How to Deal With Fatique When Dealing Cards?

[Poker Jack]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anybody got any ideas on how to deal with fatique when you are working as a card dealer over a long period of time without having a break.
Let's say, dealing 2-3 hours straight without the usual 45min down in the pit, then 15min break that dealers have at the casinos.

It gets quite monotone after a while and you risk doing mistakes because of that. How do you keep your mind on the game without getting bored or wander off with your thoughts just because you've gotten so used to sitting at a poker table and handling cards and chips...

[Martini]

Are you talking about physical fatigue or mental fatigue?

If your arms get tired then there's not much you're going to be able to do about it at that moment other than rest them on the table between streets.

But from your comment about being bored it sounds like you're talking about mental fatigue in which case I think you are missing out on a lot of the tasks that you should/could be doing.

* Keeping track of the action and keeping the game moving along.
* Keeping track of everyone's bets in the event that the hand is nullified and you need to return everyone's bets.
* Calculating pot size for taking rake out.
* Pre-calculating pot sized raises in Pot Limit games.
* Keeping an eye out for any possible cheating. Are everyone's cards always in full view? Is anyone taking spare chips away from another player's chip stack? Are two players signaling hand strength to each other?
* Mentally counting out the cards as you're dealing to avoid misdeals from dealing the wrong number of hands.
* Trying to pitch hole cards accurately and land hole cards on top of the previous ones.
* Being extra courteous to the players at the table.
* And if you have spare time from all of the above and want to work on your own game then you can watch players and try to make reads on their hands.

...and the list goes on of things that you can be doing to keep yourself busy. Personally I find that there is so much stuff going on constantly that I can't imagine zoning out while dealing. And extra attention needs to be paid when dealing Dealer's Choice nights due to the variety of formats being played. A tip for that is that I count down the number of cards for each player so if it's five handed Omaha (/8) I'll think to myself "4, 4, 4, 4, 4. 3, 3, 3, 3, 3. 2, 2, 2, 2, 2. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1" so I make sure that everyone has the right amount of cards.

[Wedge Rock]

How about engaging the players on a personal level in conversation?  Make small talk.  That should keep you active and in the moment.  It'll prevent your mind from wandering and help keep you focused on the dealer tasks the Martini mentions.

I like a dealer who is personable.

Might earn you some extra tips.

[Nerre]

I think you need to be more specific what the problem is. To me, dealing is really more fun than playing, because you participate in every hand and you don't need to make hard decisions. While playing you might be folding ten hands in a row pre flop, and THAT becomes boring:)

[sharkyspoker]

Just keep reminding yourself, that any mistake you make could cost someone else a lot of money. You don't want to sour the mood by making an error. Because then it gets really uncomfortable for awhile. I've had times where I've been dealing for 6-8 hours and finally just had to tell the guy running the game I was done. I would cash out my tips and let them handle their own dealing.

Sharky

[Nerre]

Another thing that struck my mind is that dealing is a matter of procedures. As long as I follow the procedures I could probably do most of it in my sleep.

Before I read The Professional Poker Dealers handbook I think I found it harder to deal, because I did not follow the best procedures and that often made me unsure of if I had forgotten something.

From my notes on dealing:

Wash + call for blinds
Riffle – riffle – strip – riffle – cut – release
Check blinds
Deal hole cards
Tell players who's turn (the blinds have their options too)
Announce all bets and raises
Muck folded hands
Scoop the pot
Knock
Burn
Flop
| (Tell players who's turn)
| (Announce all bets and raises)
| (Muck folded hands)
| (Scoop the pot)
| (Knock)
| (Burn)
Turn
| (Tell players who's turn)
| (Announce all bets and raises)
| (Muck folded hands)
| (Scoop the pot)
| (Knock)
| (Burn)
River
count the stub?
Drop stub
| (Tell players who's turn)
| (Announce all bets and raises)
| (Muck folded hands)
| (Scoop the pot)
Showdown – muck non-winning hands one at a time
Pot to winner (palms up)
Move button
Muck the winning hand and the board
Wash + call for blinds
...
and all over again.

Reading hands and estimating pot sizes are the only "brainers" I think. But if you play No Limit there is no need to estimate the pot, side pots are counted by stacking chips.

I can shuffle, cut and deal with a blindfold, so I never have to look at the cards, but can instead make sure the blinds are posted while I shuffle. It also enables be to keep an eye on the players instead of looking at my hands.


And it's important to find a position where your arms are rested while holding the deck, you should really have an office chair where you can adjust the height so you can rest your arms comfortably on the table and have a good backrest. If the table is high (so the chair must be high) you might also need something for your feet.

[Martini]

@Nerre
Thanks for that procedure list. The weakest part of my dealing routine is losing track of the button but moving it right after awarding the pot and before collecting the last of the cards will help me make sure that it is done. Plus, since it would be done at pretty much the earliest opportunity it would be done before any of the players move the button for you which, while well intentioned, has thrown me off on many occasions.

And while keeping track of the pot in a NL home game is generally not entirely necessary it is important in casinos when rake is being taken and can also help sort out returned bets in the event of nullified hands (casino or home game).

[Nerre]

Yes, other players moving the button (or starting to post blinds before the button has been moved) can mess things up.

That procedure list is more or less a summary of how it is described in The Professional Poker Dealers handbook, but I have intentionally removed some parts that are only relevant for a casinos (since I only play home games where those parts do not apply). I have made a powerpoint presentation too, but it's all in Swedish. I think I may also have left out some parts that are only relevant for cash games, and maybe also parts that apply for other games than NLHE (for example in stud games you should keep track of the number cards to know whether the last card will be a community card or not).

As for calculating the rake the book has a few good tips too, but since I don't need to rake I haven't learned them.

I really recommend that book, it's not very expensive and well worth the money.

I think that for returning bets (which really is the very last resort) I think it is more important to remember which players bet on each round than to know the pot size. But I think that in casinos they consult the cameras (some parts of the procedures, like palms up after awarding the pot, are mostly "show for the camera", but of course they are also "show for the players").

[Motobaka]

In our home game we almost always have at least two dealers so they alternate every 30 minutes.  When there is no one there to alternate with we might end up dealing for at least three hours before we get a break.  Mostly what I have found useful is to try to read the players.  I have dealt for a long time so the procedure is almost mechanic so I don’t worry about it as much as new dealers, so that lets my mind wonder. 

[72]

nice tip: read the board cards and figure out what the highest 3 possible hands would be. helps with quickly and accurately determining the winning hand.