I have never found it in standard dictionaries, and nobody is really certain of its origin. “Lammer” is one of the most unusual words in the gambling world. This is purely an “in-house” affair - this button does not get passed to players, and if you never noticed it was sitting there, it wouldn’t change anything about how you play the game. Otherwise, those monitors have no way of knowing if the dealer is making a mistake or perhaps deliberately shorting the casino’s take.
Second, it shows security personnel monitoring the dealer’s actions via overhead cameras that the reduced amount the dealer is taking is authorized by the poker room supervisor. First, it reminds the dealer to take less than the usual amount. The “Reduced Rake” button is kept on the table near the “drop” - the place where the raked chips are fed into a secure box under the table. This is done to encourage people to play when otherwise a game might not be viable. Many poker rooms will reduce the rake (i.e., the fee that the house keeps from every pot as its payment for running the game) under certain conditions, such as a game being short-handed or just starting up. We’re nearing the end - just these last five to explain. In this mini-series, I’ve been discussing all of the different kinds of buttons that you might encounter at casino poker tables.
