(Image: NetEntertainment)

1) Knowledge of the Games

First and foremost, good casino dealers know the ins and outs of the games they’re dealing, which of course greatly reduces the number of mistakes they make. Some casino games are easy for them to learn, like blackjack and roulette. Others, especially craps, can get quite complicated and take several months for dealers to master. But the good ones master them all.

2) Dealing their Games at Proper Speed

You often see dealers in casinos who are agonizingly slow getting the cards around the table. Then there are those hotshots who are so fast you have to strain to keep up with them, which can be infuriating when you’re deciding whether to hit or stand in blackjack or make odds and other additional bets at craps. So what good dealers do is deal their games at a speed that is most convenient to a majority of the players at their tables and to their employers, the casino bosses. Often games dealt too fast prevent casino supervisors from adequately following them.

3) Being Courteous to Customers Without Being too Friendly

The last thing casinogoers want to see is a frowning, mad-at-the-world dealer. People do not want to gamble at tables where it seems the dealer is rooting against them. Casinos do not want to see cold-as-ice dealers either because they have a negative effect on the bottom line. Just the same, overfriendly dealers have negative impact. They may slow down the games with constant chatter and joking with customers, and from a casino point of view, may be more susceptible to helping players along, even to the point of forming cheat-partnerships against the house.

4) Not Soliciting Tips

Doing so is a real no-no in gaming jurisdictions that allow dealers to receive tips. But in spite of that, many dealers subtly or openly do just that. Dealers who do can often make players feel uneasy, leaving them to think that they are required to tip dealers in the same manner they tip waiters in restaurants. This puts pressure on players in an atmosphere that already has built-in pressure on them. After all, a player on a hot winning streak at one particular table may still not have recovered his losses suffered on a previous table, and thus would be quite annoyed by a dealer hustling him for tips. Good dealers make their tips simply by being efficient and courteous at their tables.

5) Paying Attention to Personal Grooming

The last thing players at the table want to see is an unkempt dealer…or one that has a disagreeable body odor. So good dealers pay strict attention to personal hygiene. Their hair is combed and their uniforms are clean. These practices are not only a good reflection on the dealers, they also project the casino image in a positive manner. A very important part of this is the dealers’ hands. Players notice their hands as much as they notice their faces, so seeing clean and distinct fingernails is much better than seeing dirty ones or damaged ones through nail-biting.