Wow, now I get to write about gambling. I guess I have all the bases covered now. Gambled for over thirty years, dealt and supervised for the last six and now attempting to write about what it is like being a gambler who is a dealer as opposed to most who are dealers that gamble once in a while.
Who am I, you might ask. Born in the mid-fifties, grew up in the sixties and while everyone else was dropping out and getting turned on, I was at the track, my beloved Woodbine. Got addicted as a teenager and became quite a good handicapper over the years. Saw Secretariat's last race live and still get the goose bumps.
I always expected to pitch in the majors, and it was expected of me. When I hurt my arm and lost my fastball at nineteen, I tried to hang on by learning a knuckleball. Twenty -five years later I took those learning experiences and applied them to dice influencing. After a few years of using the flying V and putting out the sixes and eights, I discovered the Mad Professor's diaries and improved measurably. I am at the point right now where I might be able to go professional. But do I really want to?
After twenty years at a big corporation and then a couple playing blackjack for a living, I got into casino dealing. I really enjoy it and it helps keep my weight down. Presently, I deal in the summer mostly on the Southern Ontario, Western New York market and do my own thing in the winter.
Dealing really should be easy, but unfortunately a lot of people make it tough. Me, I always try to have fun no matter what I am doing. Some times people take it the wrong way. A few years ago I was a regular craps player at a casino North of Toronto. There was an old guy who played who used to fall down about once a week. If you tried to help him up, he would berate you and hit you with his cane so we learned to leave him alone.
A year later I was dealing and on stick and he was at my table and down he went. One lady who obviously didn't know him yelled out "oh my god, someone perform CPR." Without missing a beat, I took one step back, put the stick up to my mouth and sung out "I feel the bad moon rising". Half the table was appalled while the other half killed themselves laughing.
I am not sure exactly what I can contribute here but am open to any suggestions or questions you might have from the other side of the tables. When I first start dealing I assumed that all the dealers, supervisors and pit managers were, like me, gambling junkies and know-it-alls.
Boy, was I ever wrong. Most know how to deal the games but few know anything about them. My first week dealing blackjack I spotted a player who was obviously counting cards. When I got a chance I asked my supervisor if I was supposed to notify her when I suspected someone was counting the cards. Her response was "don't worry, there all there."
It did not take long to realize that very, very few knew anything about gambling. I guess that one of the biggest problems is that some think they know a lot, when in reality they are clueless. I had one craps dealer trying to convince me that laying the odds on your “Don'ts” was a bad move as it increased the house edge. Another really thought that the best odds in the house was the big six wheel. Trying to convince them otherwise was an exercise in futility.
So now when I come across one, I don't disagree, just smile and move on. A lot of the pit managers and above actually seem scared of dealers who know the games and I quickly learned to keep quiet around them when I heard them giving out erroneous information.
So I thought for my first article, next time, I will try to explain who you are dealing with when you buy your chips. What are these dealers thinking and what do they think of you. Are there any advantages to playing at tables with certain dealers and can a craps dealer affect your bottom line?
Playing craps, dealing craps, supervising craps, practicing craps and now writing about craps. Like Yogi Berra once said. "I've got every color except the navy brown."
Appistappis
-Your friendly neighborhood dealer
