How sweet they are – those twenty minutes of
sanity
March 27, 2009
Dear Mark: I have
always been fascinated by the gambling business.
What I like most about your column is your
insider’s view as to what is going on. Take last
week’s column where you described the position
of the “Pencil” and dealers being sent off to
battle. I always wondered how the dealer was
assigned a table. My question is in that same
category. Once a dealer gets their table
assignment, do they always deal on that same
game all shift long or do they rotate to
different tables? It seems some casinos operate
differently than others on this matter. Eric G.
Yes, Eric, casinos do it differently.
Personally, I much preferred the “round robin”
approach when I dealt. The other common routine
is the “pre-assigned string.” Let me explain.
Dealing on the same table all shift -- the
“pre-assigned string,” is where three dealers
each have a set table assignment, and a fourth
dealer works relief for those three games. These
three games are referred to as a "string."
For example:
Blackjack-1: Eric G.
BJ-2:
Larry
BJ-3:
Sue
Relief:
Marty
Eric G, (that’s you), Larry, and Sue will work
their respective games for the entire shift.
Marty will be relief and take the first break at
the top of the hour. At twenty past, Marty will
tap out Eric G. on BJ-1, who will take a break
until forty minutes past before returning to his
respective game (BJ-1).
Then Marty will move to BJ-2 to give Larry a
twenty minute breather. When Larry returns to
BJ-2, Marty will tap out Sue on BJ-3 and deal
there for twenty minutes. When Sue returns,
Marty will take another break before starting
the cycle all over again.
Because dealers get a 20-minute break every
hour, most don’t like this method because their
break time is slighted by having a relief dealer
released from one game by an incoming dealer and
then having to tap into the next game on the
string. Smoothly done, this switch can
take less than a minute, but with jam up action,
up to five minutes of the next dealer’s break
can be lost. A four minute walk each way to the
break room, leaves you with just seven minutes
to shovel down food like a crazed baboon.
The variation most dealers prefer is called the
"round robin." There are still three dealers and
a relief assigned to a three-game string, but
the dealers on the string will work every game
for an hour, and once they return from their
break, they will take over for the next dealer
needing his or her 20 minutes of sanity. So when
Eric G. returns from his break after leaving
BJ-1, he will give Larry on BJ-2 a break, who
comes back to give Sue on BJ-3 hers.
Dear Mark: Are there certain rules
newcomers to the game of blackjack should be
looking for? Sean I.
Blackjack players, whether a newbie or not,
should always play in a casino that offers
favorable rules. To avoid hostile playing
conditions in blackjack, look, Sean, for the
following combination of rules that are
advantageous to the player:
A single deck game (if you can find them)
Surrender, both early and late
Double down allowed after splitting pairs
Double down allowed on any two cards
Multiple pair splitting allowed, plus
re-splitting aces
Dealer stands on a soft 17
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “A
factor contributing to the appeal of slots is
the chance to arrive by bus and depart by limo.”
--Alan Krigman, Casino Times
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