge in the long term if played perfectly), well researched sports betting, blackjack, and craps, in that order.

Anyone who is curious about a geeky math based analysis of gambling should check out the Wizard of Odds (he is an actuary turned gambling expert, I think I ran into him and joked around with him at a casino but I was too shy to ask and verify my hunch) www.wizardofodds.com

Sorry for the threadjack, I am super bored waiting for work to call, and I thought it would be relevant to the thread. I dunno if I should start using off-topic when I feel the urge to ramble.

I

[Angry_Hippie]

Your casino is pretty normal, most games are dealt face up without players touching cards. The face down hands on games are mostly to appeal to older gamblers who remember the old fashioned single deck games with good rules. A lot of casinos put bad rules on these old fashioned looking games to catch the people who blindly believe single deck is always better.

[Muses_nightmare]

I don't think we have coupons at our casino (aside from slot play as far as I know). But People sitting down, playing one hand and leaving doesn't bother me at all. So long as they don't win a bunch of $5 chips and then not colour them up, THAT drives me insane, like someone taking all of a cashiers change would.

That's an interesting way of playing, I'm not a big gambler, so my only experience with table games is at my casino (while working mind you). Given I'm only 22, so legally I would have only been able to play in the states just last year anyway. Working at a casino makes me want to give a hand or two of blackjack a try, but that's about it.

My casino only uses the 6 deck continuous shufflers, players bitch about them constantly. I can see how they wouldn't like them, but there are quite a few times they get on good runs, very good ones. They complain about all of our rules here, because apparently a small town in BC should have exactly the same rules as vegas (The lotto corp here makes the regulations for a lot of things). One rule that pisses people off is that if you are falling down drunk, you can't play. If you are refused service by the servers (or rather their supe) you cannot play, and usually you have to leave the casino. If you are drunk coming in, they won't let you in. These are not house policies, they are BCLC policies, and if we don't follow them we get in trouble. (we meaning the casino.)

There is one guy that I do actually like dealing to, but he annoys me at times because he's always saying "the house only beats or loses by one all the time!" even when the dealer has 19 and he has 21. or something like that. The logic of some people I swear.