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What is a shill?


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What is a shill? Not sure I got the term right, but my understanding is that it's someone who plays at the cardroom and has some sort of relationship with the managment but I'm not sure what the deal is. Can anyone explain this to me in detail?

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a shill is a houseplayer, they play with the houses money but get paid to play at an hourly rate. a prop is someone who gets paid to play, but plays with their own money, but get's paid to do so. usually in live cardrooms, it's either a salary (around 60K i heard at the commerce + bonuses but live cardrooms expect you to play 20-40 up to 40-80 maybe higher) or hourly. online props usually get some sort of rake back. house players, either shills or props are always directed to games, which means they may be directed to tough games (short handed, etc). both shills and props should be experienced at all levels (this is more typical for live cardrooms tho.) online props or shills usually have the benefit of playing lower limits and since online you can play multiple tables to double your income. shills and props are used to stimulate games when a full table lacks customers. it's an overall better experience for the regular player because, let's face no one wants to play short and shills and props come in to fill up tables so you don't have to play short. Also, mind you...just because someone is a shill or a prop, doesn't mean they are a good player.

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a shill is a houseplayer, they play with the houses money but get paid to play at an hourly rate.
Thanks Shy, good explanation. You did so well I got a few more questions for ya... I'm assuming a Prop gets to keep his winnings since it's his own money on the line. What happens to the winnings of a Shill? Does a Shill have to pay the house back if he loses? Would a Shill or a Prop tell you he was if you asked?
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well i'm not so sure regarding a shill, whether he or she has to pay back the money (not familiar territory), however, yes a prop gets to keep their winnings because it is thier own money. my best guess would be that a shill would get to keep their winnings: premise-a cardroom would only hire a shill if they concretely knew they were a winning player (perhaps like an eric lindgren or dutch boyd). as far as live cardrooms goes, yes a shill or a prop has to identify themselve as a house player (to my knowledge), but online it is much different where identifying yourself as a shill or prop openly on chat is highly frowned upon. (meaning they would terminate you)

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interesting... the one time I went to a cardroom, I was playing 2/4 limit hold 'em. The guy sitting on my right was a good player and respectable looking fellow (dressed nice, clean shaven, etc.) I got the impression that he was a good player but playing pretty loose. Every single time someone was all-in, he would say "good luck all-in". I'm wondering if he was a Shill/Prop... ?

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interesting...  the one  time I went to a cardroom, I was playing 2/4 limit hold 'em.  The guy sitting on my right was a good player and respectable looking fellow (dressed nice, clean shaven, etc.)  I got the impression that he was a good player but playing pretty loose.  Every single time someone was all-in, he would say "good luck all-in".  I'm wondering if he was a Shill/Prop...  ?
Not neccessarily. At the casino I play at, everyone is pretty friendly, so I if I happen to be all-in, not only does the dealer say, "Good luck, all-in", but I'll get it from two or three other players, of varying styles, looks, state of dress, etc. But I suppose it's possible.
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Now i guess a shrill is there for short handed games and to keep games live as well?? Do they have to play more loosely or can they sit back and play tight if that's there game?

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Not sure how it is now, but back in the day when I used to play draw games in Gardena before stud/hold 'em were legalized, the props would get $150. per shift. That was their pay and they would have to gamble with it. They could put in their own money but they didn't get any more from the house. If they tapped out they were out of a job (unless they played on with their own money). They kept whatever they had at the end of a shift. They had to go to any table in the house to which they were directed. Since the higher limit games made the house more money, those were the tables the house wanted to keep happy, so the props got directed to them most often. All of this meant that the props were almost always rocks. People didn't like having them at the table because they were so tight. As I said though, this was in the early '80s, don't know if the deal is still the same.

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