The Pit Boss

I had to make a thread about this, I can't take it anymore.

Every person in the pit who wears a suit is NOT the pit boss.
Not not not. There is only ONE pit boss, and they're mostly
called floor managers today. The other suits are floor supervisors,
NOT pit bosses.

This is such a pet peeve of mine because whenever somebody here
says pit boss, I think they mean the floor manager. And they don't,
they mean some poor schlub who just took their players card. Call
him a suit, call him what you like, just DO NOT call him the pit boss
if he's not.

There was a floor manager at the Riviera in the late 70's who was the
coolest pit boss I ever saw. He always had on a grey suit with a white
or red rose in the lapel. He was tall and tan, with slicked back
hair and handsome as hell. He looked Italian, in his 50's, and charmed
the socks off of everybody. Nobody but him wore a grey suit, and if
you asked him for a comp, like a buffet or a pack of smokes, he almost
always gave it to you. I've never had a players card, but I used to get
comps before they had them. It's different now, the pit isn't nearly as
friendly as it was then. The whole town isn't as friendly..

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I saw a kid refereed to as a pit boss at The Isle in Colorado. Him and BJ could both be called 21.

This explains it pretty well. http://casinogambling.about.com/od/casinos101/a/Casino-Pit-Boss-Job.htm

Left out deciding who gets to go home early on slow nights. And which honey gets to go home with you.

Floor man is the first suited guy you will see and these days he may be all you ever get to see. Pit Boss has higher duties and many places try to skimp when they should not be skimping.

The "Pencil" is the guy most desperately sought out... for Early Outs and rotation assignment changes.

Few casinos have actual pit bosses anymore.
When the casino world as most of us remember it began "going corporate", the pit boss (pit supervisor) position became one of the first to go.
It happens in all industries; this one is no different.
As with all other industries, advancements in technology are what (supposedly) enabled elimination of the position.

Problem with it is that (aside from someone losing a job) service has suffered greatly.
A majority of the duties formerly assigned to the "pit" are now the responsibility of the "floor".
I still see lots of places understaffed, with the floor supervisors running around like crazy trying to keep up with it all.
Ratings suffer, and mistakes often go unnoticed.
To top it all off, the floors are often so busy that the only communication with the player is done by dealers (unless the player initiates conversation with the management).

Quote: EvenBob

It's different now, the pit isn't nearly as
friendly as it was then. The whole town isn't as friendly..

That is because it is now all MBAs running algorithms to squeeze every last nickel out of comps. It used to be a people business and the Pit Boss didn't have someone checking play of every person he comped. If he saw a person who deserved a comp he would throw it to them. If he got out of hand the shift manager just told him to pull it back a little.

Today someone is checking for the cross-charges back to the casino and the restaurant manager has his own P&L he is more concerned about. You can bet Benny Binion didn't balance the restaurant to the casino the end of every week.

Now Bob, you know that the revenue per square foot is more important than keeping the customer happy. The bean counters are always right.
At AT&T about 20 years ago they introduced Process Owners. Some kid in New Jersey telling a second level manager in Denver how to do the job.

I am guilty of making this mistake a lot, which is why I try to default to saying "pit crew" or "floor" instead of "pit boss."

Quote: AZDuffman

It used to be a people business and the Pit Boss didn't have someone checking play of every person he comped..

Yup. You could play BJ for an hour, and if you were
a guest of the hotel, they would give you a buffet
comp just for asking. But you had to ask, they never
gave one voluntarily that I ever saw. And they were
nice about it, 'not a problem' they'd say. Now they
look at you like you have a wad of dog crap stuck to
the bottom of your shoe.

Quote: EvenBob

I had to make a thread about this, I can't take it anymore.

Every person in the pit who wears a suit is NOT the pit boss.
Not not not. There is only ONE pit boss, and they're mostly
called floor managers today. The other suits are floor supervisors,
NOT pit bosses.

This is such a pet peeve of mine because whenever somebody here
says pit boss, I think they mean the floor manager. And they don't,
they mean some poor schlub who just took their players card. Call
him a suit, call him what you like, just DO NOT call him the pit boss
if he's not.

There was a floor manager at the Riviera in the late 70's who was the
coolest pit boss I ever saw. He always had on a grey suit with a white
or red rose in the lapel. He was tall and tan, with slicked back
hair and handsome as hell. He looked Italian, in his 50's, and charmed
the socks off of everybody. Nobody but him wore a grey suit, and if
you asked him for a comp, like a buffet or a pack of smokes, he almost
always gave it to you. I've never had a players card, but I used to get
comps before they had them. It's different now, the pit isn't nearly as
friendly as it was then. The whole town isn't as friendly..

I am going to call anyone with a suit and name tag on in the casino a pit boss (it will irk Bob on a cosmic level and this brings me joy - ahhhhh schadenfreude...it's not just for EvenBob anymore)

Quote: aceofspades

I am going to call anyone with a suit and name tag on in the casino a pit boss (it will irk Bob on a cosmic level and this brings me joy - ahhhhh schadenfreude...it's not just for EvenBob anymore)

It grieves me you have such a jaded world view, Ace.
Speaking of that, are you AC bound on FRI? I need to
start early on my planning..

I always get them two mixed up. Pit Boss...Ambulance Chaser

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