I love poker dealers.
Without them, there wouldn't be live poker. They do a difficult job, and mostly rely on the generosity of the players to make their rent. They are routinely blamed for things that are the fault of the automatic shuffler or (more likely) the player themself. I have massive respect for people who do this job well.
Thus, I bring this public service announcement to all of you in the box:
Concerns over hidden cameras are spreading throughout the poker industry. Unlike many problems that face us, there is a silver bullet solution: the 'slide' (rather than 'pitch') method of dealing.
Some people call it the 'Euro-slide' because this technique has been used in Europe for years. I vividly remember my first trip to the European Poker Tour and being amazed at this seemingly magic dealing technique.
That was in 2005 – this is not a new idea.
What's wrong with pitching?
Cheating at cards was probably invented 15 minutes after playing cards were invented.
Consider this famous painting that hangs in the Louvre in Paris. It was painted in the early 17th century.
If only those folks had had 4K cameras the size of a breadcrumb. Poker cheating teams are deploying such cameras to see cards as they're being pitched by the dealer. Then the card information is passed to an off-table accomplice (or server), which relays it back to the at-table cheater.
It started with one report, and then suddenly such cheaters were being spotted coast-to-coast. Not so much in Europe – why not is left as an exercise for the reader.
About a year ago, I got very tired of one dealer (no name, no location here) who was pitching from chest height, seemingly proud of their high arcing pitch. I quietly deployed my phone and took a short video. Then I took the poker room manager aside and showed him a still from the video.
There was the king of clubs, pretty as you please, flying toward another player. The manager was not happy.
Sliding is slower?
I'm sorry, but that dog won't hunt. If you mean, 'A dealer who has been pitching cards for 20 years will be slower sliding the cards,' I agree with that. But the idea that sliding is inherently slower than pitching is absurd.
Exhibit A:
This doesn't even account for the elimination of flipped cards and the trouble they cause.
There have been some high-profile names in the business arguing that sliding is slower. Those people, no matter how smart and respected, are wrong about this.
Don't panic. You can do this.
Change is hard. Change is scary. I get it. But I believe this change is inevitable. The sooner you get comfortable with it, the better off you'll be.
There's a dealer in my home poker room who had serious carpal tunnel issues. It was causing them to flip up a lot of cards as they were pitching. Finally, they chose to switch to slide dealing to eliminate those problems.
They told me it took them a couple of weeks to really get it down – after all, they had eight hours of practice four or five days a week. That dealer is not as fast as the 20-year veteran you see in the video above. But they're solidly in the top half of dealer speed in the poker room. Number of flipped cards is zero.
This particular dealer taught themself. But there are ample resources for learning to slide, and I encourage you to get in front of the change. My local dealer did it on their kitchen table – you just need to want it badly enough.
When, not if
PokerOrg has reported how the South Point and Venetian in Las Vegas have already switched to sliding cards. MGM poker Poobah Sean McCormack gave a very corporate-like statement about sliding, but on the Table 1 podcast, he said, "It's a matter of when, not if [MGM properties would switch to sliding]."
Poker dealers, my friends: you have to do a lot of things, simultaneously, with 8-9 people carefully watching you, eager to point out any mistake you might make.
Honestly, switching to a slide deal is a piece of cake compared to the overall difficulty of your job.
More money in your pocket
I've saved the best for last. I honestly believe that with a few months practice, you can slide faster than you can pitch. Also, by eliminating flipped cards, you further increase your speed, and ultimately the number of hands you get out in a down. For cash dealers, that's more money in your pocket.
More money for you, better game integrity for all of us. Let's do this.
Featured image courtesy of Miguel Cortes/WPT.
