The Best Black Jack Dealer

Even if you aren’t a big gambler, there is a good chance you’ve played blackjack, or watched someone play blackjack at some point in your life.

So the question is: what makes a good black dealer?

Well that’s easy - The one that gives you the best cards!

Sure ok - Makes sense - And who makes the best blackjack dealer?

I will tell you who I think it is ... It was a dealer in Arizona a year ago, but a dealer I’ve seen several times before.

The best blackjack dealer, is the dealer that feels and acts bad when YOU lose.

This really shouldn’t be that hard. The money they are playing with belongs to the casino.

But time and time again, what I have seen is a dealer who seems to have zero reaction at all - They barely make a peep when you win, and they have no reaction when you lose ...

And when you have just a brutal loss, a bunch of money in front of you sitting on a 20 - and they pull a whacky 4 or 5 card 21 ... they shrug their shoulders and move on.

Maybe it was a huge hand, maybe the entire table stayed pat so that the dealer could bust with a 6 showing, and they instead pull a miracle card.

I’m not asking or expecting them to send you flowers every time you lose a hand, and dealing must be an absolutely rough profession, constantly getting berated by drunk dufuses who expect and demand to get blackjack every hand.

But the best blackjack dealer matches the moment ... when they realize what a brutal beat they have just put on you, from a percentage situation, or just from a “how much money you had in front of you” situation, they act like they feel bad, whether or not they even do feel bad.

They say the right thing, show the right body language, and don’t just keep going like a robot, as if every player is the same and every hand is the same.

The dealer I had in Arizona, looked anguished when he pulled a miracle card and beat the whole table. He was playing out of his mind ... and he knew it... and he also knew it was no fun for us.

But when I left the table, I didn’t feel like a loser, even though I just lost money, because he met the moment. He recognized how bad some of the hands were. He didn’t just shrug his shoulders like so many other dealers and say:

“Hey man I just deal the cards, I have no control how they come out .... ”

Call it what you want ... empathy, meeting the moment, reading the room, maybe even just ‘faking it’ ... but the best dealers respond to the situation. When its good, and especially and more importantly, when its bad.

So how many times has a referee or umpire had a similar situation in a game, a brutal choke job, and awful series of mistakes, a crazy rule that’s rarely called but they HAVE to call - and missed their chance to meet the moment.

Missed their chance to read the room. Missed their chance to just be a normal human being and say:

“Jeez ... that sucks.”

Most refs are terrified of giving compliments, and that’s fine. You should be very very careful about celebrating along with a team because most of the time that looks like favoritism. Giving a player a high 5, giving a compliment ... normally I save those for special moments that would be sportscenter top 10 plays and say something like

“Man I wish I had that on video.”

On the flip side, you don’t have to say I’m sorry ... you just need to recognize that there is another person at the end of this event or decision.

How many times have we seen new refs and umps, who not only are unable to match the moment, but actually will go in the opposite direction?

Instead of engaging, or even just faking it, they instead will become a robot, just like that blackjack dealer.

“Hey man... I just call what I see“
“There is nothing to talk about ...”
“I’m not the one committing the mistakes/penalties ...”

They are afraid to show empathy, or even a touch of sympathy. Instead, they become robotic, use the same boring responses, shrug their shoulders, and perhaps worst of all start ignoring and avoiding any kind of response with the players.

They think this is the right way to handle a bad situation. No explanation is needed, but also no reaction is needed. They see any acknowledgement or reaction to the situation as a sign of WEAKNESS.

They see ignoring the situation and not responding to upset or confused players as a sign of Strength, when all it does is distance them from the players, make them seem uncaring and aloof, and lead to further problems down the road.

It never builds credibility to ignore a situation where players are angry or confused, or BOTH!

It actually takes away credibility, not because you are some unfeeling monster, but because it just seems like you don’t care.

Players are less likely to ask you questions, to ask for your help, and more likely to just see you as the enemy.

Can you think of a time you saw the dealer at a blackjack table as the enemy, or the dealer at any gambling casino, and ended up winning a bunch of money.

Fast forward to a biz conference 2 months ago. We have an eccentric dealer who is saying crazy stuff I have never heard before that I can’t type here, and she is winning every hand. I get angrier and angier - making comments like “You know your allowed to bust once and a while” and “man can I play your hands” - you know, the normal banter when things are going poorly for me at the tables.

Shocking no one, it ends up being a bad night.

But she was an amazingly fun and entertaining dealer.

The next night I try an experiment. Right out of the gate, nothing but compliments.

Your the best dealer here, why are you working the night shift.
Nobody believes in you except me
Your one of the best dealers here.

Can you guess the outcome, as she dealt me a miracle card on her last hand before leaving ?

Was it just a coincidence? Do you still believe in coincidences?

Do you still believe that refs and umps who ignore players, and never match the moment, always seem to coincidentally have more problems and complaints, and more comments that “the ref didn't seem interested to be there.”

We’ve said it many times, and we will say it again:

If someone is bothering you for the 5th time about a bad call from 20 minutes ago, yeah you can probably start ignoring them. Nothing good is gonna come from that situation.

But a crazy play, that wipes a rally off the board. A crazy rule that takes away points or runs. A giant mistake, that hurts a team that’s already playing like crap.... well maybe try and meet the moment.

How many times have I seen a player who is in-experienced, get on base for kickball or softball, race to second base and over run second base, sometimes even after you initially called them safe and then had to call them out because they got tagged off the base.

How many times have I seen an umpire call that player out, turn and walk away, and never even explain what even happened.

Ump you said she was safe? How can she be out?

Because she was out

I don’t understand?

Player was out ... lets move along ... top of the third inning.

Robotic. Out of touch ... and all technically correct. She was out AND you missed a chance to match the moment.

You’ve missed a moment to teach, and a moment to be a normal person. It was a big mistake, but you are treating the situation like its just like every other play. The call was confusing, the player is confused, and the other players are upset... how can someone be safe and out on the same play?

How about:

“Yeah its a bummer she was safe on the throw, but then she over ran 2nd base and when she passed 2nd she was tagged so she is out on the play. Hey runner, make sure you remember you can over-run 1st base but you cant over-run 2nd or 3rd base.

[BTW you will often see this play happen a lot in reverse, with a 2nd baseman stomping on the bag when someone over-runs 2nd base, but the force is off, so they have to be tagged. The second base player doesn’t understand that, so is equally livid when you eventually call the runner safe because there was no tag.]

Here you have met the moment - No need to apologize or send flowers, and you don’t need to bring the game to a screeching halt. But it was a big moment, an unusual play, a chance to hopefully make sure a big mistake like that doesn't happen again in the future, instead of just going looking for future mistakes.

Mediocre Refs always go looking for mistakes and screw-ups, no matter what the game situation is.

Great Social Refs can call mistakes, but actually care about trying to prevent the mistake from happening again - whether through explanation or education.

You don’t control the cards, and you cant control where someone runs, or how someone catches (or drops). But you can match the moment and realize that not every play is the same, and the more you show that you understand the moment to players - especially the rough and brutal moments - the easier your life will be as a referee or umpire in rec leagues.

Next time you swing by a casino, watch the dealer. Watch how they react when they lose, but more importantly watch how they react when they win ... especially with a brutal low percentage, out of nowhere, win - when everyone at the table was already counting on the dealer to lose.

Now please never stand on 16 with a dealer showing a 7 -