Acting Skills

You might have heard this before, but we’re in the entertainment business. All of you dealers are the Stars of the Show. You’re the showman and the actors that entertain the guests, and as you entertain, amuse and distract the occupied gambler, you keep your happy guest at the table longer, which means more tokes for you. And that leads me to step number 6, Acting Skills. If you can make your table fun, regardless of whether the players are winning or losing, then this creates a loyal customer base.

Any person with good Customer Service skills also has good acting skills because they need to maintain their cheery disposition in the face of grumpy, disgruntled guests.

“It is time for those who control our industry to realize that we are in the entertainment industry. Show business! Walt Disney knew this when he built his empire. Are we not an adult Disneyland? Are we not in a business to make a buck by creating a fantasy and providing entertainment for our guests? We tend to forget this and we cannot afford to… there is too much competition.”

~ Peter Demos

Entertain the guests with jokes, comedy, stories or anecdotes. If you feel like you can’t entertain the guest in that way, then figure out what you feel comfortable with and let your personality shine through. Since you have to be on this table for 8 hours per day, do what is fun and enjoyable for you.

Acting skills come in handy when you have players on your table, whom you don’t like, or are grouchy, having a bad day, are natural complainers or they’ve lost a lot of money. Dealers see so many customers that it’s inevitable you’re going to come across these people. Acting skills will help you get through the worst of it. You don’t have to like everyone you meet, you just have to be a good actor and pretend that you do.

Dealers already gossip about their players while on break, that’s normal, but what if you actually tried to help each other out? You could learn from each other and share useful information about your players. If someone found a good way of handling a player, then share it with your co-workers who are having trouble with the guest.

“Yes Before No” It’s important that we display a culture of “Yes” to the guests. This doesn’t mean that we say “Yes” to everything they ask for; it just means that we need to have a default mindset of agreement instead of automatically saying “No” to everything. So if an old man sits down at your table and wants to talk your ear off, then act like what he’s saying is interesting and actually listen to him, instead of acting put off or annoyed that he’s on your table.

“If it’s not immoral, illegal, harmful or goes against game protection, then we’ll most likely do it for our guests.” ~ Bennieism

Remember that we’re here for the customer, not the other way around. The player doesn’t owe us anything. If you demonstrate good customer service, to everyone, all of the time, regardless of who tips you, then over a period of time, you’ll notice an increase in tokes. That doesn’t mean every player is going to tip you, but you still need to act appropriately towards all player.

What’s one thing actors have in common? They all look good. That’s because they know how important it is to have a pleasing visual impression, especially you women. Some men will stay at your table all day just for a chance to have a conversation with a beautiful woman. This is usually accompanied by more tokes and that’s why Las Vegas has so many Party Pits.

Actors work at having an outstanding stage presence and that means presenting themselves in a professional manner. A professional appearance promotes professional behavior and this not only includes good grooming but good posture as well. Keep all this in mind because what we’re teaching you is actually a great way to prepare for life. Friendliness, attitude and pride are all signs of professionalism. If you take pride in yourself, then this shows through to the customer based on the service you provide. It’s professional to have an attitude of understanding and friendliness. And if you start acting like this more frequently, then you’ll be surprised be the warm response you’ll receive from your players.

Acting more friendly, professional and with a better attitude helps establish relations with our guests. This keeps them coming back time and time again, and that’s our goal, to have these well-known tippers keep coming back to give us more tips. This isn’t going to happen if the dealer is acting miserable or if they’re over-sharing their problems. Dealers should always shield their inner turmoil from the guest. The guests don’t need to know about all of your problems, so don’t overshare. No one needs to know how devastated you are that your goldfish just died, or that your cat ate the fish’s body before you could bury it at sea.

If you’re still confused about how to act and when, then this should help. If the player is acting angry, then the dealer should act concerned. Remember to listen to the player and if he’s overburdened then sympathize with what he’s going through. If you’re ever in doubt, remember the Golden Rule and treat the guest how you wished to be treated.