Dealer tells in blackjack

[JJP]

Real interesting segment on the Gamblingwithanedge podcast where Richard Munchkin discusses dealer tells, and situations where he wanted the dealer angry at him. In one instance he talks about having a $500 bet out, and then taking a 50 cent chip and telling the dealer "this is for you". LOL. The dealer would then be visibly angry if he got a stiff hand when checking for blackjack.

Do many of you find dealer tells? Or is it something that isn't worth the time and possibility of distracting oneself?

 

[paymypush]

It was quite the skill to have back in the 1980s but dealers don't peek for blackjack much these days. If you play where the dealer still peeks, get a copy of Read The Dealer by Steve Forte. Mine is over 30 years old. Getting the dealer angry comes right out of this book.

"The key is to force the dealer into rooting for or against you. He must be on one side or the other. There can be no in between". - Steve Forte. Steve worked for several casinos by the way.

 

[JohnCrover]

Dealers who are angry at you tend to make more mistakes. Two examples I can take from my personal life is when a dealer didn't like me at all and was showing a disinterest in the game by constantly looking away, over his shoulder and just not paying attention. He ended up making a mistake by flashing the first card off the top of the deck because he was disinterested in the game and not paying attention. Another example of a dealer error I saw was when one of the dealers was angry with me and dealing the game quickly, he accidentally assumed one of my plays and continued to play out the hand. If I had wanted to I could have altered the course of the game by complaining that he skipped my action in an advantageous situation.
Generally though, a dealer that's angry tends to make more mistakes that you can exploit. An angry dealer tends to deal too fast, show a disinterest in the game but you have to watch them because they might try to short you on a pay out.

 

[Joe Mama]

Everywhere I play, the dealer uses a device with a mirror that only tells if he/she has a blackjack or not; it does not show the value of the hole card.

 

[johndoe]

It's almost unheard of for dealers to have any information about the hole card these days, other than (obviously) blackjack or not a blackjack. There are a myriad of devices that prevent such knowledge but still allow checking for BJ.

 

[JohnCrover]

What I never understood is how the dealers know they have a face card under their Ace when they check but they don't know they have a face card under their face card when they check.

 

[LC Larry]

What I never understood is how the dealers know they have a face card under their Ace when they check but they don't know they have a face card under their face card when they check.

Next time you're in a casino, look at the location of the indices on the cards.

 

[gronbog]

They insert different corners of the card into the reader for aces vs faces.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'm looking at a casino deck now--the T through K shows up closer to the top edge on the left hand side than all the other cards, and the A shows up closer to the top edge on the right hand side. When the dealer has an ace up, the dealer slides the hole card into the mirror device to view the top left corner, if it shows blank no blackjack, but also no knowledge of hole card value. If a T through K is up, same procedure with right corner of hole card.

Buy some used casino decks in the gift shop and see for yourself. These decks can also be used for deck estimation practice.

 

[ZenKinG]

This might be short term anecdotal data, but dealers sometimes do a 'second look' when checking for an ace when they actually have a 4. I've confirmed it quite a few times. Until I get a large sample size, I won't be implementing it into my game, but somewhat interesting for what it's worth.

 

[LC Larry]

This might be short term anecdotal data, but dealers sometimes do a 'second look' when checking for an ace when they actually have a 4. I've confirmed it quite a few times. Until I get a large sample size, I won't be implementing it into my game, but somewhat interesting for what it's worth.

This has been known for decades and will only happen if the dealer manually peeks at the card to determine it's value. This will never happen with the mirrors or electronic devices.

 

[paymypush]

This might be short term anecdotal data, but dealers sometimes do a 'second look' when checking for an ace when they actually have a 4. I've confirmed it quite a few times. Until I get a large sample size, I won't be implementing it into my game, but somewhat interesting for what it's worth.

Do you know of any good games where the dealer peeks for blackjack? I'd love to dust off my old skills and take a trip down memory lane.

 

[ZenKinG]

I was referring to games with the standard mirror. I dont think mirrors provide as much of a white blank as people think and 4s trip up the dealer from time to time.

 

[LC Larry]

I was referring to games with the standard mirror. I dont think mirrors provide as much of a white blank as people think and 4s trip up the dealer from time to time.

Possibly, if the cards are printed off a bit.

Last time I saw a manual peek, was one of the casinos in the St. Louis area. But that was a few years ago.