WSOP and the dealers

This year made my second experience with the wsop. If you've never been it's hard to grasp what it's actually like.

Imagine you're in a room about the size of a medium sized grocery store. Like that room, this one has no pillars or obstructions either. Now imagine it filled to the brim with poker tables save for the isles, cashier's cages, and sign up desks etc. Each of these tables have their own color coded, numerical placard hanging over them to identify them.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of chips being shuffled, fiddled, raked into the pot, and scooped to the winner. Each giving off it's share of a rumble of the distinctive "click" they produce.

There is the occasional hoop or holler of various sorts, each one no doubt the result of a sudden change in fortunes one way or the other.

There is the looks on players faces that run the same gamut as the sounds when that change occurs.


Now imagine walking out of that room, across the hall and into another just like it. Or the third down the hall and around the corner.

Nearly 500 tables at times. And each must have a dealer. They fly in from all over the world. Some are better. Some are worse. Some are......well, let's just put it like this: Some are like they went out on the street and asked people, "How many cards are in a deck?" And if their answer was anywhere between 48 and 56 they said, "You're hired!" At the $75 turbo satellites level, the cheapest tournament they have, there were several dealers that had players correcting their actions. Added to the aforementioned noise it wasn't unusual to hear, "FLOOR ON TABLE 337!"

I also saw the undisputed best dealer I have ever seen in 30+ years of poker. He was a 60ish year old Phillipino guy. Silky smooth with the cards. Robotic. A shuffle comprised of three side by side ruffles, a triple cut, and a protector cut in 5-6 seconds or so. Consistently. Never a card that comes in too fast that it dinks off your chips or cup; nor did I see any short ones. Perfect aim. And he worked the pot with computer-like speed and accuracy.

Anyway, it's definitely an experience you want to include on your bucket list.

Everybody remembers who won the main event but what about the people that deal out the winning hands? Your post got interested in that now.

Interesting post, I've always kept an eye on the dealers in televised tournaments. I remember in one of this year's WSOP final tables they kept rotating between a blonde woman who looked like she would rather be anywhere else and a heavyset fortyish guy who looked like he would rather be nowhere else.

They talk about pressure on the players at the final table, I would think that being a dealer at the final table of the ME has to also be a pressure cooker because you're just as much on world TV as the players are. Any screwup will be recorded for posterity and for your bosses' displeasure as well, although if the play is HU then dealing must be relatively simple.

I was just over at the WSOP site and the fact sheet for this years event said there were 480 tables which was a record so my bad there. I thought I read last year there was over 700.
After rereading my post I also should change it to hundreds of thousands of chips. I was playing while writing it and was thinking the dollar amounts and of course some are worth multiple dollars.

I'll try to see if I can find out how the FT dealers are selected.

i went back in 2006 and played for my 21st b-day. pretty great experience. played in a $1k bracelet event, the day after the main event started cause i wasnt 21 yet

still have my registration ticket in my safe that has the table and seat number i was assigned to.

1st hand of the $1k buy in tourney, i had QQ with a J74r flop, got pushed all in on the turn after a 3 hits. i make the hero fold vs AA. i can dodge bullets baby!!! (lasted 3.5hrs before bust)

The wsop is a wonderful experience.. there are thousands of other tournys in other casinos at the same time so go just for the experience.

One day, I hope to play in the WSOP.
I'm sure it's a most memorable and wonderful experience, especially if you can get past the first 3 days.

I wanna know where they get the dealers for the event, how they are picked

bad dealer is part of the game
like black call for basketball, or bad referrer in American Football.

LOL

I wonder how they choose the dealer for the final table on November 9 or do they use some kind of criteria too choose the dealer or multiple dealers

vic75 said:

I wonder how they choose the dealer for the final table on November 9 or do they use some kind of criteria too choose the dealer or multiple dealers

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I remember watching one of the WSOP final table videos and either Lon or Norman mentioned that the particular dealer at that time had been awarded Dealer of the Year, so I would imagine that they're not putting trainees out there on worldwide TV.

Casinos always use the newest dealers as tournament dealers. It's not until they get their feet wet actually pitching cards that they get moved into cash games. You'll find several competent dealers at the series, but also several rookies as well. Realize that the Rio isn't running one event at a time during the series AND they always have ample cash games going.

They have to cover those 400+ tables at least for 2 shifts a day (for approximately 6 weeks), with ample floor people, as well as relief dealers. They pull dealers from coast-to-coast and some are green. I've had great dealers, good dealers, and also dealers I wouldn't let touch the cards at a home game.

Regardless of how good or bad the dealer is, though, they are a person providing a service and my goal as a player is to make their life a little easier. I interact with the dealers, never get upset if "they put a bad beat on me", and will intervene if another player starts becoming hostile toward them. It helps being over 6'5"

Loonbat said:

...and will intervene if another player starts becoming hostile toward them. It helps being over 6'5"

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How often would this happen. I can see with so much money on the line people might start to act crazy.

zEric7x said:

How often would this happen. I can see with so much money on the line people might start to act crazy.

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You would be surprised how many players at the table believe they are the smartest Hold'em player in the world and try to run the table.

I have seen this several times and I don't play a ton of tourneys.

Haven't played at the WSOP, but, I have played in a circuit event. The WSOP

has their own dealers that travel the country for the circuit events.

About the first week in May, they all go on vacation and then head to Vegas

to work the WSOP at the RIO.

I'm sure with the sheer numbers they must have to use "temp" dealers

WSOP is definitely on my bucket list. I would love to experience it just once!

hobonc said:

I was just over at the WSOP site and the fact sheet for this years event said there were 480 tables which was a record so my bad there. I thought I read last year there was over 700.
After rereading my post I also should change it to hundreds of thousands of chips. I was playing while writing it and was thinking the dollar amounts and of course some are worth multiple dollars.

I'll try to see if I can find out how the FT dealers are selected.

Click to expand...

Hope you don't mind--I fixed that for you in the OP.