Dealer "lost it" at a table - to keep control of a table!

I gotta say, as a dealer, when a player takes shots at you, you'd be a lousy dealer if you'd turn over control of a game to them. Sometimes you gotta set limits with your mouth. That's just how it works.

Like every one else in this business, we know this business is one rude business at times, dealers first and foremost.

I had a player on my table tonight, 20 minutes before the end of my shift, shapping his fingers and making demands. Fine, I just deal. He is of course a floorman at another casino, which is why he treats dealers like that.

I right at my exit time, I get tapped out. I had shaken the dice - but hand not dealt the cards; no cards hand been dealt. I get tapped out. So I said, "Guys, it's been great dealing to you, See you tomorrow." and to the player who tipped "Jim, thanks, we really appreciate that!"

Then "Bill" says, "Hey! The dice say '17.' Go and deal the cards! [pointing and snapping his fingers]"

I responded, "the cards have not been the dealt, so the next dealer will do it. She can start at 17, or re-shake for a new number. [Again, NO cards have been dealt]. and.."Thanks Good night!"

"Bill" says "Deal!" [talk about an anal floorman who is just visiting from another casino], so - I deal and STAY FOR A LITTLE SHOW"

"I say "okay, then you want me to deal another round, fine." I deal the round, and while "Bill" is setting his hand, He says"
"You Know, Dan - I'm a FLOORMAN!" [was THIS supposed to somehow impress me? I've always felt being being promoted from a dealer to a floorman is no different than being promoted from a "cab driver" to a "dispatcher."]

MY EYES GLAZE OVER. I so BADLY wanted to say, "Yes, I know, Bill, I can TELL you're in this business, too - because you're just another RUDE floorman @hole trying to run a game when it's not your casino!" but I checked my mouth...somewhat.

What I did was put my hand by his betting position as he was setting his hand, and I said:
“I know you're a floorman by how you treat dealers, but I gotta tell you Bill, you ain’t my floorman here at this casino. I’d be a damn fool to let someone walk in off the street to run a game on me, floorman or not. If you wanna take shots a dealers, then take shots at your own dealers like you do at your own casino. But as a dealer at this casino, I won't let you or any other player run the table for me. But I dealt this hand from position #17, as you requested.” And I did deal it - just to shut him up. I did open the dice, but I just as well could have covered, shook them, and tapped out for going home. But I wanted another moment with him, especially because he's a fellow gaming worker.
And he looked at me like I had 19 test]c]es, and I look at him like he had no brains. Another 60 year old floorman being bossy on a nickel game, no past, no future, no life, a ghost on position #2, - and like me, the dealer dealing the game.

I also though, "sh]t, did I just get myself fired?" But I can't be fired for properly defending a game, and taking steps to put up boundaries to keep that in place for my casino. All I told him was that a) he may be a floorman at some casino, but not here, so I have to run my own game on behalf of my employer, and b) told him not to run my game one me, floorman or not, and c) by shaking the dice, I wanted to continue the hand [option to the next dealer, as no cards were dealt; a new dealer can reshake and say "new deal"], but I didn't want to debate this if he had argued with my supervisors,so I dealt.

After the deal, and before I tapped out, I put my hand by his position, and said, "You know Bill, we're both in this business, and you're a floorman, but do you SEE that EZ Pai Gow table over there?" [and he looked at the table right next to pg-1.] "I invented that game, and it's in casinos in six states, so if you're gonna tell me you're a floorman, I'm gonna tell you both I'm a dealer AND a game inventor." Generally I never say a word about it, never thinking it's special after all the work, but if a floorman thinks that "floorman" is a some sort of a status, then so is being private, corporal and taxi cab dispatcher - and dealer trying to run a clean game!

This was the ONLY time I ever used my "game inventor" status in this industry. In my daytime hours, I've dealt with Shufflemaster, Galaxy Gaming, the Gaming Network, DEQ, and many gaming mathematicians and gaming attorneys, only to pitch cards to pricks at night, doing this until the invention makes me independent.

This site is basically a gaming site for astute gamblers where many gaming industry people both troll and contribute. But working in the industry on the pit side of the table is a whole different ball of wax than being a player.

Being a dealer, you have to be an entertainer, a mathematician, a consoling bartender, have hands like a maestro, never make a mistake, and never be late or absent from work unless you're the hospital, or dead, or on vacation. All for minimum wage plus tips. And where a shot-taking player can complain to management about you for letting him run the table against the employer your defending, and where management can half-seriously fire you on that basis.

Of all the discussions we've had here at this site on gambling and gaming, not much has been on what it's like to be IN gaming, either as a casino worker or a game designer to fight his game into casinos, above and beyond its merit.

I will soon start teaching dealers' school in two weeks, and in addition to all the table "hands and math" work, I've prepared a few lessons on being in this @#$#%^&* industry.

I would Like to hear ideas and stories about this industry - for this industry. A new topic area. There used to be a cute and very innocent comic strip in the Village Voice about things going wrong when they go wrong, strangely called "Life in Hell." Gaming industry workers might say "Oh! - that area's for US!" It ain't that bad at all, - but this industry is rough, special, and crazy in some ways.

Quote: Paigowdan

I gotta say, as a dealer, when a player takes shots at you, you'd be a lousy dealer if you'd turn over control of a game to them. Sometimes you gotta set limits with your mouth. That's just how it works.

At even my low level (the Monte Carlo Night dealer) I see a little of the same thing. When I meet new people I take a minute or two to stress to them that they must "control their game" at all times. Ours are not for real money but sometimes they are for chairity fundraisers and sometimes big ones. Even when it is for "fun" you still cannot let thigns get out of hand.

An example from years ago before I really even cared about casinos. I was the player, and by my standards today one of the jerks. Turned something around $10K in play money to $200K or more. Lots of dumb chance involved because I ditn't know BS and even doubloed on a 12 once. But I won so much because I was slapping so much cash down. And the whold table was doing the same. The poor dealer didn't bother to enforce a limit. She was going crazy paying the table. Play money (not chips) flying everywhere. But remembering her loss of control made me know the importtance of keeping it. For once I learned the easy way.

Since I "grduated" to dealing craps sometimes at these nights this really comes out. Players who have not yet learned the rules want to just make their own place bets. High-rollers who couldn't explain the come bet if their life depended on it want to play higher stakes. We fit 4-6 people per side of the table but remember, I am stick + 2 base dealers and no boxman to help watch. Lose control there and you have a lot of unhappy people.

Now, "control" does not mean "yelling" at people doing the wrong thing. You are still in the service industry and are after all working for the client. But you need "command posture" at your table. You are in charge. See a bet above the max, you remind people of the limit. If one sneaks by me I will even pay only the limit sometimes, more so if I have reminded the person already. Person throws their own place bet, remind them that I need to place them and I tell them why--it is so I can know who bet what by how I place the chip.

I think in a real casino it depends on how management wants to respond to confrontation and the possibility of someone making a scene. Unless it is some high-roller who made a deal about dealer changes in advance, in your case the floorman should have said "sorry, sir, I need to rotate my dealers." If the guy then said he was also a floorman the floorman should have said, "then you understand we need to follow procedure. Our procedure may be slightly differen than your house."

Duff,
Very fine, so true. The most important thing to do is to STOP a shot taker POLITELY enough so that he either stops or leaves, or if not, that you can prove that you were defending the casino, even thought you would STILL probably get an incident report.

Indeed,most dealers will let a shot-taker get away with $10 or $25 dollar "lift," knowing that surveillance is watching larger amounts and that they DON'T want a scene with floor supervisor - only because they had defended their casino employer for it all. Sad - but true. I defend my table against all idiots and thieves who try to run a game on me or take a shot to steal a hand, but I would be written for "poor customer service" or "casusing an incident."

One time, when I was a dealer in an empty pit [table area] with NO floor supervision present [they know I can handle and deal a clean game as an experience dealer], I had one shot taker trying to deliberately "play with me" because he was drunk - AND because SOME players get their "juice" in trying to make a dealer screw up. At the time, dealers were being monitorerd for game speed, and he was folding his arms and not taking action on his hand to slow the game down to a snail's pace; he actually said, "Listen, @sshole dealer, I can take as much time as I want!" It got to the point where I literal shut down the game right on him, [he was the only player left after all his shananigans], and said,

"No, no can't take as much time as you want, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE HERE TO PLAY BLACKJACK, THEN I'M YOUR DEALER, - BUT IF YOU'RE HERE TO PULL ON MY F&CKING D&CK, YOU CAN TAKE YOUR ACTION TO THE BUNNY RANCH, BECAUSE YOU NEED TO GET LA]D, AS IT'S CLEAR YOUR WIFE ISN'T GIVING YOU A DAMN THING, AND NEITHER WILL I. TAKE YOUR ACTION TO THE $2 TABLES AT THE LONGHORN, @SSHOLE." I had to drive him off. The guy just sat there and stared into space for a moment, not getting angry. Yes, I LOST it a little bit, but I had a game to defend, and there was no floormen in the second game pit. They operate on the basis that I can handle an occasional sh]thead in dealing a table without supervision. I Did. This bastard just left with last $10 in chips and walked out to his car. Surviellance does NOT have audio feeds, thank God, because sometimes they would hear some things, - and fairly said.

After this idiot left, a floorman came into the pit and asked me what we were discussing and what he left with (table amount), and I said that I was giving him directions on the best way to get to McCarran airport, because he was leaving from Las Vegas [WHICH WAS TRUE] and I recommended that he take I-215 West to the airport connector, instead of I-95/515 to Tropicanna Avenue. The floorman just said, "You're right - that's how I go from Henderson." Hey, I just gave airport directions as a part of my customer service. As for what he left with, (he lost most of his his money), I just said he left with his good health and $10, which is code that a player left pretty much broke.


Now, over things like this, in a real casino they can accuse you - and fire you - for any reason at ALL, - just for being Catholic on Good Friday, whether or not its a Sunday, and get a tape from surveillance where you had rubbed some sweat out of eye, saying you did a cheating manoever. It just happens. Actually, I should say, That just happens. As a dealer, you have to deal with bad players and bad supervision and bad surveillance. It's just that ridiculous at times. If you suit up and show up on time and don't steal, and are friendly to players, you're generally okay, but any crap can happen totally out of the blue, and you'll get blamed and fired, and that's the real story as a dealer.

There was a time where I work when a new surviellance crew came into the casino, and had wriiten up absolutely everyone on every little thing [including being "Catholic on Sunday"]. This included an absolutely expert and flawless Roulette dealer who has been been us for TEN years - because she didn't wave off a "no more bets" signal at EXACTLY four Roulette Wheel spins before the ball had dropped - but she was clocked at something like "3.74" wheel spins before the ball had dropped into a number slot - as "determined by surviellance." This is from surveillance, who isn't on the floor with us, and doesn't know what's really happening, and when they aren't sleeping (or looking at women's asses with their pointable cameras.) During her reprimand, or "call to go see the shift office" [always a VERY BAD Thing for a dealer] her reaction was "This is 'Clazie' - you must be sh[tt]ng me!!?? I deal Roulette fine!" [She's Korean, and a GREAT Dealer!!] She wasnt fired, but got a bu]]sh]t "write-up" against her record, so that she could be later and easily fired without benefits - if need be - when the casino group was going through its financial woes. 80% of the dealers were ONE false write up from termination - a totally manufture situation for all not in management. If she HAD been fired, she would have simply applied for a new job at another casino, [to replace some other dealer who was also wrongfully fired] - at the same minimum wage plus tips, with a delay on her health benefits. Look, dealers who were fired because of true wrongfullness are out of the business, and the casino groups sometimes just "churn" their good dealers around. Just like Taxi Cab companies do the same things with their own drivers within the same town they operate in.

A typical set-up: As for myself during this time, when dealing on a crap game with a single player, that player asked that ALL of his place bets be turned on his come-out roll. Okay. Since he was a single player on an empty game, I turn the big ON-OFF puck to ON, and waved my pointed finger over all his active bets - to signal surveillance that his place bets were working on the come-out, and placing the big puck to the ON side during his come-out roll. This was instead of placing six tiny lammers on each of his place bets, and then removing them when he rolled a point number. This could NOT have been missed by anyone at the table - or by surveillance itself, even with thier seeing eye dog. The player rolled a six, so I paid him $7 on his $6 winning six, and placed the puck on six as it was now the point. He moved his place-6 to press up his place-8, and so he had a point of Six with a $12 Eight. No problem. Before I left the casino that night, I WAS CALLED INTO THE SHIFT OFFICE TO EXPLAIN WHY I DID NOT INDICATE THAT THAT PLAYER'S PLACE BETS WERE NOT MARKED ON - when I had taken every step to mark the player's place bets as "on" through the big puck and through my obvious hand signaling to that effect - and also the PAYING OUT the bet - on that player's come-out roll.

I WAS very tempted to say, "Perhaps if I had flopped my pen]s out onto the crap table layout with the ON puck duct-taped to it, using my wand to illustrate the working bets, then the seeing eye dog in surveillance would have awakened his human fellow crew members who wrote this report on company time - that the place bets were working on the come-out roll - like everyone ELSE knew at the table." Sadly, you cannot say such to a shift manager in a shift manager's office. My shift manager said, "You are getting off with a WARNING this time," to which I saluted, and said "VERY FINE."

Dealers who are expert level dealers, with Sterling class-A performance reviews for solid ten years, can be fired on an "out-of-the-blue" basis for incompetency for any reason, including with a "3.74" roulette call-off short-spin [like it makes a mathematical or game protection difference of any signifigance]. The casino can also try to enforce a dismissal of unemployment benefits to boot. In Nevada, gaming operators are always sided with, and can commit any labor relations crime they wish, and often push the envelope with that knowledge, just to save a few dollars, or just to be d]cks.

The place I work at is the most friendly of casino places - as far as THIS rude indusry goes - but we have had our won nutty periods including the "out of the blue write-up for ALL employees for any BS reason on a sunny day." Dealers were threatening to call the Labor Relations board and the Las Vegas Review-Journal on it, and protested with Human resources, and the abuse just totally stopped. It swung so far the other way a player could have reached into the deler's rack and pulled out $1,000 in black chips - if it were clear to do so on the floor, it seemed. After us dealers had been accused of false crimes where none were committed, I then saw a period where (watching from an adjacent tables, from a dead game myself) where, if a dealer made a mistake, another dealer would call out, "Tony, set your hand to a flush, not as a one pair," or "Ellen, don't pay him - his hand pushes!" or "You forgot to pay him on ther ANTE bonus because he has a straight" [in three card poker], etc. where surveillance never called down agin.

There used to be a poster in the work area hallway, indicating that " XXXX-Casinos is one of the One Hundred BEST places to work for, according to the WALL STREET Journal!" but so many employees kept slipping near that poster because of all the spit on the floor, that "xxxx-casinos" was losing more on Workman's comp than they could gain in employee morale by it, so they took it down. Not true, but aptly and realistically put. They torn it down because it wasn't helping morale, and was not true, and the front-line gaming employees never trusted that slogan, even if xxxx-casinos WAS agreat place to work - IF you worked in marketing, or IT technology, or sales, or any other area that had NOTHING to do with front-line gaming.

Morale is such a variable element for a dealer employee of a casino, that dealers will just flat out openly say on a game, "Sir, your actions are just out of bounds, and I have to protect and run the game - PUSH YOUR BET BACK NOW!" and so they stop a game, give a warning, and not worry about some "mistaken floorman's threat about providing customer service" - whenever a player is openly trying to take down or run a game or a dealer. Keep in mind that when a casino dealer defends a game and takes an action to do, he does NOT consider floor supervision an ally, as much as he realizes they're just smucks trying to cover their own butts and keep a job. Every table "incident" is a write up for a dealer - and if a dealer saves the day and reports it - it gets written up as an "incident," and never a commondation.

But most table "incidents" are simply the dealers succesfully protecting the table on behalf of their employers, or fighting off a shot taker trying to do an advantage manoever, but they don't report a thing, as a dealer taking an exceptional and courageous positive action to stop a theft or advantage play action would indeed be written as a "problem dealer incident." I know many dealers who can count cards and spot card counters while their players are carrying it, but keep their mouths shut if the counters are throwing in a few tips, while the floor supervision is missing it.

Dealers more than "suit up and show up, on time for work." They now also shut their mouths in front of winning card counters and advantage play players that floor supervision and surveillance had fail to catch. A dealer only has to cover correct play and payout procedure, not catch card-counters and avdantages players - that's the floorman's job.

If a dealer goes forward with a game protection issue that FLOOR or SURVEILLANCE had failed to catch, then the dealer would be written up himself, embarassing his supervisor. Dealers have leaned that "why report probelms to help your casino employer when you'd only be blamed for these problems yourself?" is sadly the best answer.

If a game dumps because of cheating or advantage play, only the shift manager or the pit boss is the one in trouble, because the dealer is not responsible for card counters, or mis-filed fill slips, or mis-calculated table closing tallies, or anything ELSE that a supervisor signs off on. NICE dealers catch addition and procedural mistakes of the floormen, with the floorman saying, "Thanks," but recently, one floor woman got sacked because a dealer okayed a wrong table closing tally slip on a table, and let her close out the table with a wrong tally, her signature and all.
These two women disliked one another, and the dealer who co-signed her name to the table closing slip and said nothing, and was not repremanded. The other woman, a floor woman in her 50's, was fired, sh]t-canned, the morning after, and was traumatized.

"Life in Hell"; little known fact, it was drawn by Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons". "The Simpsons" evolved from it.

I hate to say this, but what you say is not confined to casinos. I used to work for a bank that was 99% online and by phone. One branch only with some kind of satellite branch in Las Vegas if I remember right. I was in the auto loan department. A call-center hell job but survival is survival. I was the fastest on the phones. Seriously, my call-handle time was best and usually by a wide margin. Now, we served mostly military and their families and were stressed how busy military life was. We were to be friendly but not waste members time.

I was also among the best of a 100 person floor at loan conversions. Makes sense since as I had the fastest handle time I took the most calls, put the most apps out, thus the most loans funded. You would think this would be a reason to get promoted, right?

Wrong. The company had this "referral" bee up their tail. You had to "refer" a different prduct on each and every call. Now, I once didn't refer any new products to someone because they got declined for a loan due to credit. "Why didn't you offer another product?" My reply was, "If you declined me for a loan then tried to sell me an investment in mutual funds (what the computer suggested) I'd call you a few swear words and never do business with you again. Is that what you want?"

I got the typical, "then find somehting else" corporate answer. They also had this silly script to follow that would PO the customers. And if you didn't hit every ambiguous thing "enough" they could write you up. I eventually was forced out weeks before annual bonus.

I just didn't get the tokes, but did get to sit instead of stand.

Duff,
It happens in a lot of industries, and is forbidden in a lot of industries, too. Telemarketing is a nasty gig also.

It's the "company culture" of fair play and integrity that sets a lot of industries and companies apart. The gaming industry, from casino groups to game distributors, generally has a piss-poor record, which is why I went with DEQ for my game distribution on EZ Pai Gow, because I personally know the executives at DEQ and I trust them and can fight with them to work things out. DEQ is a class act, as is Gaming Network. Aside from that in this industry....

The casino group I deal at, as an employee for my "regular dealing gig", at "xxxx-casinos," I keep at arm's length aside from suiting up and showing up on time, and dealing to some friendly players for the most part. The casino I work at is in a wealthy area, so I actually have more social contacts with the players than I do with co-workers or management at my casino. The players - Just a way better class of people in Anthem and Henderson, Nevada, two wealthy retirement communities, than the "grind-a-day" crap dealers and floormen I work with.

My wife, who works at "yyyy-gaming," is in the same situation. Suit up, show up, exchange pleasantries, and leave the job at there back at the work site.

When I worked as a software enginner at an engineering firm in New York City, and later at a Private college in New York City as a systems programmer, I had two GREAT work environments filled with very decent people who operated at a high personal levels, and I am still in contact with the great people I worked with there. But I don't socialize with many of the crap dealers or floormen or gaming people I currently work with here in Las Vegas. (Aside from Mike Pavlo and Brad Fredella, who are very decent people who just happen to work in gaming, and in spite of it.)
The gaming mathematicians and attorneys are a different bred, though...

Dan,
Love the stories, and thank you for the work you put into writing them, but I hope you feel secure enough at your job (or with your inventions) that you are comfortable writing this. If one of your employers reads this, it could get a little dicey, if what you say is true.

Yes, I feel secure enough, because I made sure I didn't mention anyone's company name or personal name. If I had, then I can see a problem.
If someone from a casino company reads this, may they think about their environment, their job roles, and the people they ovesee or work with.