Take-and-Pay Procedure and Math Made Easy

Take-and-Pay Procedure

Once the ball has dropped, and a number is selected, it is time to complete the Take-and-Pay Procedure. The dealer will take the dolly, or the marker, and mark the number that won. Make sure you are marking the correct number, as it may be difficult to see the number if chips completely cover the layout. Never grip the dolly in a way that hides the palm of your hand. Instead, place the top of the dolly in between your fingers so the palm of your hand is open and facing upward towards the eye-in-the-sky. This is to prove that you are not palming, or hiding, any stolen chips to cap the bet, or place them on the winning number before putting the dolly on top of it. When placing the dolly, if there are any chips on that winning number, place the dolly on top of those chips. The dolly must remain on that number until all winning bets have been paid. Players are not allowed to touch or move any of their winnings, even the ones located on the dozens, columns, or outside bets, until the dealer has finished paying all winning wagers.

Once the dolly has been placed, the dealer will carefully identify the winning wagers and gingerly move all of the losing bets out of the way. Try not to have tunnel vision when you are doing this. Instead keep the full table in sight at all times. Starting from the Columns and moving up towards the wheel, the dealer will sweep the losing chips inward, beginning with the outside bets and going in. Sweep the losing chips into a pile and towards the mucking area where they will be mucked. The term “muck” or “mucking the chips” refers to the pile of chips that will be picked up and placed in a stack of 20. If the player is chunking, and the dealer needs those chips to pay the player, then it is considered acceptable for the dealer to pick up the lost wagers by stacking them instead of sweeping them. Never pay wagers when you are sweeping the chips off the layout. Always sweep the chips into a pile for mucking first and then pay the winning bets. It is important to keep an eye on the Columns and 3rd Dozen during the sweeping process as this is a vulnerable area, and susceptible to Past Posting maneuvers.

As the dealer pays the winning wagers, they will go from the outside-in and from bottom-to-top. This refers to the order in which the bets must be paid. Outside bets will be paid first, starting from the bottom of the layout, where the Columns are, to the top of the wheel, where the zeros are located. Again, this is because the bottom of the layout, where the Columns and 3rd Dozen are located, are considered to be a vulnerable area, and susceptible to Past Posting maneuvers, which cannot be stressed enough. The Columns and the Dozens, pay 2 to 1, while the Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1-18, and 19-36 bets pay Even Money.

After the outside bets have been paid, the dealer can focus on paying the inside wagers. Inside bets are associated with the numbers and the payout amount corresponds with the location of the chip inside the table. Always start with the outside going in. The Double Street will be paid first at 5 to 1, then the Basket at 6 to 1, the Street at 11 to 1, the Corners at 8 to 1, the Splits at 17 to 1 and finally the Straight Up bets at 35 to 1. Again, start near the Columns and go up towards the wheel. The dealer will count up all of the chips and pay all of the same color, all at once. If there is more than one color of chip in the same winning stack, then start with the color at the bottom and work your way to the top.

When counting the chips on the winning number, if the stack is higher than 5 chips, the dealer will stagger the same-colored stack into stacks of 5, to make it easier to count. If there are 20 chips, or more, the dealer will have one stack of 20 and then stagger the chips in a stack of 5 after that. The dealer will always clear their hands before staggering a stack of chips. You don't want the eye-in-the-sky to think you are past posting.

If you notice that the player has played less than the table minimum, after a number has hit, then pay the player what you owe them and notify the player that they must play the full table minimum from now on. If the player bets more than the table maximum, and the number has already hit, notify the floor supervisor and they will tell you to pay the player for the amount the table maximum only. Anything above that will be given back to the player. Your supervisor will walk you through this process.

If a player tries to play a high value cheque, notify the floor before spinning the ball. Call out “Cheques Play” and wait for an approval. When completing the take-and-pay procedure, pay color-for-color. Don’t convert a payout to a higher value cheque without the approval of your floor.

Once the dealer has marked the winning number, swept up all the lost bets to be mucked, and identified which chips need to be paid, it is time to calculate the winning total.

Math Calculation

Calculating math is one of the hardest parts of dealing roulette. Luckily there are several techniques available for you to use. Find the way that is easiest for you. Not everyone thinks the same or calculates bets in the same way. If a technique works for you, and you get the right answer, that’s all that matters. Even though this part may be intimidating for some dealers, especially those who struggle with math, keep in mind that there is more than one way to do this, so if technique isn’t clicking, try something new. It’s just a matter of finding what works for you.

No matter what technique you decide to use, you will always need at-home practice. Most of us are not math savants, starting out at an expert level. We need to do our homework, spending hours practicing our techniques and going over the math. This is an important step that should not be skipped. When you are on the roulette table, you want to quickly calculate the payout and continue with the game. Worst case scenario for a roulette dealer is taking 5 minutes to calculate the payout, while players are yelling different numbers at you, and then your floor supervisor has to stop what they’re doing to tell you the correct payout. The only way to calculate the numbers quickly is through muscle memory. Your brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised, which can be done with homework.

If the following techniques are not working for you, your floor supervisor and roulette coworkers are another source of knowledge, with a vast wealth of information. Ask your floor supervisors and roulette coworkers how they handle calculating math on roulette. Each and every floor supervisor and roulette coworker will offer a unique answer to the same question. Floor supervisors offer tips and tricks that can help you be a better dealer. Listen to them and take in the wisdom they provide. They are here to help you. You can learn a lot from your floor supervisors and fellow roulette dealers.

The first, and most common technique available to roulette dealers, is: Learn your Times Tables. Memorize your 35 times table, your 17 times table, 11 times table, 8 times table, 6 times table, and 5 times table. Start at 1 and work your way up to 10, and once you have mastered that, work your way up to 20. That way, the only math you end up doing on the roulette table is adding large numbers together. For example, 3 straight up is 105 units, 6 split is 102 units, and 5 corners is 40 units. 105 units + 102 units + 40 units = 247 units. By thinking of the chips as units and paying to the unit instead of paying the dollar amount, you will never have to worry if the value of a chip is worth $0.25, $0.50, $1, $5, or $25. Paying to the unit will help you on any roulette game, whether is it a quarter game or a high limit game. This way you will never have to pause when calculating a payout. The casinos want a speedy dealer who is accurate, because speed and accuracy are critical to the casino’s bottom line. The more spins-per-hour, the more money the casino makes.

The second technique uses a key. A key is a mathematical equation that makes it easy for the dealer to figure out a complicated math problem. Keys are more commonly used on craps, however, they can work for other games as well. If you want to pay per dollar amount instead of per unit, yet you are having a hard time converting $1 chips to $5 chips, or $5 to $25, then this key is for you. To convert a $1 chip to a $5 chip, take the full $1 payout, divide that in half and multiply that answer by 10. For example, 4 straight up pays $140. Divide that by half, giving you $70 and add a zero, for a total of $700. To convert a $1 chip to a $25 chip, take the full $1 payout, divide that in half, and then divide that in half one more time. Take that number and multiply it by 100. For example, 4 straight up pays $140. Divide that by half, giving you $70 and then divide that by half again, giving you $35. Add two zeros, for a total of $3500.

The third technique is more simplified, perfect for those days when your brain refuses to work. Pay each bet separately. If the player won a double street, a corner, a split, and a straight up, and you have brain fog and just can’t add that up for the life of you, bring out the chips for each payout separately. For example, you know the 4 double street pays 20, bring out one stack of 20. The 3 corner pays 24, bring out one stack of 20 plus 4 chips. The 4 split pays 68, bring out three stacks of 20 plus 8 chips, and the 4 straight up pays 140 chips, bring out the 7 stacks of 20 chips. Put all those stacks together, for a total of 252, and give it to the player. Life happens and sometimes math is impossible, yet we are still expected to function. Do what you can to get by, until you feel more like your normal self. If the dealer can’t figure out the math for all of the player’s wagers, they are allowed to pay each bet separately. Just be sure to notify the floor supervisor and the player of what you are doing so there is no confusion.

The fourth technique uses patterns that are often seen, to quickly calculate the final number. When adding up the chips, sometimes it’s easier to use patterns to figure out the math. For example, one straight up and two chips on each corner is known as the Mickey Mouse pattern. If you see this pattern, you will automatically know that the payout is 51, without having to do any math. If you see 4 stacks of Mickey Mouse patterns, you will instantly know the payout is 204, which is 4 times 51. Knowing these patterns will help you promptly figure out the payout without having to spend much time figuring out the math.

The fifth technique is to use flashcards to get your brain up to speed. By seeing these combinations and working out the math, this will strengthen the muscles in your brain allowing it to calculate roulette payouts quickly and efficiently, without much effort. Your flashcards could quiz you on beginner calculations such as, how much does a straight up bet pay if there are one to twenty chips on it? They can test you on more advanced scenarios such as multiple chips on various bets resulting in a large payout. Or they can familiarize you with patterns that you may commonly see on the roulette table. If you don’t want to spend time creating flashcards out of index cards and markers, you can go to our website vegas-aces.com, where we have free flashcards that you can use, ranging from beginner, to advance, to common patterns. You can use this on your phone in the break room, or while standing in line at the grocery store. This way you will never have to pause on a live game while figuring out the payout. Instead you can focus on other aspects of the game, such as table security.