How kosher is flirting with a dealer? I assume you won’t be kicked out of a tournament, but what’s the opinion on it?
do not do it
Thanks, succinct, and to the point!
I wouldn’t say the previous answer is incorrect, but it does depend on the situation somewhat - and on the dealer, of course! I have dealt poker games (semi-professionally, as in doing it for tips but not as an employee of the card room) and I would probably be flattered if any female player flirted with me (I am male), but I would try not to let it affect the game at all, and if it was annoying an other player I might ask them flirter, politely, to knock it off. I’d be surprised if any professional dealer reacted differently. If you think it’s going to help you get better cards in any way, forget it. If it’s a social sort of game and everyone’s just having a good time, why not?
IAAPPD (until I start my audit job next week)
I’m male and in my opinion not particularly attractive, but a couple of times female players have flirted with me. I’ve taken it as a compliment and continued to run the game as if it was irrelevant to the action (since it is).
Female dealers are the object of much more flirtation and they generally accept it (and significantly better tokes than equally skilled male staff) with grace and as a compliment. It behooves them (and myself on the rare occasion) not to rudely rebuff patrons.
When “flirtation” is of a nature that it cannot be received as a compliment, foul language, lewdness, persistent and obtrusive, then the patron is warned that they are out of line. Sufficiently clueless patrons are warned by the dealer then floor supervisor before being walked out by security.
As far as how this is perceived by other players, I’ve never noticed it to be any different from flirtation with any other kind of service personnel. I’m an avid player and am not aware of any taboos, superstitions or gentlemen’s agreements about it.
Cat is right. ANYTHING that impedes a dealer’s ability to run the game is frowned upon by other players. The higher the stakes, the more this is noticed. My instructor told us, “As the stakes go up, the dealer dummies up.” My own attitude has always been to be as chatty and friendly as the players want me to be, as long as it doesn’t slow down the game. If I have any trouble keeping up with conversation while I deal, I apologize for my apparent inattentiveness (to the talker) while running my game.
As a rule, dealers are friendly and cordial to all guests and small talk is fine, but most dealers’ response to an attempt at an involved conversation is to politely disengage from it. There is a financial disincentive to making yourself a hit with one of the 9 people at the table while alienating all the others.
That’s drifting off topic a bit, but the same principle applies to flirtation.