Interview of Las Vegas Blackjack dealer

It's in the cards.
Guide: How much of a kick do you get out of 'beating' customers?

Sandy: None at all! Only the idiots get a kick out of beating customers. Customers are our bread and butter. They're tokes! You want them to win. Oh, now and then, I love sticking it to some customers. Some get pretty damned obnoxious, you know. I have a dealer friend who once had a male customer pee on her feet. Yes! Right under the table. Peed on her feet while she was dealing. Think she minded beating him? They threw him out after the peeing thing though. I once had one that picked his nose and wiped his finger on the cards where I could see what he was putting there. I had enjoyed beating him because of the language that he was using towards me before that. He was told to take his business elsewhere. I had one lady who always lost, no matter who dealt to her.

Her husband used to sit on a stool nearby to watch her play. He didn't play. She once put up a nickel for herself ($5.00 bet) and a quarter for me ($25.00 bet). Then she said to me, "I hope you lose it, bitch." Can you imagine if I liked beating her or not? Then it's not like I'm beating anyone. I have to play by the book, and I can't manipulate the cards in a shoe. So the rules are beating you along with your own way of playing the game. It's not me. I've had people flip their cards at me like Frisbees. They lose their money, then want to take it out on the dealer. Being cursed at is very common.

Guide: How often do you catch customers trying to cheat?

Sandy: With shoe play, it's rare anymore that anyone is caught cheating. I'm paying attention to the play of the customer, and so is the floorman and the surveillance cameras up above. It's hard for a customer to cheat anymore. Marking cards and card counting used to be the most popular methods, but there is little, if any, single deck blackjack around anymore for the normal customer. Your more likely to find a dealer trying to steal these days. Why, I guess because as long as you're dealing with money, someone will be around who tries to steal it. Mind you, there is less stealing by dealers then there used to be. The security cameras took care of that. These days they are all over the place, and most of the action is recorded on tape. It's not worth the black check that you 'might' get away with.

Guide: How much do you enjoy dealing?

Sandy: To be honest with you, I don't enjoy it. I haven't 'enjoyed' it for years. Oh, I loved it once. It was good money, and it was fun. Then, the corporations moved in, the IRS moved in, the dealers ceased to be a close knit group, and my feet and hands started to feel bad. It got boring. Right now, my hands can barely hold a deck of cards. Here I am twenty years later, and I don't feel like I accomplished anything. That my biggest gripe. I wouldn't recommend it other than as an easy way to make good money.

Guide: Is it time to become a floorperson?

If my hands get worse, that's what I will have to do. I'll tell them that I'm interested in training for floor, and hopefully they'll let me. I'll have to learn a couple more games, but I can handle that. Although, I don't know if I can handle the responsibility. You have to watch four to six tables, rate customers, and a lot more. The thing that scares me most is getting into the rat race of competition to move up in the casino management line. What will I turn into? I've seen too many dealers go to the floor and become Gestapo-like animals. I don't want to be like that, but I can understand where it might be necessary to move up. My hands will let me know what I have to do. My hands are the whole job.

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