Why do dealers shout things out loud?

[itsedmondfoo]

Whenever I put money in to get some chips, they have to yell out 'change for $XX', if someone bets a $100 they shout 'black action', and when I double down A,5 vs 5 they shout out 'breaking hand.'

 

[johndoe]

Mostly to alert the floor people, so they can verify chips are being given correctly, or if they want to keep an eye on unusually high action. Cuts down a bit on cheating, supposedly. Pretty much universal.

 

[Meyer]

Whenever I put money in to get some chips, they have to yell out 'change for $XX', if someone bets a $100 they shout 'black action', and when I double down A,5 vs 5 they shout out 'breaking hand.'

There are certain things the pit wants to be made aware of. Cashing in and "coloring up" are two (it's the most obviously place for cheating between a player and colluding dealer). When someone is betting black, the pit wants to know that too. The more money in play, they more the pit is interested in making sure everything is done properly. Also, they can checked whether the person has been normally betting $10 or $25 per hand. Now if they're betting black, they're either lose with their money (which the casino's will love) or they should be watched for further signs of counting.

Certain plays get called out, too, but the only plays I've ever heard called out are deviations from basic strategy. Doubling A,5 vs 5 is basic strategy. There's no reason a dealer would ever call that play out. They might call it out if you, say, hit 13 vs 5. The "breaking hand" call means that you're hitting a stiff, not a soft hand. Again, Basic Strategy plays do not get called out, only deviations.

EDIT: The remainder of this post and it's responses have been moved here:
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showthread.php?t=11869

-Sonny-

 

[FLASH1296]

Dealer's shout-outs

Unusual plays, (that are generally only made by card counters or complete fools, e.g. splitting 10's, doubling down on Ace-9, or hitting hard 17), are CALLED OUT -- because there are people who will make a weird play and if the play busts they immediately claim that they never signaled for such a foolish play and demand payment.

 

[Meyer]

because there are people who will make a weird play and if the play busts they immediately claim that they never signaled for such a foolish play and demand payment.

I have never seen someone signal for a hit, or place money on the table for a double, and then claim that they didn't signal the hit or want a double. This would never work. All that would need to be done is to look at the tape to see the signal, or simply look at the table to see the money placed for the double.

On the other hand, I've seen someone let a card be dealt to the next hand and then claim that they had wanted to double their hand (or hit) but the dealer passed them up. That will usually only work once. It pisses everyone off, including the dealer and the pit and the other players at the table.

There's another reason for calling out plays. See my previous post for why.

 

[ccl]

we used to as a dealer where i worked call out purple and black action so surveillance could be called because it was in the tribal policy that any time black was given out for any reason or played they had to be made aware, even the cage would call on cashing out black chips to make sure the person who received it was the one cashing out.

We also had to yell out anytime anyone bought in for anything more than 5 dollars because they tried to keep a count of all the money dropped into the drop box. the only other thing we had to call out unless there was a mistake was Cheques play just when someone doubled their bet to more than $100 or started betting large just in case they did say that they didnt mean to bet it and it was pushed out for a color up in case they lost, the floor was aware that it was in play prior to the hand being started.

cl

 

[Thunder]

I once had some ignorant fool ask outloud so that the whole table could hear and probably the pitboss too, "Are you counting cards?" I had to resist the urge to tell him to shut the %$(# up. Instead I made some wisecrack comment back to him.

 

[callipygian]

Unusual plays, (that are generally only made by card counters or complete fools, e.g. splitting 10's, doubling down on Ace-9, or hitting hard 17), are CALLED OUT -- because there are people who will make a weird play and if the play busts they immediately claim that they never signaled for such a foolish play and demand payment.

Doubling A5 vs. dealer 5 is not usually one of those plays, but this is the general rationale - dealer is saying, "Hey, pit boss, something unusual is happening on this table."

 

[Blue Efficacy]

The casino I play at most often does not call out odd plays. Hitting H17, splitting 10's, none. And when they say checks play, they usually use a pretty soft voice.

 

[callipygian]

And when they say checks play, they usually use a pretty soft voice.

That's because there's a pit boss hiding under the table watching your play through a one-way mirror.

 

[Romes]

Other than the normal reasons of informing pit bosses when something they consider of "importance" is happening, they do it for other reasons too.I'll give you my own example.

Normally a dealer would say "Checks Play" when buying in to a table with chips instead of cash. Well I've been playing a lot at a local casino and I've had quite some success. After sitting down I stupidly gave them my players card because I said I forgot it but they knew I had my ID so they looked me up. After that everytime I bet big the dealer yelled "Checks Play" in the middle of the hand. This was entirely too obvious because a pit boss or two would come over and watch the rest of the hand. I left pretty quickly as to not get backed off or anything else.

 

[NDN21]

I once had some ignorant fool ask outloud so that the whole table could hear and probably the pitboss too, "Are you counting cards?" I had to resist the urge to tell him to shut the %$(# up. Instead I made some wisecrack comment back to him.

I once was at a table. A guy walked up with about 3 people behind him. He immediately started winning. One of the people behind him said to the pit boss. "hey look out, (name) has been practicing counting cards for a couple months now".:laugh::

This should be one of the unspoken rules...

Don't tell anyone, I mean anyone, you are going to try to count cards!!!

 

[callipygian]

Don't tell anyone, I mean anyone, you are going to try to count cards!!!

I disagree. You should tell your spouse, your team members, and your financial backers, if any of these are applicable. Anyone who has a stake in your money should know.

I agree for everyone aside from those three groups.