WSOP Dealer Rating System: Service Changer or Cause for Discrimination?

How the New Dealer Rating System Works

According to an announcement made by Jeff Platt, this new feature of WSOP Live app will work simply:

• Players can rate the dealer at their table
• Ratings are shared internally with tournament staff
• Dealers with the highest ratings will earn rewards throughout the series

The purpose of this system isn’t just to identify the best dealers and reward them for their high-quality work, but also to encourage others to follow suit.

If you were interested in what the interface for such a system would look like, it’s just typical window, like the one for rating taxi drivers and couriers.

What Problems Could the New System Create?

A lot of people shared their concerns that the WSOP Dealer Rating System may contribute to increased abuse and discrimination against individual dealers.

Kimberly Stone, a female poker player who also worked as a dealer, pointed this out:

Stone suggested to make this feature not a rating but a star/reward system:

Some players and dealers supported her idea as an acceptable compromise but most of the negative comments judged the whole dealer rating concept as a bad idea — we’ve selected a few opinions to paint a picture:

Barry Carter: Congrats in advance to attractive female dealers.

Blockhead: A moment of silence for the fat, bearded, bald dealer who gets 75 hands an hour, knows “Pot!” before you call it, and rates a solid 7. And congratulations to the tattooed, goth dealer with the seat cushion who can’t do mental math on her 9.95.

Dealer Brandon: Imagine seeing a terrible dealer get graded higher than you because you deal more “bad beats” as a result of more hands dealt.

SaltySalsburglar: This seems particularly insane to me and actually cruel. Dealer makes a blunder, 8 people whip their phone out, shaming/embarrassing someone already very stressed.  This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard unless we get to rate their body and face too then I’m ok with it.

Angela Jordison: The dealer rating system is about to expose how many players genuinely think the dealer controls the river.

Galen Hall: Are they going to do any controlling? Some games / stakes / players are way more miserable than others and will affect average ratings a lot. Also, similar to how the best surgeons are usually the ones with the highest death rates, a lot of the best dealers are tasked with dealing the toughest games.

Overall, the new system doesn’t address the WSOP’s core problem — the quality of dealer training. Instead, it creates a new one: dealers who receive poor ratings may simply not return next year, exacerbating the already worsening staffing shortage.

Why Do Some Players Think the Rating is a Good Idea?

Despite the predominantly negative reaction, some players responded positively to the new feature. They welcomed the ratings as a useful innovation, in line with the generally accepted standards of the service industry. The logic is: if we rate drivers, waiters, manicurists, couriers, etc. — why can’t we rate dealers too? It’s believed this helps improve service that is a very important part of the players’ gaming experience on WSOP. This is especially true for recreational players who come to the series to relax and have a good time.

Among those who supported the new system are several well-known and respected members of the community. We’ve selected some of their opinions to give a more complete picture of people’s reactions and expectations for the rating:

Joshua Arieh: This is amazing! Dealers that care and try hard, get rewarded.  Dealers that don’t give a shit, they are held accountable and correctly instructed on how they can improve.

Johnnie VIBES: Surprised at all the backlash. I look at it like the uber rating system. Seems fine. Reward dealers who consistently receive great feedback. Feels like a nice innovation.

Derek Kwan: This is low key one of the best features to help dealers improve, which then provides a fair environment. BUT, you also need to score players, and which are trustworthy ratings vs “I just got a bad beat”. Not identifying false negatives can make the system ineffective.