Optimal Dealer Strategy

There are many AP’s who do tip. Even more will tip a dealer who uses proper strategy. Below is the expectation-maximizing strategy for casino blackjack, when dealing to an Advantage Player:

First, learn to divide players into two classes: Advantage Players and Civilians. It doesn't matter whether you believe we actually have an advantage or not. Your goal is to get more tips from us, and learning to see this distinction in the same way we do is critical to achieving this goal.

Central Tenet of Optimal Dealer Strategy: Civilians play to win, though they like the idea of an edge. AP’s play for the edge, though they like the idea of winning. The casino looks a whole lot different from the latter camp.

Again, it doesn't matter whether we're right about having an edge. You just need to understand that the EDGE is what we're focused on, much more than the win. A great deal of your frustration with AP’s stems from your expectation to receive tips proportional to the win the player made at your table. But you have no control over whether or not we win. You do have some control over our edge. Against an AP, you should expect to be tipped in proportion to the edge you serve.

There are many ways you can help increase an AP's edge.
*Deal as deep as you can before shuffling
*Deal as fast as you can
*Provide good information, e.g., "It's hot in here," or "The new pit boss over there is sharp as a tack. He even counts cards at other casinos, but of course they don't catch him because he knows both sides of the table."
*When a new player sits down, ask us whether we want him to wait for the shuffle
*Try to avoid calling "checks play" to your boss. Instead, give your boss something to occupy his attention. You should have a supply of authentic-sounding, time-consuming floorperson questions committed to memory, to be unleashed any time a floorperson sees a stream of low cards come out with an AP at the table.
*Shuffle early if we have a small bet out

Dealt flawlessly, this strategy can yield up to one unit per hour. Against a green chip player, that's $25 an hour. Not bad money, considering there are five more seats at the table. If this seems small in light of the $1000 win we just had, remember:

A $100 tip won't take away our win, but it will take away our edge. And if we don't have an edge, we can't play anymore, and you end up with one fewer tipping customer. On the other hand, AP’s are much less likely to lose all their money to casinos than civilians, so if you can be happy with $25 an hour from us, you're likely to have a $25 an hour customer for many days to come.