Like all successful operations, it takes many moving parts to make the machine work efficiently. The dealers are integral to this machine we call The Festival Series, and there is no one better to talk to about The Festival from a dealer's perspective than Petr Kupský. The man alone is a machine. The talented and charming Czech is a Festival veteran, having worked, at least in his estimation, at 80% of the stops. He was generous enough to spend some of his break time with me yesterday, before the start of the €125 Bomb Pot Madness tournament, about his background and The Festival.
Q: How did you first get into dealing?
A: I had a training in Czechia when I was going to University. I wanted to make some money. So, I took a training course in Olomouc, I started freelancing there for two years, and after two years, I started coming to Bratislava, where I met The Festival series and other series.
Q: How many stops have you done with The Festival?
A: I believe The Festival series is already three, four years old. This was the first stop I came to (in 2021), some of them, I missed, but I would spend most of them I might like from 80 percent. Yeah, I couldn't. I couldn't attend in Tallinn (Sviten Special Weekend) because it was very short and also Nottingham I missed. But Malta, Rozvadov, Bratislava, I think I've done all of these stops. With Bratislava, I have done them all, 100%!
Q: What is the best thing about being a poker dealer?
A: You're free! You can plan your time. You can schedule your tournaments. And you can travel. You can see nice places. You can learn languages. You can meet nice people, and it also helps you to grow. There are so many things that people don't see that they can learn when travelling. It's not only about poker, but it's also about meeting people, knowing how to talk with people, and how to behave at the table. Sometimes that's hard, because when you get to know the people at the table, you want to talk to them.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face in this job?
A: The shifts can be very long, so it's important to stay disciplined. And after these long shifts, we also like to have some free time, and if you lose your discipline, then it can be hard, because of the long hours. You need to think twice before going out to a party, so if you don't sleep, you need to sleep, and you need to create a disciplined plan if you want to become a dealer.
Q: How does dealing at The Festival compare to other poker events?
A: When I was dealing in Czech, it was only Czech people or Polish people. But now, when I started meeting people from across Europe, I realised that there is many nationalities and each nationality is special, and they all like different things; the Swedish people they like to play mixed games, then you have Czech people, most don't play Mixed or PLO. The biggest difference is the choice of games. When I started travelling to the Mixed Game events, and this is the reason why I'm dealing, I love poker. But when i first started travelling, I only knew Hold'em, so it was very hard at the start.
Q: How long did it take you to learn the Mixed Games fluently?
A: It's not so much about learning, you could learn it in one day, but to feel confident in dealing the games, you need to do at least 5-10 Mixed Game tournaments to feel confident that you're able to do it. The biggest problem with Mixed Games is that there is not that many tournaments in Europe. So some dealers deal maybe one or two times per years then maybe they forget. Also, they are not the same rules everywhere, but they are changing over time.
Q: What is your favourite stop?
A: The Festival Bratislava. When The Festival is here, it feels alive; it feels like the players take it seriously here. Bratislava is one of the main stops for The Festival, where you see a lot of the same faces and always new faces. It's always very friendly here, it's not always about the poker. If I came here as a player with only two bullets worth, I would still stay the whole week, just to hang out. Many of the tournaments on the schedule are made for fun to be entertaining, like turbos, bomb pot tournaments, and you also don't get that many opportunities to deal those games anywhere else.
And here when dealing cash games here at The Festival Series, players can pick any Mixed Game. They don't just have to play it in a tournament format. They can play it in the cash games as well.
Q: Would you recommend this job?
A: It is a great job and a great opportunity, but it is hard. You are allowed to learn, to grow to travel to learn everything, but in the end, it is very tough. You have to plan your travel, and you need to make sure that you are on time everywhere. You need to make sure that you are ready to work long hours. Sometimes its the opposite, and you don't get enough hours, and as a freelancer, you need the hours, especially if you have to pay for travel expenses.
I would say though, if you like poker, this is your space. If you want to learn how to play poker, you can also start as a dealer, because you will learn the rules. You will learn how it works, and you can choose what kind of tournament do you like to attend in the future as a dealer or as a player. You can find your way in poker because there is plenty of games, you can choose which game fits you, because many people know only Hold'em then they start playing something like Open Face Chinese they can play it for 12 hours and learn it.
And from the dealers perspective in a game like that, you can learn the games so well as it is the best school you could have. Sometimes you are watching the best players right in front of you and you're happy you can deal for them. You can then ask them for recommendations, advice about the games.
Q: If you had to pick one game to play forever, what would it be?
A: Open Face Chinese.
Q: If you had to pick on game to deal forever, what would it be?
A: Open Face Chinese.
Petr then signed off the interview by giving thanks to The Festival Series, and encouraging his fellow dealers to learn the Mixed Games, saying: "Thanks to The Festival, I had the opportunity to learn all the Mixed Games. It's been like four or five years now, and I can say that it is my best choice in the past. All my friends, when they wanted to learn, didn't know they were very scared of it, but there is nothing to be scared of. It's very easy when you learn it. People are very helpful. They help you always because usually they are very experienced in all the game, all the variants, and it's the best opportunity. When you know the Mixed Games, more doors open. I would recommend it to all dealers. Learn it. Don't pay any money to anybody, look at guides online on The Festival and do some research."
