WSOP: A Raw Deal

Dealer controversies at the Rio plague poker's showcase

Aug. 28, 2006

By Jake Gosselin
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

The 2006 WSOP was supposed to be a celebration of poker and its massive growth in popularity. From June 25 to the early hours of Aug. 11, 48,364 people played in poker's 45 showcase events. That's a lot of decks shuffled and cards dealt, and it turns out the men and women doing the dealing weren't so happy with the way they were treated. The fallout affected play at the tables, including one incident that cost a poker legend thousands in chips.

Two issues plagued this year's tournament, according to dealers, and both could have ramifications for how the WSOP is run in the future. The first situation had to do with the way dealers received compensation.

On Thursday, July 13, the WSOP No-Limit Holdem, Short-handed $2,500 Preliminary Event started late. The reason given by tournament directors was “technical difficulties”. That wasn’t exactly true, one of the dealers has told Bodog Nation.

According to the dealer, who wishes to remain anonymous, dozens of dealers were organizing a walk out because they felt that Harrah’s, the company that owns and operates the World Series of Poker, had misrepresented what the dealers would be paid. The dealers had been told their tip rate would be more than the pay they received on their first check, but the sum of their tips turned out to be less, the dealer said.

Additionally, the dealer said, when he and his peers compared their checks with each other, they discovered their wages were based on different pay rates.

When Gary Thompson, director of communications for the WSOP, was asked during the tournament for a comment on this situation, he said, "I think there is a lack of understanding on the part of the dealers as to what the compensation package is going to be this year." He went on to explain that “the fact is for all events except the Main Event, we are taking 2.5 percent of the prize pool [for the dealers], versus two percent last year. For the HORSE, and Main Event, we are taking 1.5 percent of the prize pool, versus 1.4 percent of the prize pool last year, and the prize pools are bigger across the board.”

But Shane Akerson, a dealer who worked during the early events from June 25-Aug. 8, disputes Thompson's numbers. He said in an interview with Bodog Nation that, "The percentage was 2.25 percent not 2.5 percent for tournamnents under $5,000 [buy-in]."

What's clear is the dealers were having a hard time understanding their pay checks because they did not contain a breakdown of how Harrah’s arrived at the amount paid. Dealers earned $5.25 per hour plus their portion of the prize pool, which tended to raise their average pay to around $30 per hour - significantly less than the $50 per hour that many expected. Without an explanation for how their wages were determined, many dealers became suspicious and critical of the way their portion of the prize pool was being distributed to them.

Several walked out after receiving a second check that was lower than they expected and what resulted was a tournament that at times seemed chaotic as organizers scrambled to find people to man the tables. That's when the players became concerned. Soon, the complaints about this year’s WSOP were not only coming from the dealers, many were directed at them.

Poker forums and blogs have been teeming with anecdotes involving mistakes made by dealers that affected the course of the tournament.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson was thrown a major curve ball when a dealer mistakenly took $5,000 in chips from him. Brunson’s opponent went all-in and Brunson called with the larger of the two stacks. His opponent won the hand but after the dealer had collected most of Brunson’s chips it was realized he had taken $5,000 too much. A tournament director was called but the table play wasn't videotaped, so it was ruled that the chips could not be returned to Brunson. It was early in the tournament and $5,000 was a critical loss. Brunson discussed the incident with Bodog Nation and said it caused him to go on tilt and bust out soon after.

The number of these angry anecdotes can probably be attributed to Harrah’s having to hire dealers with very little experience. Hundreds of dealers walked out on the job when they realized that many of the players at the WSOP were not tipping.

Akerson said, "After the first round of dealers left they were replaced with people that didn't even know how to read the board, pitch cards or have any customer service skills.  One tournament when we didn't have enough dealers all the floor staff were dealing and the chip runners for the live games were dealing, they had never dealt a day in their lives."

Akerson stated that he felt that while Harrah’s did not misrepresent their pay rate, he believes that most of the grumbling from the dealers could be traced back to a combination of two things that led to almost no tips coming from the players in the tournament.

As most people know, there was a significant number of WSOP players this year who had qualified online. Bodog alone sent more than 500 players to the WSOP. While some of these players have some brick-and-mortar experience, many do not. Consequently, hardly any of them knew the etiquette of a live poker table and didn't tip the dealers after busting out.

“Many of these players have never been in a brick-and-mortar casino or live tournament where it is customary to tip,” Akerson said. “I don't always agree with the customary tip policy, but that is how it has been done in every live casino game and casino tournament. These players just don't know better, but it’s not their fault.”

Akerson explained: “The person doing the payouts was not allowed to say something like, ‘Congrats, good job, I know the dealers did a good job for you and if you would like to leave anything for them they would appreciate it very much.’ Harrah's said there would be none of that this year, but in the satellite area this was done after every satellite and every time except for once someone took money out of their wallet and threw us $20-$80.”

It is standard practice in all live tournaments for the people who pay out the players to ask if the player would be interested in tipping their dealer. This tradition was eliminated from the WSOP this year and it had an enormous impact on the dealers’ final wages. Harrah's did not immediately respond to inquiries about why this particular policy was instituted.

By all accounts many dealers quit and the ones who remained were unhappy with their experience.

“Every dealer I talked to said they wouldn’t be back, but give them a year and if they are hungry they will work,” Akerson said.

PHOTO: Doyle Brunson got raked by a dealer who mistakenly took $5,000 worth of chips from the poker legend. (Bodog Nation file photo)