Embarrassing
Type Of Crack Called Blackjack
I don’t really think about other people’s perceptions about Las Vegas locals. It doesn’t come up until I have to travel somewhere. Whenever I meet someone new the first question I’m asked is, “Where are you from?” I’ll answer Las Vegas and the person's face will light up and immediately the next question that comes out of their mouth is, “What hotel do you live in?” It’s embarrassing to have to explain to grown adults that Las Vegas locals live in houses; just like everyone else. Next, they’ll ask, “What do you do for a living?” I’ll reply, “I’m a dealer.” Again, the eyes will go wide and they’ll say, “You’re a drug dealer?! What kind of drugs do you sell?” By that point I won’t even bother explaining. Once in a while, I’ll answer sarcastically, “I sell a type of crack called blackjack…”
∾ Heather 2010
Date: August 10, 2010 @ 11:48am PST
Please Let Me Explain
As a dealer you are not allowed to take anything out of a player’s hands. This is so dealers can’t secretly hand the player a chip that was just stolen or exchange anything. It’s part of game security and if the dealers don’t follow protocol then the cameras will see us and we will get a write up.
Well I had this black man walk up to my table and try to hand me some money. I told him to put it on the table so I could take it. He got so upset; he screamed, “What? You can’t touch me because I’m black! Screw You!” He stormed away completely furious. He thought I was a racist. I was so embarrassed and I felt so bad; I wish I could explain.
∾ Heather 2007
Date: July 29, 2010 @ 12:18am PST
Sleep Dealing
I used to work two full-time jobs. I would deal blackjack at one casino on swing shift and then I would go to another casino and deal on the graveyard shift. It was horrible; I would only get 4 hours of sleep during the day. I was dealing baccarat and I was so exhausted, I could feel my head nodding and I was trying so hard to stay awake. I dealt the hand and said, “Player has natural 9; banker has 7. Player wins.” I leaned over and started taking the losing bets when I heard, “Wait! Stop! What are you doing?” I opened my eyes and realized I had just fallen asleep on the table. I just dreamed that I was dealing but when I looked down I saw that I had actually dealt the hand. But I didn’t see a 9 versus a 7, like in my dream, instead I saw 8 versus 8 which is a natural tie and nobody could have mistaken the tie for a player win. But there I was picking up what I thought were the losing bets (a “tie” basically means no one loses). I had already picked up the bets from half of the table and I had no clue how much each person had been playing individually. I had to call my floorman over and try to explain to him why I was picking up banker bets when I clearly had a tie sitting in front of me. It was incredibly embarrassing having to explain to your boss that you fell asleep on the job. Well, now I can truly say “I can deal baccarat in my sleep” because I’ve actually done it.
∾ Heather 2004
Date: June 22, 2010 @ 12:19am PST
Did That Sting?
When I first started dealing blackjack, I was in a break-in house trying to learn all of the games (other than blackjack). One day I was being shadowed on roulette and I had a hard time learning how to spin the ball. (You are supposed to snap your fingers with the ball in between the thumb and the middle finger.) I would snap the ball out of the wheel, over the table and across the floor. At the time, I was on a dead game practicing, when this really cute guy walked up to the table and asked to play. I stop practicing and start dealing to this guy. Anytime I‘m on a live game learning, I get so nervous I make plenty of mistakes and I fumble a lot. I got to the part where I had to spin the ball and my nerves got the best of me. I snapped the ball and it flew out of the wheel and across the table. That hunky guy was standing up against the table and the ball hit him right in the groin area. He turned red (probably cause it stun) and then I turned red. He looked over at me and said, “Oh, so that’s where you were looking.” I turned a brighter shade of red, mumbled something intangible to the dealer, clapped out and hid down in the locker room for the rest of my break.
∾ Heather 2004
Date: May 27, 2010 @ 1:03am PST
Embarrassing Win
I was dealing 3 Card Poker when a kid who looked no more than 16 comes up to the table wanting to play. I ask for his I.D. and he just turned 21 the day before. He sits down and acts like he knows how to play the game. Well he starts folding hand after hand after hand. Folding happens in 3 Card Poker but never that much folding. So the next hand he folded I asked him if I could look at it. “Yea, sure, it’s crap. No pair.” I flip over the cards and it’s a straight flush, the highest hand you can get. I am so startled. “Why are you throwing away a straight flush?” I asked. He looks unsure, “Well it’s not a pair. I need a pair to win on Pairs Plus.” Luckily I hadn’t taken the money yet, so I gave him back his cards and made him play it. He won $400 and left immediately after that hand. He was bright red when he left.
∾ Heather 2004
Date: May 8, 2010 @ 9:11am PST