Dealer Tells
- Thread starter moo321
- Start date
In the extremely rare cases of the dealer really peeking and not just looking thru a box, a tip is a great way to detect a tell. If you are sitting on 16 and the dealer has a 5 to go with his up 10, he'll let you know not to hit.Conversly, if he's got a 10 in the hole, he'll also let you know.
I know of only one dinky casino ,in Searchlight, where the dealer really is checking his hole card. Everywhere else, they are looking for a symbol and have no idea what the card is, only what its not.
I know of only one dinky casino ,in Searchlight, where the dealer really is checking his hole card. Everywhere else, they are looking for a symbol and have no idea what the card is, only what its not.
First off I have little experience playing tells. I do own a copy of Fortes "read the dealer" but it was primarily for historic purposes. Recently I ran into a situation that had the dealers peeking for a couple hours. I found a tell on one dealer with very high accuracy. I don't really know how to describe it other then to say when he had a pat hand he would become more professional. With a non pat hand his dealing and body posture was very relaxed but when he was pat he would tighten up almost like dealers sometimes do when the floor is right over their shoulder. I also encountered the double peek 4 twice in that session on two different dealers and was shocked when it worked out both times.
If this peek game is available to you on a regular basis I would recommend hunting down a copy of read the dealer. I think it would be a very useful book if peeking was available to you.
If this peek game is available to you on a regular basis I would recommend hunting down a copy of read the dealer. I think it would be a very useful book if peeking was available to you.
I would not advocate tipping like someone else in this thread has mentioned. It could possibly be construed as collusion. Another problem with tipping is the size of the tip relative to your bet would have to be very small or you risk eating up any edge you gain.
Forte talks about getting the dealer emotionally involved in order to create tells. Either have the dealer love you or hate you (or another player at the table for ghost tells). Its probably easiest to get them to hate you. One thing Forte mentions is telling the dealer "even if I win a million dollars you won't get a dime" (or very similar to that).
Forte was definitely right about getting the dealer to either love you or hate you. I played a fair amount of this back in the 70s. One very reliable tell was a dealer that would peek, and then shift his 2 cards a bit to his left to make room for hit cards he knew he would have to take.
If the dealer likes you then they will often look right at you or point when they want you to hit, and look away when they want you to stand. If they don't like you they do the opposite.
If the dealer likes you then they will often look right at you or point when they want you to hit, and look away when they want you to stand. If they don't like you they do the opposite.
The book (more of a pamphlet) is out of print but if you hunt around hard enough you could probably find someone selling a copy. I think originally it sold for 19.99 or 29.99...I don't recall it being terribly expensive.
CBJN lists casinos that peek but its probably not 100% accurate or a full list. The situation I played was a table with a broken peek device.
CBJN lists casinos that peek but its probably not 100% accurate or a full list. The situation I played was a table with a broken peek device.
Last I knew Turning Stone Casino in New York has dealer's peeking.
Their shoes are poor, but there are DD games as well -
S17 DA2 NDAS 50%, one spot only, 10-1 posted spread.
BJPro's advice is excellent.
I would only add is this:
Often you can tell fairly quickly whether a dealer really wants you to win or to lose.
Women are generally the most prone to wanting you to win.
Obviously, the majority of dealers do not care very much what happens.
If the dealer is siding with you or against you to a strong degree - they will non-verbally
communicate how they "feel" about the hand. Watch their face, their eyes, and their posture.
Asian dealers are clearly the hardest to "read" - they are traditionally inscrutable you know.
Their shoes are poor, but there are DD games as well -
S17 DA2 NDAS 50%, one spot only, 10-1 posted spread.
BJPro's advice is excellent.
I would only add is this:
Often you can tell fairly quickly whether a dealer really wants you to win or to lose.
Women are generally the most prone to wanting you to win.
Obviously, the majority of dealers do not care very much what happens.
If the dealer is siding with you or against you to a strong degree - they will non-verbally
communicate how they "feel" about the hand. Watch their face, their eyes, and their posture.
Asian dealers are clearly the hardest to "read" - they are traditionally inscrutable you know.
Dealers have peek machines in 9 out of 10 casinos if not more. There was a couple of months when I dealt and the machine was down and I had to hand check. But they have since got checkers. I don't personally know of any casino how hand check for blackjack. The tells of a dealer should only be used with a 10 up never with an ace up.
:whip: