Delivering the Cards from the Shoe

Now when delivering the cards from the shoe, especially on the blackjack game, you want to remember to always burn the first card. Now let's deliver the cards from the shoe. You're taking the cards from the shoe using your middle finger on your non-dominant hand and you're pressing in and up and then out. And this is especially helpful if your shoe wedge is dirty, it doesn't roll as easily, then you're definitely going to have to use this trick again. Push in and up and then push out. If everything is working fine on your shoe, you should be able just to press down and out and it should be able to come out. So you put a little pressure on the card and you press in just a little, and you bring the card out.

Once the card is out and you're delivering the cards to the betting area, you're going to use your middle finger and your forefinger, middle finger on the back of the card, forefinger on the front of the card. And the thumb is going to be used in order to place the card where you want to place it. Using your thumb as a way of directing where the card is placed. You're going to place the card down. And as you place the card down – what some dealers like to do, is they like to have the cards facing them. So as they deal out the cards, you'll notice that all of the cards are facing the dealer. Now, even though most of the dealers do this, it's not technically a good thing to do. You want the cards to be placed perpendicular to the table, so the edge of the card is exactly perpendicular to the edge of the table. And if you deal out the cards this way, all of the cards will be uniform, and it will be a lot easier for the floor supervisor to see and read your cards at the table. So this is how we're going to try to deal out the cards where the edge of the card, the bottom of the card is perfectly perpendicular to the edge of the table.

When you're picking up the cards, you're going to use your forefinger and your middle finger. Hook it and pick up the cards in a diagonal motion going from top to bottom. Now, depending on the casino you're at, some of the casinos will want you to pick up the dealer cards first and then the player cards, while at other casinos will want you to pick up the player's cards first and then the dealer's cards. So it just depends on where you work.

Again, one more time I'm going to bring the cards out and deliver them so that way they're completely the same. The edges are completely perpendicular to the edge of the table. You're going to flip over that dealer's card. So we have our hold card and our up card. The cards are now placed on the table in a nice, orderly fashion. They look really nice when you're doing it this way. You want to place the card on this white portion of the card right here. You never want to be covering the pips. You always want the pips or the dots to always be showing. You never, ever want to cover the pips. So that's why you're putting it in this little area right here where there's white nothingness, so you don't cover anything up. And then pick up the cards and you are good to go.

Now, if you were a left-handed dealer, this is going to be mirrored from what I just showed you. So instead of placing the cards like so, you're going to just put it on the other side. Yes. It is covering this, right here, but it's a left-handed dealer. That's okay. And then when you pick up the cards, instead of going from right to left, you're going to be going from left to right, picking up the cards again from top to bottom in a diagonal fashion. Now, as you place the cards, you never want to cover the players bet. You always want it to be on the side, and the bet must be seen at all times.