AZDuffman's Blog
Maybe, but I doubt it will happen......
2010.....I am at a company where business is very slow. So I go to an interview for and get accepted at table games school. As luck would have it I get a "real" job that starts the very next day after class starts. Mostly because this limits practice time I have to less than 20 minutes a day. Still, I learn enough craps dealing to make it a side-deal and think I will try again.2011....This mornin I get called into a meeting with 15 other contract employees. I know before the cards are even turned over, the assignment is history. So I post this on Facebook and am told about "maybe" the casinio is having another class. Seems I missed interviews by a week. Class starts next week it seems. I already emailed the head of HR about a late-entry. Maybe tomorrow I will cruise the pit and see if the approachable instructor is there.
But I am wondering how far I should pursue it? Within 2 hours after my interview I was on the phone with 2 recruiters and might have something lined up in my old field, but the field is still unstable long-term. I doubt craps is going to be available and it would be BJ.
More tales andramblings from the MC Dice Pit
Most craps schools I have seen seem to do 8 weeks of 4 hour classes 5 days per week. Or in other words 160 hours to deal casino-level craps. As you all know, I made it halfway until the auditions got the better of me. In place of a real craps-dealer career for now I have been dealing the monte carlo fun nights. By this time I think I have 100 hours of "training" both classroom and "practice" at the parties. I will say the parties are not bad practice at all and in fact if anybody was thinking of a dealer career, try the parties before taking the class. At this point my comfort level is 100% better than it was during class. Since we use only two colors of chips exact payout is only "mostly" imporant (I'd prefer a real bank to make exact payouts but it is not going to happen.) So I get to just get used to proper payout order and controling the table. Going back to dealer school is not on the radar as long as the mortgage industry is booming, but if life forces a late-in-life career change, well, you could well see me as one of those older-guy dealers.Back to the parties, I am even at this level starting to see what life as a dealer might be like. For example, the players the other night were killing the field at first to the point my bank was almost broken. This was because this is busy season and the company has "x" number of chips. I mean the first hour the field was hitting one roll after another. Players were talking of hitting the REAL casino after. All this talk among first-timers of how "good" the field was. Players coloring up as they were running out of room in the rail. BUT I KNEW! Sure enough, it turned and I got all the chips back to the point some players had to re-load. Since it was a "fun" night and not a fundraiser I just gave them out, but they got 10 instead of the 30 they started with. The field numbers never got hot again.
Some people merely come in and deal. I set my table up like a brain surgeon going to work. I had the players facing away from the TV. When asked I told my pit boss it was not so I could watch but because I wanted the players PLAYING and not watching and ignoring the game. He thought about it and said, "good idea!" Then he set *his* game the same way. Sooner or later I need to get a stick casino-grade of dice that are mine in a gold color.
Often players try to be too "helpful" by placing their own numbers. Telling them not to do that correctly is hard sometimes. If they clearly know the game I will tell them it is not that I mind them doing it so much but that people who don't know the game don't know how to place them. This is a lie of course. Most players listen and eventually hand the bets off correctly. But there are a fvew drunks who you want to smack with the whip like the nuns used their meter-sticks back in grade school. I mean, you don't take bottles to make drinks at the bar, so why do you feel the need to work my table?
It was too bad the one blonde gal was with someone. She was making some eyes and was clearly in awe as how one person was running such a busy game. Later asked me some question about something as I was packing up to leave. Maybe the next party is for a bunch of single nurses...........
Comments
Sounds as if you are getting some "real" experience and some "fake" experience. It will all help, I'm sure. Not much difference between a drunk woman splashing down chips onto the point numbers in a real casino and in a fake casino. I saw one female dealer tell the drunk woman straight out "once more honey and I'm calling security". Its good to learn from similar incidents how to handle problems. Your players focusing on the table not the tv is sensible or else the boss wouldn't have done it also. Its good to be able to judge things in advance and anticipate what crowds will do.
Are you still doing your license-plate bet rundowns? Are you still rattling off lists of bets and house edges. You never know when you will actually make the jump from Monte Carlo Night to The Monte Carlo. Try to avoid bad habits creeping in. At fun nights do you ever pay with "dirty money"? You won't be able to do that in a real casino. No shortcuts allowed. You bring losing chips in to your working stacks to "clean" that "dirty money" and then pay off the winners.
Funny you mention the drunks. On Thursday someone spilled a glass of whiskey all over my layout. Then on saturday someone was putting a drink on the layout. I told them flat out to get their drink off my table. They kind of got upset but I held my ground. We were told quite clearly in class to watch for people and their drinks because changing a craps layout in a casino is a 2+ man, 1+ hour job. At this level we just sopped it up, but still.
I do the license plate rundowns some days and I keep thinking of making flashcards and even designing a real set to sell online. Dirty money I admit I sometimes pay but really try to avoid it. Getting it all correct is impossible with only 2 colors of chips and the starting stack size, etc. Although this week I did get into "forced" color-ups on the 4/10 payouts of 9:5 (ie: drop me a white, mr player, please.)
I don't know if I will ever deal professionally (my bodog account alone could kill that dream!) but if I do I will definately go for the dice pit. I dealt Let It Ride the week before and no comparrison in how time moves.
Also fun was showing a newbie how to deal BJ. The woman only worked with "play money" and never chips. She was actually counting chips. I explained no dealer counts chips and how to cut them. I didn't see what she did but I showed her how easy it was and even cut down a stack looking the other way to prove my point. Made me feel so good that I received 2 hours of training before I first dealt these parties.
>I don't know if I will ever deal professionally ...
It will never hurt you to be up to doing it at a professional level.
I know things are real bad in Vegas now, but I did hear something about an untrained craps dealer (not inexperienced, untrained) did some time in a third tier Strip casino last night.
>> Sooner or later I need to get a stick casino-grade of dice that are mine in a gold color.
www.kardwell.com
They have translucent amber. That's the closest to gold you'll find, I think. They are $22.50 for a stick of 5.
I don't know if they'll sell a single stick, but they do state that there's a 100 stick minimum for name or serial numbers. Makes ya think they'll sell less than that minimum if you want them plain.
Vegas, Monte Carlo, Charity nights are all good practice for getting into a dealing position and usually you get paid to do so instead of taking classes . I had no real life dealing experience before I started dealing charity poker, although poker is alot easier than craps, but I was so good for the people I worked for that they paid me bonuses. If it were possible, you could put me behind almost any casino game and I deal it with 100% accuracy. One of our dealers is now working as a dealer at Greektown in Detroit and prior to us dealing poker he also had no experience.
The M Resort has started a free Dealer's School for its non-table games employees, such as those in food service or housekeeping. One student has worked two jobs for fifteen years and will soon be a dealer earning more than both his previous jobs combined.
This might indicate things are not as bad in Vegas as the headlines indicate.
Week 13 pick
Managed to lose all three picks in the 4th quarter last week to fall to 11-13-1Making one pick this week, take Chicago -5.5 against Detroit.
Comments
That line was -3.5 earlier in the week (I'm laying it against a hard core Chi-town Bearz fanatic). It moved to -5.5 on public money which is generally wrong. Good luck on your bet.
Week 11 report card, week 12 picks
Another 1-1 week last week bringing my record to +.9 units and 11-10 and 1.Given I just got a great rebate for Thanksgiving Day picks at Bodog I will pick just Thanksgiving Day Games this week
Take Detroit +7 and a vig of -105
Take New Orleans -4 and a vig of -115
Take Cincy +9 and a vig of -115
Take some turkey, stuffing, gravy, and whatever else you like and enjoy your day.
Week 11 NFL Picks
Cardinals vs ChiefsLine at publication: Cardinals +8
Vig: -110 on both
My predictor gives the Chiefs the edge by just 26-20. Add to this that the Chiefs are a "suprise" team this year and to me not ready to cover such a big spread. I'm taking Arizona and those points.
Browns at Jaguars
Line at Publication: Jags - 1.5
Vig: -110 on both
This is a tough one for me to get an opinion on in many ways. Both teams have dissapointed me at times this year. But my models show JAX winning by 2, which does not take into account home field advantage (next year I hope to refine this further.) Plus one more thing. The Browns are out of playoff hopes for all intents and purpose. The Jags still have hope. Take the Jags, a spread of 1.5 is pretty meaningless.
Comments
Is the contract work you're doing pay more than dealing? How "long term" is long term, do you think?
I would also think that if you decide to jump careers into dealing and the longer you stay in it, the harder it would be to get back into your old field.
On top of that, at least right now the contract work seems like more of a possibility right now than the "maybe" you got from the casino.
I would say to stick with the contract work. Unless you hate what you're doing, or something ;-)
Would you be happy as a BJ dealer?
Would you want to jump to the craps pit as soon as possible?
Is this one casino that you've been involved with the only one you want to consider?
Good luck.
Do you enjoy your current profession?
Although I haven't fully re-read your other blog on this, I think you might be getting into dealing for the wrong reasons.
Seen from the outside, there is a lot of glamour to the dealer profession. Your experience as a dealer for charity nights only compounds that glamour.
Go to the casino as an observer. Take notice of how many of the players are fun, like the players you've seen at the charity events, and how many are truly assholes, blaming the dealers for every stupid thing that happens, etc.
Do that on a full time basis, and the glamour fades in a hurry.
Thanks for the feedback, all. After sleeping on it I do think I will just let itself play out. I have the LinkedIN email to the head of HR but that will likely be it. For the record the reasons I would do dealing are the ability to do fairly well income-wise (they are near the $20 toke rate they promised, I know this for a fact) and the fact that the schedule allows a person to do other business in the daytime. If I was say 25 I would be far more inclined to jump in then do my "see the world as a craps dealer" thing. If they do let me in school I would still try for part-time weekends at least at first.
My other concern would be as stated in the movie. With 3-4 online poker and casino accounts I do not know if the Gaming Control Board would give me a license.
I sure understand the problem with the slow business. Very persistent in my work too, and worries me all the time. Sorry to hear it.
the gaming board will only be concerned with past criminal charges and whether you pay your bills.