In the last issue a letter from a California poker dealer appeared in “The Dealer’s Box” (page 31). I found the letter to be very disappointing because the dealer showed contempt for many of the players who he pitches cards at the poker tables. I have seen this attitude many times before. It is a shame when dealers become this antagonistic. I have also seen the opposite. Many players learn to totally despise the dealers who run their games.
So, what’s the solution? I don’t believe that it should be “Dealers be nice to players and players be nice to dealers.” You see, that’s not the real problem. If it was it would be too easy to fix. The real problem is that in many cardrooms, an adversarial relationship develops between the players and cardroom management. And this friction often manifests itself between the players and the dealers. One thing is for certain. If it isn’t solved, it spells certain doom for the cardroom. If a new room opens up down the street, the cardroom will die quickly. If there is no competition, the cardroom will die a slow death. But death will come nonetheless.
So how does a cardroom overcome the adversarial relationship that sometimes develops? As I stated, it’s not easy. First, cardroom management must recognize it for what it is. Excessive player-dealer friction is one tip-off. There are others.
Second, cardroom management must then make every effort to assure that the games are good. This includes good dealers, a good brush system, properly-structured games, knowledgeable floorpeople, and so on. But it also includes even more than that. It includes the regular players who frequent the cardroom on a daily and weekly basis.
Cardroom management needs to work with these people — make them part of the team. They need to solicit their help in creating good games. This includes solving the dealer problem as well as solving the playing problem. Once the games are good, the cardroom can thrive. Otherwise, some cardrooms become a candidate for becoming a memory as opposed to a viable business.