Poker Dealer Tutorial
The two players to the left of the dealer put out blind bets (see below). The player directly to the dealer's left puts out the small blind while the player two to the dealer's left puts out the big blind. Every player is dealt two cards, face down. These are called hole or pocket cards. To master the game of poker and the poker rankings, follow the tutorial to help you understand the game and its rules. This tutorial includes the history of the game, the rules, the odds, and the strategy. It will help you obtain a better grasp of the game on a more professional level.
What is Dealer Training?
Dealer Training is the online poker dealer school, which teaches you how to deal poker like a professional poker dealer. It was created out of necessity. We needed trained dealers for our pub poker league and didn't have the time or money to send our dealers to a brick and mortar dealing course. Our poker league was growing quickly and we needed an online poker dealer school, but one didn't exist at the time. So we created it. The online course walks you through everything you need to know to be a successful poker dealer.
Why do you want to learn to deal poker?
- I'm a casino / card room manager. I want to provide training for my prospective dealers.
- I'm a poker league owner / manager. I want professionally trained dealers to improve my poker league.
- I'm a poker dealer or prospective dealer. I want to learn how to deal poker like a professional.
- I'm a poker player. I want to increase my edge at the table by learning to deal poker.
- I'm trying to claim my free Dealer Training course. Where do I enter my code?
The Dealer Training course includes text, pictures, videos, slideshows, and detailed practice outline.
What is Dealer Training?
If you’ve always wanted to become a poker dealer, but you haven’t had the time or money to pay for an expensive offline course, our Dealer Training program is perfect for you. Dealer Training is an online poker dealer school offered by the Atlanta Poker Club. Here at the APC, we developed this course to train our own dealers for our pub poker league. We likewise didn’t have the time or money to send our volunteer dealers out to get trained at a brick-and-mortar school. Our solution was to create our own course to get our dealers trained up quickly to professional capacity. We have dozens of certified poker dealers helping out with our league now.
And then we thought to ourselves, “Why not make this resource available to hopeful dealers everywhere?” If you enroll in our Dealer Training course, you pay a low one-time fee for access, and you get to study from the comfort of your own home. Our online course walks you through everything you need to know to be a successful poker dealer.
Learn How to Deal Poker Like a Pro
Why do you want to learn to deal poker? Our product is aimed at several different audiences. Let’s talk about how you can benefit from our poker dealer course, no matter where you fit into the picture.
Poker League Owners and Managers
If you run a bar poker league like we do, you know that your league cannot survive without professionally trained dealers. The dealers are an integral part of the poker experience, and help you to ensure that players are enjoying a quality game that is both fun and fair. You can purchase our course to assist you in training your own dealers for your local league.
Poker Dealer
If you are a poker dealer without professional training and want to up your game, this is the ideal way to do it. Or maybe you are a prospective dealer with no experience. No matter where you are on the learning curve, the Poker Dealer School can get you up to speed. In no time, you’ll be able to deal with the best of them.
Poker Player
As a poker player, one of the best ways you can increase your edge at the table is by learning how to deal poker. This gives you an inside insight into the game and allows you to view it from a different angle than your opponents. If you become trained as a dealer, you will have a chance to perform better than your opponents and win more games. Whether you are playing professionally or you are a dedicated amateur who just loves the game, you can benefit from our dealer course.
What’s Inside?
What do you get when you purchase Dealer Training? Dealer Training includes eight chapters along with dealer training slideshows and videos. Here are the modules included in the course:
- Chapter 1: Introduction. Here we’ll talk about the state of dealing and poker, why we created the course and who can benefit from it, and discuss an overview of the course objectives and what you’ll learn along the way.
- Chapter 2: Standards. We’ll teach you about the anatomy of a card, deck, and table so that you know exactly what you’re working with. Then we’ll get on to grips and positions.
- Chapter 3: Mechanics. Now we start getting into the meat of the course. You’ll learn how to prep the deck and shuffle and deal the cards and what to do when it’s time for the showdown.
- Chapter 4: Techniques. Here you’ll learn about tasks like cutting chips which you will perform during the game.
- Chapter 5: Responsibilities. In this section we’ll teach you about your responsibilities during the game as far as controlling the game and pacing it, and what you need to do in-hand and between hands. You’ll learn in detail how to deal with player bets and other aspects of the game. We’ll also tell you what errors to avoid.
- Chapter 6: The Process. Here we teach you the 42-step process from start to finish which you as the dealer need to carry out to execute a hand of poker.
- Chapter 7: Practice. This section will offer up a series of exercises you can use to practice what you’ve learned by putting your knowledge to work. This is the only way you will ultimately learn how to deal poker. You can start out by practicing with a friend, and when you are ready for an audition, you can proceed to the next section.
- Chapter 8: Resources. This is where we’ll tell you how you can start dealing poker in real life. A lot of students get started dealing with a poker league like the APC. Many dealers go on to work professionally in casinos. Others become tournament directors and make money that way.
Our course has plenty of helpful images included, but we also have a series of slideshows to help you learn. These slides show you each process step by step so that you can visually see what is going on as you are reading the instructions in each section. Our videos allow you to see the steps in action and performed by a professional dealer. This can be very helpful not only for understanding each process, but also for getting down the timing.
Even if you have relatively little experience with poker and no experience with dealing, our course is all you need to learn how to start dealing like a pro. You might go on to deal with your local poker league, or you might become a professional casino floor dealer. If you are a player and you do not know how to deal, you will gain a new edge by taking our course. And if you own a league, this is the perfect tool to distribute to your own dealers. Your dealers are one of the primary ingredients in your league’s recipe of success. Give them the tools to do well, and you empower the entire league to succeed.
Many people have difficulty shuffling playing cards, and this can be problematic when playing at a table without a professional dealer – such as in home games or self dealt games (where each player takes it in turn to shuffle and deal). The solution to this problem is to get a pack of playing cards and learn how to shuffle – which is the objective of these card shuffling tutorials.
Over the years I’ve sat next to lots of players who say “I can’t shuffle” or “excuse my poor shuffling”. If they’re really bad then someone usually offers to shuffle for them, for which they’re usually grateful. If you fall into this minority of poker players then now is the time to learn. You probably can’t shuffle because you’ve never been taught the correct techniques. While you may think shuffling cards looks hard or complicated, it’s actually fairly easy. It’s similar to when you learn how to play poker, i.e. understanding the correct techniques, and then practicing. Repetition is the key to success!
6 Card Shuffling Tutorials
There are many different ways to shuffle a deck of cards. For these card shuffling tutorials I’ll be covering the following methods:
- The Overhand Shuffle – This is the shuffle used by most people. A good simple, lazy, sloppy shuffle.
- The Hindu Shuffle – A simple, quick and very elegant shuffle. One of my personal favourites.
- The Weave Shuffle – A very simple shuffle to perform and for those yet to master the riffle shuffle.
- The Riffle Shuffle – This is a great way to shuffle cards and not as difficult as it looks.
- The Table Riffle Shuffle – This is easier than the in the hands riffle shuffle, yet just as effective and elegant.
- The Strip Shuffle – Also known as running cuts and is a great finish for the table riffle shuffle.
The Overhand Shuffle
The overhand shuffle is the shuffling technique most employed by beginners so this is where we’ll start. The standard overhand shuffle is a simple way to shuffle cards. It is a very open, casual, somewhat sloppy shuffle, in contrast to the more elegant riffle shuffle and table shuffle which will be explained later.
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The Handling
- Hold the deck by the sides so that the deck is on its edge.
- The fingers of the right hand rest lightly against the back of the deck, thumb on top.
- The left hand grips the deck and lifts off as the thumb holds a few cards back
- The thumb moves out of the way as the left hand comes back down.
- The thumb then takes a few more cards.
- As the left hand again moves up
- This action is repeated several times
- The deck is finally squared up.
Important Points / Tips
- The important point with this shuffle is to have a light touch.
- You may also like to curl the index finger of the right hand around the deck to offer extra support.
- If you find the thumb is taking too many cards in big groups or it is only taking single cards then don’t worry about this, with further practise you will get the balance right.
- Instead of using the thumb to pull the cards off, you can just use the other hand to throw the cards down. Some people find this easier to do and a more natural action.
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The Hindu Shuffle
Poker Dealer Rules
I don’t know why this is called the Hindu shuffle, but my guess is that it originates from India. I have seen lots of Asian people shuffle cards using this technique. There is a similar shuffle called the Arab Shuffle, but I prefer this handling. The shuffle is very simple and quite easy to perform. Once you have the hang of this shuffle I’m sure you’ll use it all the time.
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The Handling
- Hold the deck by the end with the thumb and middle finger. The index finger can rest lightly on top for more support.
- Here is an image from below.
- The right hand comes underneath the deck. The thumb, middle and ring finger touch the side of the deck. The index finger stays out in front.
- The right hand lightly takes packets of cards from the top of the deck.
- The removed cards fall onto the palm of the right hand. The index finger stops the cards from flying forward.
- The right hand goes beneath the deck once more and removes another packet.
- This action is repeated several times until there are only a few cards left. These are placed ontop of the deck, which is then squared.
- An image from behind to show you the correct technique.
Important Points / Tips
- The key to this shuffle is to form a trap with the fingers so that the cards fall neatly into the palm. The index finger is especially important as it will stop the cards from flying everywhere.
- The index finger of the other hand can go where you like. I usually keep it well out of the way.
- It is up to you about how many packets you glide off the top. I usually drag about ten packets then repeat the shuffle again.
- Don’t go too fast at first, unless you want to perform the 52 card pick up trick!
The Weave Shuffle
To be honest I rarely use this shuffle as I prefer the riffle shuffle, which is much quicker. However this is a very easy shuffle and is ideal for people who have yet to master the riffle shuffle. It’s easy yet it does a good job of mixing the cards.
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The Handling
- Hold the cards by the edge and using the thumb seperate about half the cards.
- Align the upper pack of cards against the lower pack.
- Weave the cards together by the edges.
- Push the cards together by about an inch or so.
- Bend the cards with the palm of the left hand and then release the pressure.
- Square the cards up.
Important Points / Tips
- Don’t be too rough with the cards. This shuffle can damage the cards when performed badly. Use a light touch and you will find the cards will weave together more easily.
- It’s also easier if you weave the corners together rather than the whole sides.
- You do not have to perform the cascade finish with this shuffle. The other option is to just push the two packets together and square the deck.
The Riffle Shuffle (in the hands)
This is a great way to shuffle cards. While this shuffle looks impressive, it’s actually far easier than you might think. Yes, I’ll admit it does take some getting used to, but once you have a feel for the cards it’ll be second nature.
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The Handling
- The start position is this. The thumb of the left hand goes on the top edge. The middle and ring fingers support the bottom edge. The little finger can be placed on the back edge and the first finger can either go on the front edge or bent ontop of the deck to lend support.
- The thumb now riffles have the deck away. The first finger can lend support here by bending in behind (i.e. on top of the deck).
- The riffled packet can now fall onto the the middle and ring fingers of the right hand. The index finger of the right hand should come to the front edge and the little finger on the other edge.
- Both packets should now be firmly gripped in the position shown. The use of the index and little fingers should lend support here.
- As you can see in this picture, the fingers are supporting the deck with the two thumbs on the top edge of the deck.
- The hands are turned over whilst keeping a good grip of the cards. Because of the solid grip, the cards should not fall.
- The thumbs now riffle the deck together. The thumbs should just move slowly up the edge of the cards. The cards will riffle together.
- The solid grip of the cards supports them as they riffle together. Some people are in the habit of using their knee or a table. With a solid grip it isn’t necessary.
- The cards should now shuffled together an inch or so. You can either push the two packets together and square up….or…
- You can perform the cascade finish. Simply bend the cards whilst keeping your thumbs on the top. This will stop them from going everywhere.
- Now just gently release the pressure from your thumbs and the cards should cascade.
- Square up the deck and shuffle again if necessary.
Important Points / Tips
- Some people are in the habit of doing this against their knee or against the table. It is not really necessary to do that as long as you’ve got a good grip on the cards.
- If you’re having trouble getting the cards to shuffle together then just experiment with the distance between the cards and the position of your hands.
- You do not have to perform the cascade finish with this shuffle. You can just push the two packs together. However the cascade finish looks really nice and it’s the easiest part of the shuffle. It is basically self working.
The Table Riffle Shuffle
Poker Dealer Tutorial Games
This is a simple shuffle which you will see performed at the casinos or poker rooms. The reason this shuffle is used is because it is very effective and it is impossible (depending on the dealer) for the players to see exposed cards. The previous shuffles often give other players a chance to glimpse at the bottom card.
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The Handling
- Start by lifting off about half the deck with the right thumb.
- Move the packet over to the right and hold each packet with the thumbs placed on the inside edge, index fingers lightly on top, and the remaining fingers at the corners of the front edge.
- The thumbs now lift up the edges of each packet. This is supported by applying pressure with the index fingers of each hand.
- The corner edges of the two packets should be nearly touching as the thumbs now riffle up the edges of each packet
- The cards should now be shuffled neatly into each other.
- Push the two packets together.
- Square up the pack and repeat the shuffle if necessary.
- Here is an image of the closed shuffle, see below for more info.
Important Points / Tips
- This shuffle can be done in several ways. It can be done open or closed. What I mean by open or closed is the way you position your hands. I prefer the open style because it is handled in a more open manner. If you look at dealers in a casino or poker room then you’ll see that they often use the closed method. This method is sometimes called the dovetail shuffle.
- I’d suggest experimenting and see which method you prefer.
The Strip Shuffle (or Running Cuts)
This is a very nice casino type action and an ideal shuffle to combine with the riffle table shuffle. It can be quite tricky to get used to the handling, but definetly worth the effort.
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The Handling
- Place the deck on the table and place the thumbs of each hand on the back edge, fingers at the front.
- The right thumb grips a small packet from the top of the deck whilst the left hand removes the rest of the packet by moving out and forward.
- The left hand brings the packet back on top of the smaller packet and the right index finger lifts up out of the way.
- The packets are not aligned together. The left hand packet should be jogged slightly to the left whilst keeping a grip on these cards.
- The right index finger then clips another small packet which fall ontop of the previous packet as the left hand moves away again.
- The left hand packet comes back on top again as before and the right index finger clips more cards from the top.
- The cards move away again and the small packet drops onto the cards below. This sequence continues.
- Until all the cards have been stripped and the deck is squared.
Important Points / Tips
- Start by doing this shuffle very slowly. You can then speed it up once you’ve got the hang of it.
- You will often find that cards pop out of the deck when they shouldn’t. Don’t worry about this. Just square the cards up quickly and carry on.
- The key to this shuffle is the clipping of the cards by the index finger.
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By Tim Ryerson
Poker Dealer Tutorial Software
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990’s. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief’ at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.
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