Welcome to the fabulous Luxor Hotel and Casino where the only curse is fun!
Not really, the curses available at the Luxor are many and varied. One of the curses is working there. The thing that bothered me the most is that when they wanted you to work overtime, they didn't bother asking you or telling you. They just left you dealing on a game. So, 4:00 AM would roll around and you would still be there...waiting. I hated it. Also, let's say you left at 4:20. They wouldn't give you any money for that extra twenty minutes. They would only give you money if you worked til the half hour. That's pretty tight considering they pay dealers $5.15 an hour and dealers are the biggest money makers in the casino as far as employees go. Also, they can't be fired for stupid reasons like being unlucky. It's hard to be part of a group that was too stupid to unionize. Bartenders unionized and they made pretty much the same as dealers in wage and tip. Now, they get decent vacation, a better health plan and make over $14.00/hour plus tips. I should have become a bartender. The employees at the Luxor did try to unionize, but they got threatened by an unknown source through a letter circulating saying that their windows would be smashed if they did and other such nonsense. It worked. Still no union.
The last straw came when I was dealing craps. A man bought in for $60 and I gave him the money saying, "There you go sir, $60, good luck". I was the only dealer that did talk to the players and wish them good luck. All of the other dealers were pretty much depressed zombies waiting to die. The shift manager was behind me and said, "you didn't wish him good luck and say the amount." This upset me, because I did and I'm the only one that ever did. I just said, "I did though." He replied with a childish, "No, you didn't." In effect, he was calling me a liar. That really gets my goat. It turned into a little fight with a back and forth: "I did", "You didn't" and ended up with a "then be louder next time". I did. After that, I always yelled when someone bought in. I have to be pretty pissed to do something so blatant. All of the other dealers, thought I was crazy and the boxman would say that I didn't have to yell. i would explain that apparently I did have to yell. A month and a half into the job, the Golden Nugget called me and I quit happily.
On the quit sheet, there is a section called "rehire" with three boxes: "Yes", "No", and "Review". The shift manager checked "review". Of course, I will never work there again, but now that MGM owns them, I will probably never be able to get a job at any MGM property. That's more than half of the big casinos in Las Vegas.
Why is this job field such a mess? You would think that dealers would get treated well and that casinos could afford to be a little more generous and even-keeled. Afterall, they are making bank for providing a very dubious service to people.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, with your "apparently, I do." At least they've afforded you ample chances for character-building.
One of my mom's college friends is a dealer in Vegas, and I totally forgot about it til just now. Her name is Sharon, and her daughter was, at one point, trying out for the olympics for swimming. I remember when I was a kid, Sharon was the most beautiful and the most naturally calm and serene woman I had ever seen. It's really hard to picture her putting up with the outrageous environments that you describe at your dealing job(s). Poor Sharon.
Come to think of it, her husband had a big gambling problem, and ended up shooting himself on someone's front lawn after being the gigolo to some well-connected female casino owner(?) there.
God. I totally forgot about that stuff. You are working in drama central down there, arent you?
Yeah, I guess we are drama center...or something. That's funny...well, no, that's sad.
ReplyDeletewow Tuber you have not posted in such a long time. I was just checking to make sure that you were still alive and kickin'. Well hope all is well write something new sometime. I think mostly I want you to write something so that Bricoleur will write something funny and make me laugh. Love g_eats
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess we are drama center...or something. That's funny...well, no, that's sad.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this job field such a mess? You would think that dealers would get treated well and that casinos could afford to be a little more generous and even-keeled. Afterall, they are making bank for providing a very dubious service to people.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, with your "apparently, I do." At least they've afforded you ample chances for character-building.
One of my mom's college friends is a dealer in Vegas, and I totally forgot about it til just now. Her name is Sharon, and her daughter was, at one point, trying out for the olympics for swimming. I remember when I was a kid, Sharon was the most beautiful and the most naturally calm and serene woman I had ever seen. It's really hard to picture her putting up with the outrageous environments that you describe at your dealing job(s). Poor Sharon.
Come to think of it, her husband had a big gambling problem, and ended up shooting himself on someone's front lawn after being the gigolo to some well-connected female casino owner(?) there.
God. I totally forgot about that stuff. You are working in drama central down there, arent you?