Persuasion Skills

Your body language and facial expressions persuade people whether you know it or not. And that brings us to step number 11, Persuasion Skills. I know that sound more like marketing and pushing products, and it does have a little bit to do with that, but Persuasion skills also means realizing that our body language can either be inviting to guests or pushing them away.

A great example of this is when you’re standing on a Dead Game; dealers will want to display body language that will persuade the player to come over and join them. Acknowledge people or greet them as they walk by. You want to be approachable; if someone has a question, then they should feel comfortable enough to walk up to you and ask it. Be as welcoming and inviting as possible. Dealers should try and remove as much of the natural intimidation as they can. You can do this by keeping your arms at your side and your hands on the table. Smile and make eye contact with people as they walk by.

You’re facial expression and body language can also persuade players to quickly cross the room, just to get away from that contorted grimace you have on your face. Don’t fold your arms, scowl, make faces at guests, be intimidating, indifferent, not looking at anyone at all, acting disinterested, answer questions begrudgingly, or doing anything else that would purposely run players off. How do you expect to make more money when you’re on a dead game with no players. You need players in order to make tokes. You can’t have one without the other. I once knew a casino that felt like a ghost town. They never had any players. The dealers hated it because they were always bored and they only made $15 a day in tokes.

This next part is where the marketing comes in. When you’re on Craps, try and persuade players to bet on the hardways. If you’re on a different casino table game, repeatedly ask if they want to play the side bet. This does one of two things, if the player is betting the side bet then they’re more likely to tip the dealer on that bet as well. And the second thing is, if the player is betting on the hardways or a side bet, then they’ll probably need dollars. If the dealer gives the player a steady supply of $1 chips, then the player will be more likely to use those chips to tip the dealer.

Don’t go overboard trying to persuade the player to tip you. Whatever decision the player makes, they need to make it on their own. All monetary decisions must be made without any interference from the dealer. The dealer must never play the players hand for them and they should never tell the player how to spend their money.