In reading through Florida’s cardroom statute I don’t see where the law sets any particular rake. I see the $2 betting limit
And I see the section in which a rake is authorized
and I see that the tax rate on cardroom earnings is set at 10% of the monthly gross
but nothing that sets the rake at 10%.
Cheating is kind of hard at poker, since the hands are displayed to the table.
We retrieve all the cards at the end of every hand, it would be very apparent if someone slid a card in, since most of the cards are seen, and if you flipped over an ace of spades, and someone folded one, they would probably remember. I would think it is far more likely that someone tries to get away with shorting a bet or sneaking chips from someone next to them. We had a guy yesterday sit down at someone elses chips and start playing. We made him pay them back.
About the schools. How long does your average course take to complete? Is it like some kind of dealing boot camp? 
Ooops, sorry, never saw this reply
Most schools are 6-8 weeks. Although the ones I have heard of basically teach you until you can pass an audition. It takes that long to develop proper pitching technique (not as easy as you would think) learning the rules of all the standard games (far more complex than you would imagine) being able to accurately and quickly read hands. Then there is the laws that govern your poker room vs. house rules. Learning how to take rakes (pretty easy, once you figure out your system)
I have players that are considered regulars who do not know fairly standard rules. You would be surprised how many times, in say, hold’em, someone will say “I have aces full of treys, with a king kicker.” Which is pretty impossible considering it’s the best 5 cards. Single chips are presumed to be a call unless stated otherwise, etc.
You basically spend weeks throwing cards in a hat/box/circle while learning about different games.
Neither of the places I have worked have required you attend a school. Either you can pass and audition or you can’t. A school does give them at least an idea you know what you are doing, although I consider folks right out of school to be pretty darn green. Our last batch we got from THE local school, I consider subpar. They are slow, don’t know the game well enough, can’t read cards well. I commonly hear complaints about them from the players.
Nothing can really prepare you for the rigors of the box. It’s impossible to cover everything that can/does go wrong and how to handle it, what the exceptions are, etc. It can also be very physically taxing. We work 12 hour shifts. Your body really isn’t designed to lean over 5 times every 2.5 minutes while holding your arms up, with one wrist stiff and the other pitching cards. I would say once you have the basics down and can pass an audition, 6 hours in the box will definitely open your eyes.
I believe that the local course here runs about $1500. Half due in the beginning, half due when you pass an audition. I make more than that a month and I’m lucky to work 25 hours a week, and I live in the world of $2 limit poker. (We have Early Out lists, when they don’t need us, we can be on a list to be release early. It is dealer crack)
PUSH in your bets folks!
Just in time for me to see it too. Thanks for the details on that.
That’s something I’d like to learn. Sometimes while watching poker on TV I’ll pay attention to the dealer (as much as I can), and they make it look so easy! Cards just sail through the air, over vast distances, and land right where they’re supposed to – without ever flipping up. There are two people in my weekly tourneys who share dealing duties (while playing), and when I go out before them I like to try my hand at it. The very first time I dealt I was horrible – a lifetime of dealing Uno games does not prepare one for poker – but I’ve gotten better. No one groans when I deal now. 
Power behind ones pitch is pretty important. It makes it less likely that the card can be flipped over. Face down is pretty important in hold 'em. 
Poker tables are pretty standard sizes, at least in the room you work in and you can adjust yourself accordingly. I could probably deal out a 10 player hand of omaha (40 cards) with my eyes shut. Often times players will stand the dealer button on it’s side for us to pitch the cards under it. It’s seldom that I miss. We spend a gross amount of time working on this. It is our little bit of showmanship. Our job can get boring, and one of the things we can do to amuse ourselves is work on our pitch. Can we slide it under the players hand, can we wedge it in a stack of chips, can I pitch it too far away for them to reach without it being obvious (for folks that won’t push in their bets), how fast can I get the cards out, etc.
Where you might find the most flourish is in stud dealing, because the cards go face up. While my down cards never spin, they do alot in stud. Spin, fly around, whatever you can get them to do as long as they don’t go off the table.
The Pitch: Your wrists, ideally, do not move. You pitch with your fingers. You move your shoulders in the direction you want to pitch. I’m a lefty, so I hold the deck in my right hand. It does not rest on your palm, but is supported by the frame of your fingers. You do not let go of the deck until the hand is complete, ever. “Dropping the deck” is a bad bad thing. You use the thumb of your deck hand to feed the cards to your pitching fingers, pushing the top card out of the side of your hand. You grasp the top of the card with your thumb, pointer finger with the middle finger stablizing the card. Once the card is in your pitching hand, the thumb and pointer finger are the stablizers and the middle finger is the pitching finger, that is where the power comes from. I could see if I could do a video capture of the pitch if you like.
I figure I dealt approximately 170 hands yesterday. That means that I pitched out at the absolute bare minimum (hold 'em, only 20 cards get pitched, stud up to 49, omaha up to 40) at all hold’em numbers, that means I pitched out 3000 cards. Practice makes perfect.
We say no amount of school can prepare you for what you will see/do after 6 hours in the box. Ultimately, it is trial by fire.
Now I’m going to be practicing with cards and trying to learn how to shuffle chips (I keep a stack of 6 at my desk to play with). Greeaaat. But seriously, thanks for the info . . . a video capture of the pitch would be awesome, but don’t bother if it’s any trouble.
I have a question: I was watching the National Heads-Up Poker Championship today, and before the dealer dealt any community cards he/she would tap the table in front of them a couple of times. Similar movement to a player’s check. I didn’t notice if it happened before the pocket cards were dealt, but I definitely noticed it before the turn and again before the river, and I’m pretty sure I saw it at least once before the flop. It happened each hand, and with different dealers. What was that?
Sorry to intrude, but as long as I’m about to post anyway, my answer Misnomer’s question, I think it’s a dealer signal equivalent to “okay, I’m about to deal the next card; if someone still has to call or has a chance to bet, stop me NOW.”
As for my questions to the OP: what’s the biggest suckout you’ve ever dealt? I ask because I sorta like being a dealer - having power over the game yet not being directly affected by it. Ever dealt a tournament? What’s the best play you’ve ever seen at your table?
(Oh, yeah, I’m not a dealer myself; I’m talking about when it’s my turn to deal at home games.)
Yes, it is to indicate that betting is complete and we are beginning the deal. Also, betting out of turn is bad etiquette, so it is very uncommon for us not to know it’s done. Clockwise, for the record.
Suckouts…I see them all the time, I deal 4 of a kind several times a day, straight flushes every few days, royal flushes, well, they seem to go in spurts. I dealt 6 in a month and a half, haven’t dealt one in quite a while. (even though Friday night I put 4 to the royal on the board TWICE and no one even had the flush, geez people, do I gotta do everything?)
I did like the time we had young joe cocky sitting to my left, told old cool poker guy that his hand was unbeatable and to fold. Old Cool calmly called his bet, young joe turns over a full house, starts saying ha! I got you! kind of stuff. I indicated to old cool to turn over his cards and voila! 4 of a kind. I called player down very happily, very loudly, and very quickly. (this was in a tournament) Young Joe, don’t screw with the old guys, they will eat you for breakfast with a side of sassy.
Well, Auntbeast, I feel like I must contribute to your thread. You found out that I’m not an orphan and I like me some poker (poker? don’t even know her!)
As soon as I’m done using up my supply of oxygen, I’ll come up with a pithy question.
Ah, here’s one. If I come into your casino, what are the odds you’ll be sleepin’ with the fishes if you make sure I go home a big winner?
haha, I wish it were so. I have dreams of a world where I decide who gets the pots. Alas, my unlikely luck follows me to dealing, I seem to hit the assholes the most.
There is really no evidence we are mobbed up. But poker in this area is a pretty gossipy industry. If you get nailed for cheating/stealing/etc if you are lucky to get out of it alive without being prosecuted and therefore losing your license to deal, you will pretty much be blacklisted. Which means you would have to live among the mortals and well, work for a living. I don’t want to live there.
Did I mention that 90% of the time it’s a great job that allows me to make stupid amounts of money for the work I do? I throw cards at people, for the love of god!