Table Games Blackjack Dealers "Favoring" Good Tippers??

I’d like to share a story of something that occurred this past weekend while playing blackjack at my local Horseshoe . I was at a $10 minimum table with three other people. Two of them were getting killed and were being somewhat obnoxious to the dealer (blaming him for losses, etc.). The shoe was going fairly well for me however and I was steadily increasing my bets, while betting for the dealer in increasing amounts as my streak continued. The dealer was very appreciative of the tokes. Nobody else at the table was tipping. On one particular hand, I had $80 out there (a fairly large bet for me), and was dealt an 11 to his 3. I doubled both my bet and the dealer’s, and caught a 10 for 21. Saweeet!!

Now let me now preface the rest of the story by saying that this particular dealer has been at this casino for several years and is very proficient at what he does. Anyway, he proceeded to pull a 6, 2, 3, and 7 for a 21. However, after he pulled the 7, he said “20”. I was perplexed as he started to reach for my chips. I said “whoa, I’ve got 21”, thinking he thought he had beaten my hand. However, it turns out that he was reaching for my chips to count them to pay me. I remained quiet and allowed him to do so. The guy over at first (not one of the loud-mouths), was kind of saying under his breath that he could have sworn the dealer had 21. I don’t think he was trying to get me caught…..he was just making an observation.

In my opinion, I think the dealer was pretending he didn’t hear this guy and just went on with paying me. Obviously I don’t know for sure, but I’d swear to it that the dealer didn’t miscount and knew he had 21. Like I said before, he’s clearly a sharp guy. I think he was just taking care of someone who was taking care of him. Needless to say, I tipped generously after leaving the table at the end of the shoe.

Has anyone else noticed dealers sporadically “making mistakes” in the favor of tippers? Is there anyone who would have spoken up and pointed out the “mistake”? I did feel a little guilty, but $160 is a lot of money to me!

Comments, anyone?

 

I consider my self a pleasant customer and decent tipper, and I definitely THINK I've gotten some "help" at the BJ table before, but nothing to be sure of.

I have had it work for me at a craps table at Hard Rock though... Just a couple players, I'd been laying full odds on $25 pass lines all afternoon..Very liberal with toke bets as well.... I somehow miss a point getting made, and then subsequently hit without me placing odds. Dealer to the left of the box says "player called full odds" or something.. Box man just nodded and they paid it off after I set the chips down on the felt. I didn't call anything. They just helped me out because I was nice and tipped.

If it happens there, why not other games?

 

The most common that I've seen is hard way bets staying up in Craps when the easy rolls. Definitely been on the receiving end of Dealer "mistakes".

 

It would have to be as you described in the BJ scenario....an "honest" mistake in counting, not paying an obvious losing hand. However, to expect such a turn of events is asking for the dealer to place his position on the line for tokes. It could happen but it could go bad quickly.
Had the same incident at craps at Orleans when the same process, I was toking and was distracted by the coctail waitress delivering and missed odds placement. It was granted and was my oversight, not the dealers.

I'll attribute your good fortune to Karma (I'm a big believer) and his "honest" miscount. Just don't expect it to come around often. (at 80 $ it doesn't have to)....good luck....

 

The difference with craps is that many dealers will take verbal bets; there have been plenty of times when I realized at the last minute I forgot to put out a place bet when the dice were just about to be rolled, and was able to just tell the dealers what I wanted. If the shooter threw a 7, I'd pay them, if it hit, they'd pay me, and otherwise I'd give them the money to put down in the right spot. Of course, if you're being a jerk to the dealers, they'd likely just say, "Sorry, dice are out" in that situation. So they weren't really making a mistake, just helping you out.

Going back to the blackjack issue, I sincerely doubt any dealer would systematically and consciously pay a player who didn't have a winning hand. At the end of the day, everything is on camera, and thus it's incredibly easy to verify whether or not a player should have been paid on any given hand; a dealer who did this regularly would almost certainly get noticed and probably fired in fairly short order.

 

I've posted this story before but I'll do it again.

Foxwoods around 1995 or 96.

Me and my 20 year old friend with fake ID, he has never played BJ before.

We bust through about $500 each playing roulette, I hit the ATM, loan him a couple hundred and we go different ways in to the casino. About 2 hours later I find him at a BJ table. He tells me to sit down. He has about $1500 in front of him all in green chips ($25).

First hand he has like 19, dealer has 20 and the dealer pays him. My friend tips the dealer $25. I'm like WTF? Next hand dealer beats us both and pays us both! I'm like WTF is going on here? I kick my friend under the table and he whispers "just keep tipping him" as we both start laughing. This went on for a bit till I was like ok, we have enough money, let's go play roulette before we get arrested. That dealer would just keep paying us even though our hand lost, if we busted he swept the cards up and took the chips but if he had 18 vs our 17 he was paying us, it was definitely one of the craziest things i've ever seen in a casino.

 

KingBB....great story! That guy had a deathwish....I doubt he even got out of there with his tips!

Although it could have been an honest mistake in my case, I'm sure this kind of thing goes on more often than one might think. Several weeks ago in the same casino, I was standing behind a $25 table where a guy was playing heads-up betting yellows ($1000). He was tipping greens and on one hand when the guy stood on a 14 against a 6, the dealer hit a HARD 17 with a 5 to bust out with 22. To me that seemed to almost certainly not be a mistake as the dealer cannot possibly bust with a 5! Amazing stuff!

 

I've had a BJ dealer who I was tipping well tip off her cards to me when she had an ace or 10 showing. Not in every case, but if I had a 16 and was playing dumb like I didn't know if I should surrender or not, she'd kind of indicate to me that I shouldn't surrender and then she'd flip her card and have a 4 or 5 underneath...stuff like that. To this day, I'm not 100% sure she was doing it on purpose -- could be she just had a sick tell -- but I'm pretty sure it was intentional. And the funny thing was, the pit boss was right there the whole time (it was in a HL room) and either didn't pick up on it or just let it go as well.

 

With Craps I experience getting help all the time. They will remind you of common bets you make if you forget, take verbal bets, leave hardways up after soft hit on a number......this is of course if you are throwing some money their way.

 

Similar to mike_m235, years ago at the San Remo my dad and I had been playing for several hours and toking the dealers well. The one dealer was extremely quick and was able to tell what her hole card was. On more than one occasion, if I indicated that I was good with say a hard 17, she would mention that my hand was no good and I should take a card. Sometimes the hit would work in my favor, sometimes it wouldn't. However when she flipped her cards, she always would have had me beat on my original hand.

 

I've had some similar experiences. I was playing at Harrah's years ago, and this dealer just could not count. She was paying three card 17's and 18's against two card 19's and 20's. God forbid if either hand got more than three cards on it. She was paying the table on 21's etc. It was unreal, but it was clearly her inability to do math. I initially corrected her the first time she did it, but after that (this went on for an hour or more) I said screw it, if you put someone this bad at basic math on the floor that's your problem.

 

Has anyone else noticed dealers sporadically “making mistakes” in the favor of tippers? Is there anyone who would have spoken up and pointed out the “mistake”? I did feel a little guilty, but $160 is a lot of money to me!

Had a dealer help me out a few times at Slots-A-Fun back in the late 80's or early 90's one time.

Was playing nickels head to head and tipping good. A few times when I was showing 16 and wanted that next card, the dealer would ask me, "Are you SURE you want that card?", with a slight wink. I said no and she busted out. A few hands later same scenario, but this time I watched her 'peak' at the next card.

This went on for awhile until someone sat down and joined our table. After a bit, I thanked her and threw her like 2 or 3 nickels, then left the casino very happy and wanted to ask her out after work. But, I never did.

 

pai gow dealers, if i have been playing the bonus for them, will sometimes call a push when i have lost both hands.

i have had blackjack dealers pay me for a losing hand, or call a push on a losing hand.

it definitely is not the denomination of the tip that matters, because i do not play big, but a kind attitude and a smile, along with the buck on the side, does wonders with some dealers...and for those i perceive that it does not matter, if i lose a little i am gone from those tables.

 

Not so sure about BJ, but I've always been taken care of for being a decent tipper at the craps tables. My hardways somehow managed to stay up (on easy numbers) back in the days when I bet them.

More recently at the Palazzo, I was distracted by the cocktailer and missed a line bet on a natural seven. The dealer told me to put down $15 and paid me (past-posting the house!). Nice.

 

I have had dealers pay me when they shouldn't(or push a loss) from time to time, some of the times I was pretty sure it wasn't an accident. It's rare but it does happen. Keep in mind that the reverse is true as well, in my experience dealer mistakes go against the player a fair bit more than for them.

 

I don't think you know what the word "favoring" means. It is not a synonym for "cheating", which is what you are suggesting.

 

I was tipping my dealer at GN on Saturday evening and he was ignoring me to talk to some locals the wife was obnoxious and the husband seemed strange but nice enough.

 

I'd guess 98% of mispays in the player's favor are accidents. If you're tipping heavy and the dealer is overpaying you, that's one of the simplest ways for the dealer to lose his job. And you BOTH might get arrested for cheating (dealer collusion). This definitely is a risk. Seriously, if I dealer was overpaying me consistently, I'd be afraid and leave the table.

But clearly, dealers can be weird and might just want to screw their employer that night; anything's possible. But incompetence is the far simpler explanation.

As far as the dealer tipping off her hole card, unless this is from the long-ago era where they actually had to look at the down card by peeking under it, the dealer never knows what the down card is (using the mirror reader in the table) unless they actually have blackjack. All other cards just show white, not what they are.

 

I don't know how she was doing it. It was less than 2 years ago. All I know is that when she indicated that I shouldn't surrender, she was always correct. I suppose it could have been a coincidence...but it would be in the 10,000 to 1 range of coincidences.

 

I think I've seen this a few times but one stands out in particular because it was probably the first time I noticed. It was years ago and I was doing well and betting black chips while often putting bets down for the dealer (can't remember how much but probably anywhere from $5-$25). I know doing that drastically increases the chance I'll lose money but I was having a good time, winning a lot, and the dealer was a very friendly lady. I was alone at the table and whenever she had an Ace or a 10 and had to check her hole card I could swear she would give me a look telling me if it was good or bad. If she had a big card in the hole she would sort of groan and give me a short stare, if it was a small card she'd sort of say things like "don't be scared". I was surprised for sure. Since then I do feel like I have seen similar things to what you mentioned a couple times as well. I also remember clearly getting a push on good hands that I had that actually lost. Whether the dealer did this intentionally or by accident I can't be sure.