I adore dealers and am protective of them. As a former waitress during my youth, I know what it’s like to have a customer-facing job.
It was tough when a customer was in a funk, but at least I could walk away and take a break. I certainly wasn’t required to sit down at my customers’ table for 30 straight minutes to ensure they had an efficient and enjoyable meal.
Unlike waitressing, dealers must stay in close proximity to people who can have huge emotional moments due to financial meltdowns or upswings that they have no qualms about expressing.
How players treat dealers at the table varies widely—some players show them the utmost respect, while others see them as mere objects akin to furniture, subjecting them to criticism, disrespect, or worse.
Whether it’s tipping habits, controversial requests, or simple courtesy, how players treat dealers reveals a lot about the game and those who play it.
I talked with dozens of dealers when interviewing them for my upcoming book, Shuffle Up and Deal With It: Tales from Dealers Worldwide, and wanted to share some of the most common situations so we could better understand their perspective.
Dealer Pet Peeves
As with any customer service role, there are common player behaviors that frustrate dealers. One of the most often shared complaints is inconsiderate actions at the table. Nāte JØhn, a dealer who has been working on and off for approximately 11 years, gives the following examples:
“…when I go to reach for the chips [players] put out, only for them to pick them up and throw them to the other side of the table, while I’m stretched across it. Also, moving the button without telling me.”
David Hall, a dealer and instructor with 18 years in the industry, is frustrated by inattentiveness:
“When players wear headphones and keep asking ‘Wuttt?’ when it’s their turn. Pay attention. It’s your money at stake.”
Sandra Q, a dealer since 2005 and now a floor, finds that respect is sometimes lacking, particularly towards women in the field:
“One of my biggest pet peeves as a supervisor and being a woman is, I don’t get the respect I deserve. They think I don’t know anything about poker, even though I’ve been in the industry for 20 years. Players and dealers will constantly test me, especially male dealers.”
Mikey Piepho, a dealer in casino poker rooms for approximately 10 years, highlights how some players unnecessarily slow down the game:
“Splashing chips when they bet serves no purpose except slowing the game down. They stack their chips nice and neat, and then they spaz out when slopping their chips all over the place. Then, the dealer has to reconstruct the chips in a coherent manner to count down the bet. I’ll never understand it.”
My biggest pet peeves are when people treat dealers with disrespect and don’t tip. It honestly drives me bonkers when a player withholds money that a dealer has earned after a player wins hand after hand. I’ve occasionally tipped when a stingy player has failed to do so in such cases.
Common Ways Players Treat Dealers Poorly
Players treat dealers poorly in a variety of ways. Big ones that stand out are withholding tips, throwing cards or chips at the dealer, placing chips in difficult to reach places, yelling or cursing, being passive aggressive, physically jostling the dealer, or claiming a dealer made a mistake when they didn’t.
“Blaming the dealer” is a well-known phrase in poker, but it can become frustrating when taken too far.
A dealer who wished to remain anonymous shares, “It may seem like a funny accepted dig, but it’s overused and can be annoying. We have no control over the cards.”
Nāte JØhn recalls, “I once got called a [c]unt for asking a player to stop watching videos [with the sound playing through the speaker of] his phone. I asked politely if they could use headphones or refrain from playing [the videos] out loud, only to be ignored. So, I called the floor [who] didn’t do anything on this occasion, and it caused me to leave said poker room.”
Others mention that disrespect often comes in more subtle ways. Neil Jones recalls players “[t]alking down to me as if I don’t know the rules.” Sandra Q adds how some players will refuse to push their chips or cards in, “making me reach extra hard because they’re upset over a poker hand they lost.”
Big wins don’t always equate to big tips. Some dealers, like Larina Henry, who has been in the business for 15 years, express frustration at the lack of respect and poor tipping habits:
“Young kids winning thousands of dollars and maybe tipping a dollar is more insulting than not tipping at all sometimes. Sometimes I think players should have to deal for an hour, especially if they’re new to the game, so they can appreciate what we do for them.”
Alcohol and bad beats can bring out the worst in some players. As Paul Blanchette notes, “There are always the few players that turn into horrible people when you add alcohol and money loss.”
Dalton Hunter, however, believes that poor behavior stems from financial problems. “This [behavior] comes from issues they have of their own, usually stemming from not being able to afford to lose. Gambling addicts, in general, have poor attitudes and should seek help.”
Similarly, David Hall shares, “They have the 1-800-GAMBLER pamphlets by the cage. If you’re losing so much that you’re blaming the dealer, it’s time to make that call.”
Conversely, Mike Mathews, who has dealt for five years, says dealers have to accept the good with the bad:
“If you are willing to accept the praise, ‘Attaboys!’, and extra-large tips from the players who call you their lucky dealer because you hit the river for them on a huge pot, you can’t get upset about the player who says you suck because they lost a huge pot on the river. It’s the flip side of the same coin.”
David Hall believes that poor treatment of dealers isn’t widespread and that some dealers could improve their own interactions:
“If a dealer is always getting treated poorly by players, they should try to figure out why they’re so unlikable. Most players treat dealers with common decency and tip every hand.”
Some Players Can and Do Go the Extra Mile
Despite the occasional challenges, some players make an effort to appreciate dealers. Sandra Q recalls a special moment from 2010 when regulars rallied to nominate her for Employee of the Month:
“They all got together and wrote complimentary notes about me, about 25 to 30 comment cards saying all these wonderful things. That was probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me in poker.”
Lane Medina recalls a standout moment: “I was dealing 25/25 PLO. The game was moving fast, and I was keeping up the best I could. After my down, a few of the players tossed me an additional $25 chip. That made my year!”
Rich Douglas shares a unique compliment:
“A player once approached me on break and said he was sure I was cheating. But after watching me carefully, he realized I was just smooth with my hands. He thought I might be a card mechanic. As I was getting pushed, he tossed me a redbird and said, ‘You’re an excellent dealer.’”
For many dealers, small gestures like these make all the difference. “Multiple players [told] management and myself how much they appreciated me and that I should be training all the other dealers,” says Lane Medina gratefully.
Many dealers shared that simply praising their pitch, attitude, and customer service is enough to brighten their day, though a nice tip never hurts either!
Final Thoughts
The relationship between poker players and dealers is a crucial part of the Texas Hold’em ecosystem. While many players respect and appreciate the work dealers do, others push boundaries or fail to recognize the challenges of the job.
Dealers, for their part, remain professionals—managing egos, enforcing rules, and keeping the action moving.
The best tables are those where respect is mutual, where players see dealers as skilled professionals, and where everyone understands that playing poker is a choice that players make and that dealers help facilitate.
Bottom line: Be kind, tip, praise dealers when they do a good job, and speak up when someone berates a dealer before the floor needs to be called. And, as always, good luck on the felt!
