Dealer of Death

About 4 years ago I was dealing poker out in California. I had been trying everything I could think of to convince my husband to learn poker, at least give it a try. (He hated the game and the fact I worked in the industry.)

Slowly I was able to teach him how to play at home. It took almost a year to convince him to come in and play where I worked. I had been dealing only for a couple of minutes when I dealt him pocket kings. He raised preflop, the only other person who was in the hand reraised. He called. The board comes up:

K Rag A

He bet, the other person when all in, he called. His opponent flips over AA. So they both have trips on the flop. The room got loud.

The turn was a king. My husband had quad kings. The room got louder.

The river was an ace. Wow, the room exploded. Quad aces against quad kings. I dealt my own husband the quad kings. There wasn't a jackpot there.

Needless to say it took me a long long time to get him back in to play live. It has been withing the last year.

wow, what a horrible river card for your husband. In almost all other casinos or gaming places, there would have been a huge jackpot for that hand.

playing at a table with somebody close to you as the dealer ... hmm, that's asking for problems!
ok ... that river probably didn't help his opinion of the game, but if it hadn't come and anybody there knew him to be your husband ... it would have looked like collusion. so, maybe it was for the best ...

Everything worked out for the best. I am proud to say he has turned out to be a very respected player.

I never understood why dealers chance their jobs and reputations, especially now a days with the high tech and well trained security most casinos have in play. Dealers make far more money than most people even imagine. For example, BJ dealers in my area make between 75,000-175,000 year. I know this because I train and place dealers all over the country.

I have know an ex dealer who can deal everyone a fullhouse and put a straight flush on the board. But skills like this are only used for show. And forget it completely if you are using an automatic shuffler.

The absolutely worst thing I have ever done in this sense was years ago dealing Omaha Hi/Lo. I had been dealing all evening and it was approaching morning hours. I was tired, hadn't had a break for hours and didn't want to hassle with low hands so I just delt them in a way that I wouldn't have to deal with low hands...for the most part. Not something I would do again unless I was in those exact circumstances.

What I am saying is now you are more likely to catch players colluding together instead of dealers and players.

from what live experience i have (relatively little compared to you), i would agree that cheating in casino cash games/tournaments and larger semi-public game houses is next to non-existent today, particularly when it comes to the dealers.

i recently listened to an interview with ray zee, in which he described the high degree to which it took place in the 1970's and 80's. many of the cheats were well connected, so even when it they were made (not uncommon) there was little a person could do about it. people simply had to avoid the pots which the cheats were playing or leave the table.
it sounded like a lot of the dealers scammed the casinos too, not just some of the players at the tables.
and ten there were the roadhouse/biker stories too ...

Wow , tough hand to lose but if you gotta lose four A's is what I'd want to lose to