Operating A Professional Poker Room by Nick Gullo 2006, 134pp, $39.95 Gullo Pens Vital Reading For Poker Poker might have become the darling of the universe recently but the game has long suffered from a major information gap.
Judging from the number of how-to-play books on the shelves, that breach certainly doesn't apply to instructions for players but it's an area that truly affects them, especially if they play in brick-and-mortar cardrooms. That missing link, so to speak, is a complete and standardized instructional -- a book or guide on how to run a poker room.
Nick Gullo's Guide to Operating a Professional Poker Room, with rules and procedures, has bridged the gap nicely.
With information that includes a Texas Hold'em Study Guide for beginners, the book should serve those operating card rooms in every state well but it will also be a big help to those who host their own monthly event at places like bowling alleys or pool halls or country clubs.
The book, which contains 35 chapters and plenty of room to take notes or make revisions as needed for a particular situation, is written by a veteran of more than four decades in the casino industry.
Gullo offers procedural advice applying to all poker games including the specifi c role the dealer has and situations where a dispute might occur along with detailed rules the house or individuals operating a game or tournament might want to post for players to see immediately (especially those touchy areas involving table etiquette), misdeals and when a player's hand is "dead." Other topics covered are a number of rules and checklists for the house to ensure the game is honest; standard shuffl ing and cut procedures; rules on wagering and rules employees must follow.
All this information will be a tremendous timesaving reference guide for cardroom management as well as for those who hope to move on up from dealer.
Sections on the rake; rack chip rules; the responsibility of the chip runner and the brush person are followed by a major discussion and guidelines for dealing, while small, but important sections examine situations like a player missing the big blind or small blind; general button procedures; kill pots.
Gullo has prepared guidelines for the house and dealers to follow for most of the popular poker games: games with community cards, high-low games, draw, stud; deuce to seven; high hand jackpots and bad beat jackpots (which includes a sample jackpot report form so payments may be made accurately).
The section on Tournament Rules is one of the most important, with a good portion of the material drawn from the Tournament Director's Association, founded by Matt Savage, David Lamb, Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher fi ve years ago. This includes an idea for card room promotion -- specifi cally the "poker diary" and how it will assist in marketing and customer loyalty and several sample forms worth considering for record-keeping.
This is an outstanding professional effort by an individual who deeply cares about the gaming industry, particularly about poker and how players should be treated. I'm sure there will be suggestions for additions and updating certain areas to keep up with the ever-changing nature of the games, but this book is one heck of giant step in the right direction.
