All through the Fall, Winter and Spring months I continued to deal blackjack. While in the academy we romanticized what the job would be like, and all too soon we realized that we had deluded ourselves. Ninety percent of the time we dealt to the flotsam and jetsam of the intercity dwellers. They would seat themselves at my table change one hundred dollars into chips and start betting.

They would tap the table constantly while chanting, "Ah needs ma rent money". They would lose over five hundred dollars and I would think to myself that's more than rent money, that's a mortgage payment. During Christmas season the chant would be, "Ah needs money for presents." Again they would lose hundreds of dollars. I wounder where they were doing their shopping.

Many never understood the concept and meaning of intelligent gambling, and of course the dealers were blamed for their loss, as though we could control the cards in an eight deck shoe. If they won a hand they would immediately double their bet instead of keeping to the table minimum. They would lose what they had just won along with their new bet. Then there is the whole concept of "Pimp Rich" gambling.

Example: I saw a player leave the roulette table, he had just made a killing. He comes to my table and places a tower of green chips, green chips are worth twenty five dollars. When I go to break them down I am yelled at to leave them as they are, he wants the whole casino to know he is gambling large. I inform him I have to break them down so the eye in the sky can see how much he is betting, he allows it. I break them down and it totals about five hundred dollars and I re-stack them to keep him happy.

I deal the cards, I have sixteen which is considered a good thing for the players because it usually means I will usually bust. He has also has sixteen and tells me that he feels lucky and to hit him, he draws a King and he loses. He just walks away without comment.

Then there was the whole body odor issue. Now I am not taking about someone's twelve hour deodorant quitting after eight hours. I am talking about a body that had not been bathed in a few days, or clothes that had not been changed in the same about of time. I had one player brag that they had been here for thirty six hours straight. So, I thought, you've been in a casino all that time and had not showered or brushed you teeth. Gross. 

The stench was so bad at times it was an effort not to gag. I had one older lady at my table one time that reeked of urine and body order, it was so over powering that a few players got up and left. I think I was angrier with the fact that she was there with her adult children and allowed her to leave the house in that condition, but Mama had the money and she was staking everyone so I guess they didn't care.

Just when I think I heard everything I hear a story from one of the dice people.There was the player at the craps table that was on a roll, but he needed to visit the men's room, not wanting to give up his dice and hot streak he simply let go where he stood.

So there he was in urine soaked underwear and pants still throwing dice. Finally the smell became so overwhelming that players began to leave, that's when the large puddle on the carpet was noticed. He was finally escorted from the casino much to his protests.

There was the sick time issue. What's the issue? There is no sick time. An employee can have hundreds of hours of banked holiday time, but if calls off sick and uses this holiday time he is given a point for calling off. After ten points they will terminate your employment.

They called it a no fault attendance policy. Whatever your problem is, it's not their fault, and you will be penalized for it. During the height of the cold and flu season the casino felt no absence of players. Many came to gamble while in the throes of the current flu virus. My lady friend "Kitty-Licious" had a player leave her table to go to throw up in a waste basket less that one foot away, as soon as he finished he returned to his seat.

He didn't even bother to visit the men's room to wash his hands or rinse his mouth. He just sat down and wiped his hands on his pants and started playing again. That is another major health issue, the chips. Now the cards that are dealt the players are not touched by players , but their chips are, and in doing so they are transferring germs in the process.
 
All the dealers wore hand sanitizer bottles on their belts, and we went through a bottle every few days but it really did not help much. There were also large containers throughout the floors and in the pits, but I don't think anyone but the employees used them. Then there is the money issue, as you are probably aware used currency is nasty. Imagine the joy of a player producing a five or ten dollar bill from their shoe or bra that is moist with perspiration

My friend Kitty actually wound up in the hospital with an acute intestinal infection from the germs she picked up from these chips and was out total of eight days. I was lucky and only missed four days.

Well in late February one of my players left an empty bottle of water on my table, I got sick of it rolling around and my requests for one of the players to throw it away were met with, "Dat ain't ma bottle". I called for a pit boss, but they were busy.

I grabbed it and knowing there was a trash can just beyond arms length. I checked my players and insured that they were playing with their chips and I turned my head for about two seconds and tossed it into the can. Few days I was summoned to the supervisors office and questioned about my turning my head off a live game. I admitted it and I was requested to submit a statement in writing, which I did. They thanked me and nothing was said.

On the first of March I was tapped out and told to go see the Table Games Supervisor. Upon arriving in his office I was informed they were terminating my employment for turning my head off a live game and after being relieved of my casino ID I was escorted out by one of their security guards.

This is not the end of this tale of woe. There is more to tell but it will keep until a late day.