Awhile back, Indiana did away with Happy Hours. You cannot reward with alcoholic beverages. They even took the champagne out of the champagne buffets.

So, no free drinks in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Some Indian casinos that are on reservations (e.g. Mystic casino) do not even sell liquor. But they do have smoke shops.

There is free soda, water and coffee stations around the casinos.

When Eric and I went to Caesars Indiana, you can't even use your reward points toward the alcohol portion of your bill.

When they first opened the boats is Illinois (Joliet), we had to pay $16 to get on the boat. It actually went down the Des Plaines river, so they had a captive audience so to speak.

Ellen

Tim - congrats and thank you again for a great read!

Please let us know when you get a regular schedule. I'd love to come and play at one of your tables sometime!

Answers to recent questions:

senatorjm:
"I'm sorry, Senator, but I have no recollection on that matter."

Ha! I've always wanted to say that, and now I can, and to an actual senator, no less! More seriously, I didn't think that they comped drinks in Indiana, but I see that Eric&Ellen beat me to the (spiked) punch on that answer.

Lee-PA:
What made you think I had a juicy arrest record? What have my parents been telling you? Maybe I should go back through Eric&Ellen's old posts, hmm???

MikeD:
You can bet that when I get a schedule, I'll post it. I'd love to have you come down and play at my table.

And thank you all for the congratulations!

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Days 20 and 21 (Monday and Tuesday, 5th week) of Dealer Training

This is the beginning of the end of dealer school, but it's also the end of the very beginning of being a dealer.

We came in Monday morning to find about a third of the class missing. These were the people who had passed their blackjack auditions early in the previous week; they had started OJT. Some had gone first thing that morning, while others stopped by the trailer later in the day and said "Hi!" before going to OJT in the late morning or early afternoon. One poor guy came to class at 8 a.m. only to learn that his OJT would run from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. that very night. He was given the option of going home and catching some sleep before coming back at 11 o'clock at night.

The instructor told us that this would officially be the last week of class. All of the rest of us would start our OJT beginning next Monday, the 14th. On OJT, we will be shadowed by a supervisor as we deal a live game to actual gambling customers. Once the supervisor is confident that we can stand on our own two feet, they officially sign off on us and we go on the dealer schedule. One woman who had her OJT on Monday morning did so well that she was signed off at the end of her 4-hour OJT after only one day. She now has the rest of the week off until Sunday (without pay, which I would think is a bit of a mixed blessing), at which point any one of you can sit at her table and play blackjack!

We were also told that we all would be officially auditioned on Mississippi Stud Poker. Given that this isn't one of the Big Five table games (Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Baccarat/Mini-Baccarat, and Pai Gow Poker and Tiles), the auditioning process was a lot less formal than it was for Blackjack. I auditioned Tuesday morning and passed, so now I am certified for two games on the boat (three if you count Blackjack Switch as its own game).

Monday evening I went up to the IGC office to get badged. The process was pretty straightforward. Some of the HR people told us it could be a bit intimidating, since the IGC agents were very serious and were also armed (!). Having sold firearms for 9 years in a state that allows people to carry handguns, the sight of a holstered gun doesn't really intimidate me. When I got up to the office, the agents were indeed armed, but were not uniformed. Imagine a typical office with people dressed in business casual, except the people in the office all have Glocks and Berettas on their hips. I recognized their guns from my selling days, and struck up a conversation with one of the agents, who looked to be about my age. We talked about his gun, a Glock 27, and what he liked and disliked about it. It really cut the tension in the room and made us both relax a bit more. This was the agent who entered my information into their computers and fingerprinted me.

Fingerprinting has come a long way from pressing your fingers against an ink pad and rolling them one at a time on paper. After cleaning my fingertips with an alcohol swab, the prints were taken on something like a scanner bed, like what you would use to transfer a photograph to your computer. The whole set up was pretty high tech; I was beginning to think that they were going to have me do a retina scan, or DNA sample, or some other such thing out of James Bond or Star Trek or something. They then took another photograph and issued me my Black Badge, which clears me for access to the casino floor. Technically, the badge is only temporary pending the final results of the background check. The agent said I should get a letter from IGC making the whole thing official in about 30 to 90 days.

I'm slowly beginning to feel more like a real employee of the Horseshoe now. For the past few weeks I've gone to dealing school in a trailer on the far end of the property, I've had to park in a different parking lot than the regular employees, had to wear a different badge and different clothes than the regular employees, and haven't been able to access the usual amenities (employee dining room, in-house e-mail and intranet with company news and opportunities, etc.) that the regular employees get to access. God love 'em, and I know that a lot of what I've just described is simply the result of various IGC regulations, but it's felt a little like being in limbo or purgatory or something.

The IGC office is located near the Seven Stars Lounge and Jack Binion's Steakhouse. You have to walk through a good portion of the property to reach it. All the while your senses are being teased with the sounds of slot machines paying, the bustle of excited patrons, bright and colorful HD flat screen TVs advertising this or that promotion, and that peculiar but pleasant smell that so many casinos have in the air. I don't know exactly what it's called, but it seems to be analogous to that "New Car Scent" that fancier car washes use. It all combines to make the casino a vibrant and exciting place to be. I'm really excited about finally leaving those trailers and stepping up to the big leagues.

We were all also invited to the Horseshoe company picnic, which runs from 11am to 11pm on Tuesday, July 15, in nearby Wicker Park. There will be free carnival rides, free food, free beer, and free other alcoholic beverages (!). There will also be raffles, games, prizes, etc. Hopefully my OJT won't conflict too seriously with going to the picnic.

After class on Tuesday, I stopped by Wardrobe to check up on my uniform. Not ready yet, but it should be all set by Friday, said the seamstress. I'm going to have to go out and buy myself some new pairs of pants this week, since I have to supply my own pants, shoes, and socks for the uniform.

Only 3 days now remain in blackjack class. Counting down...counting down...

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Thanks for a truly great saga, but I'm betting you'll have even better stories to tell about OJT and real dealer experiences in the next few weeks ... and I'm obviously hoping you'll keep sharing with us.

I've seen signs for BlackJack Switch at Harrah's in Reno - I guess I'll have to study those rules and give it a try sometime.

Tim - When is the new casino due to open? Or has it opened already? I've been traveling a lot recently and haven't kept up.

DaisyDeuces:
Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. You can bet I'll keep all of you informed as I proceed with OJT and find my way out on to the boat.

MikeD:
The dates are still somewhat in flux, but here's the plan as I understand it to be for the moment: On Monday the 21st the casino will shut down operations. The boat will be unloaded and moved out of the way, and the MOAB will be moved over into its place. They'll spend the next few days loading everything up into the MOAB, and they hope to have a "soft opening" on either Friday the 25th or Saturday the 26th. The current gambling boat is actually recognizable as such; it looks like a really big yacht or a really small cruise ship. The MOAB is basically a boat in name only. It's a casino and entertainment complex built on top of a barge.

Day 22 (Wednesday, 5th week) of Dealer Training

Not much to report today. The highlight of the day was going over to the wardrobe warehouse and getting fitted for the pants for the new uniform. This is really good news, because up until now I had been told that I would need to supply my own pants. The new uniforms won't be ready for a bit yet, though, so I'm on my own for the next couple of weeks.

Other than that, it's just the 15 or so of us that are left sitting around and playing and dealing the games we've been taught. A couple of other people from the class who are having their OJT this week stopped by the trailer to hang out and deal a bit for us. The general consensus is that the customers are all very supportive and friendly, and the pit managers are generally forgiving of the occasional rookie mistakes. A number of my classmates have said that the cards they use on the boat deal a lot more smoothly than the ones we have in the trailer. They also said the cheques on the boat look and handle quite a bit different from the ones we have been practicing with. These stories are only further intriguing me! Hopefully next week I'll be able to find out for myself.

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Do you tell the customers that you're new? Maybe wear a "Student Dealer" sign around your neck? LOL

senatorjm:

Actually, up until 3 days ago I was, in fact, wearing a bright red badge that says "Student Dealer" on it! The only time a customer ever saw me wearing it, though, was if they crossed my path on my way to wardrobe or IGC.

Oh, don't worry about customers not knowing that I am a newly minted dealer. I'm sure the staff on the floor will go out of their ways to let everyone at the table know it!

Day 23 (Thursday, 5th week) of Dealer Training

The big news today is that we got our OJT schedules!

My OJT starts Monday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. If I don't get signed off by the end of the first day, then I will keep going back to continue training from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. until I eventually pass muster. Five other people from class have their OJT at the same time as me. I know all of them fairly well, and they're a pretty lively group. The instructor also said that, given my OJT schedule, there's a reasonable chance that I might end up working an afternoon or a swing shift like a 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. or a 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Not guaranteed, though.

I will actually be dealing live on the boat from 3 to 7 on Monday. They actually want us to show up at 2 p.m. so we can have our uniforms double-checked and get an official tour of exactly where we have to go from now on. Finally, I will get to see the Employee Dining Room!

Tomorrow is officially our last day of class. We will have a small party, and afterward I will need to go over to wardrobe to pick up my uniform for next week.

O-J-T-Minus 4 days

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Day 24 (Friday, 5th week) of Dealer Training

I'm writing this on the morning of Sunday, the 13th. Six weeks ago today, I was nervous and could barely sleep that night because orientation was starting the next morning. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now, in a little more than 24 hours, I will be dealing a live blackjack game to actual gamblers. I hope I'm able to sleep tonight.

Friday was "Take it easy" day. We still did a lot of simulated dealing, but we also took time out to do a few fun things as well. At one point in the late morning, one of our instructors and his supervisor gave us a demo of Pai Gow Tiles. I couldn't make heads or tails of the game from the 15 or so minutes that we played it; it's basically a casino version of a Chinese version of Dominoes. If I want to learn to deal it at some point in the future, however, I will have the chance.

We also had a party at lunch time. We sent out for pizza and hot wings and such from some of the local restaurants. One of our classmates is originally from China, and she cooks as a hobby. She made about 100 homemade potstickers and a beef and noodle dish which were absolutely delicious.

Later on we presented our instructors with a gift on behalf of the class. We obviously had to clear it with the higher-ups first, who told us that so long as the gift didn't exceed $250 in value we were okay. The male instructor got a sizable gift card to Best Buy, and the female instructor got a salon and day spa package.

Some of our classmates who had left for OJT this week came back for the party. Apparently, the old boat is at capacity for dealers; they cannot take anymore on without busting some full-timers down to part-time. It looks like, therefore, that the week the boat is closed, all of us will be back in the trailers learning more games. More on this as I learn more.

After class I went over to wardrobe and picked up my uniform. They gave me a shirt, vest, and apron (to cover the front pockets of my pants).

I need to be back at the dealer school trailers no later than 2pm tomorrow. Five other people from my class have OJT at the same time as me, so we're going to try to show up about 1pm or so and get some last minute practice in.

To recap, here's the timeline of me and the Horseshoe so far.

April 9 : Saw the job opening for dealer school online and applied.

May 9 : Horseshoe Hammond called and asked me to come in to begin preliminary interviews.

May 12 : Went up to Horseshoe and took a personality test and a math test. Passed both, and was told to come back on Friday the 16th for a second interview.

May 16 : The famous "mass interview". Sixty of us in a room together each fielding questions from the interviews, both serious and not-so-serious. Afterward, HR told us that every last one of us was hired.

May 20 : Went back up to Horseshoe and filled out tons of paperwork. Later went to a nearby hospital for a drug test.

May 29 : Horseshoe called and said that the drug test was fine, and to show up for orientation starting Monday, June 2.

June 2 : First day as an employee of Harrah's Entertainment. We spent the week in the ballroom over the Hammond Marina.

June 9 : Blackjack Dealer School began

July 1 : Pit managers began auditioning members of our class.

July 3 : I was auditioned and passed.

July 7 : Officially badged by Indiana Gaming Commission.

July 11 : Last day of Blackjack Class. Received uniform for the old boat.

So this is where I stand. This is it. I go On the Job tomorrow.

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Congrats Tim. At first I was a little confused when you said the boat was already at capacity for dealers, then I rememberd old boat/new boat. When it's all over, will there just be one boat or will the old one remain?

Now that you know blackjack, will you be expected to eventually learn all the games or is it all your choice? Do any other games have a higher base pay? I was a math wiz but somehow craps overwhelms me. Maybe I need to learn the rules better before I put the math to it.

I'm sure you will do fine on the boat. Did they recommend comfortable shoes? Are you gellin'?

Let us know about the employee cafeteria.

JMT:

Right, the *old* boat is at capacity. When the MOAB opens, the MOAB will be the only boat. Apparently, someone has already purchased or agreed to purchase the old one. Sometime between the 21st and the 25th, the old boat will be unloaded and moved away from the dock, while the MOAB is moved over into the old boat's spot.

On a side note, is there a way to post pictures on this board? I'd love to take a few photographs of the boats and buildings on the complex and show you guys.

I'm under the impression that learning additional games is entirely my choice. If I want to become a supervisor, however, I have no choice but to learn the 5 biggies (BJ, craps, roulette, pai gow, and baccarat) Other dealers say that learning additional major games raises your base pay by anywhere from $0.50 to $1.00 an hour. I'm sure I'll learn more once I get into the full swing of things on the boat. The supervisors are recommending that we give ourselves at least 90 days of dealing live blackjack before we try to learn any more games.

A lot of craps dealers I've spoken with said the hardest part for them was the speed of the game. The math was okay after a while; the hard part was being able to do it quickly and under pressure with a dozen rowdy craps players continuing to place bets as fast as you paid them out. "Quick, dealer, what does $115 on a horn high yo pay if the shooter rolls a 3?" :-)

I've already got my shoes picked out. They are spiffy, shiny, and comfortable. But, yes, I'm gellin' like Magellan the felon.

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Good Luck, Tim! It's been fun reading about your adventure through learning. You'll have to let us know if your shoes really are comfortable. That was the worst part of being on my feet all day at work......I used to come home and cry, my feet hurt so badly. Of course, I was standing on concrete, and you'll be "standing on water".
Looking forward to hearing about your first days at "real" work.

As the French say - Bon Chance!

As the Japanese say - Gambatte Kudasai! -

As the show biz folks say - Break a Leg!

or in plain ol' midwest American -


Good Luck!!!!!

Thanks Tim,

About photos, the short answer is no, not at this time. There are many hosting sites that will host your photos for free.

The long answer is maybe in the near future. After the next software upgrade, we will be set up to have a photo gallery forum. Whether it gets activated or not is not my decision. There are a ton of factors. First of all, we don't people using our web space to store their personal photos. OTOH, I'm sure we all want to see pictures that go with the topics being posted. Which leads to another problem of having photos on topic. I don't want to see someone elses cat or sonogram or their neighbors kids. And theirs the issue of web space. Photos can take up space. The space I use costs money. I don't mind increasing it for the good of TalkVegas. How much resolution of the photos can we show? How many pictures can you post? How long do they stay up? And there are the tech support questions from people that don't know computers that well. The list goes on and on.

Yep, it's off topic. I'll bring it up to the decision makers after the upgrade.

Is anyone besides me going through dealer training stories withdrawal?

Missing the posts, but Sure glad Tim is on the track to solo stardom at the BJ tables!

Day 1 of OJT (Monday, July 14)

This was the week. Everything we had done, everything we had studied, from the first week of orientation to the final week of dealer school, came down to this. At 3 p.m. on Monday, July 14, I would officially begin dealing a live game to the Horseshoe's guests. I would deal until 7 o'clock, taking a 20 minute break every hour. And I would come back every day this week, to deal from 3 to 7, until a pit manager and a floor supervisor both agreed that I was able to deal an accurate and procedurally secure game with minimal supervision. While I was at the table, I would be shadowed by another dealer who would watch the game and correct me on the spot if I made an obvious mistake like forgetting to check for blackjack or paying out a losing hand, etc.

Five other people from my class were all going in for OJT at 3 o'clock. The instructors actually wanted us there an hour early so we could have our uniforms double-checked, get a pep talk, and get a quick tour of the facilities. We all agreed to meet earlier than that so that we could get some last-minute dealing practice in, so we showed up at 1 and practiced for about an hour. By 2 o'clock it became apparent that a lot more were going for OJT. Some people from the late afternoon class and the overnight class also came in. If I remember correctly, the afternoon class learned Pai Gow Poker and Tiles while the overnight class learned several different poker games.

About 2:30 they bussed us all over from the training trailers to the employee entrance at the back of the pavilion. Some of us (like me) still needed some wardrobe pieces; specifically, I needed the button cover that covers the top button of the shirt. Our group was split into two, with one group sent out on the tour while the rest of us got everything straightened out in wardrobe.

After about 20 minutes we were all straightened out, and the tour began. Our supervisor led us from wardrobe, down the hall to the Employee Dining Room (which I'll simply call the EDR from here on out). We marched through the EDR, up two flights of stairs, and came out into the pavilion near the box office. From there we walked onto the boat and through the casino. There were a few empty platforms where slot machines once stood; they were already being loaded onto the MOAB, since the boat was due to close at the end of the week. We went down to bottom level of the casino, and then through a door marked "Crew Only" into the real bowels of the boat. Talk about cramped quarters! The hallways are so narrow that they are one-way only. We went down a steep flight of about 20 steps to the bottom, turned a corner and came to our time clock where we would punch in and out from now on. On the other side of the wall was the schedule for the boat. Literally, it's about 75 pages and covers about 60 square feet of the wall. And that hallway was starting to get hot with all of us standing there. If you've ever been inside a WWII German U-Boat, like the one they have at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, then you have a pretty good idea how cramped the lower level of the boat is.

We went back up an equally narrow, equally steep flight of stairs to get back to the bottom level of the casino. At the point, all the Pai Gow people and a few of the poker and blackjack people were taken up one more level. I and about 5 others stayed on the bottom level; we were assigned to Pit 5. Pit 5 runs pretty much the entire length of the boat. It has about a dozen blackjack tables, half a dozen poker tables, and 3 roulette wheels. All the craps games were on the level above us. Every blackjack table I saw in the pit had the same limit: $15 to $5000.

We went into the pit and 2 pit managers came over. The current boat has only 5 pits, but the new one will have 14 (if I remember right). This means that there are a lot of newly promoted pit managers at the Horseshoe. The pit managers gave us a brief pep talk and then took us to our assigned areas. Mine was at the far end of the pit, and I met my floor supervisor for the day. Some of the floor supervisors were new, too, so there were about 10 of them back there when there normally would have been only 5 or 6. The floor supervisor gave me another quick pep talk and told me to tap into the game after I had watched my shadow deal a couple of hands. I watched him finish his hand, and then deal two more complete hands. "You wanna tap in there, Tim?" the floorman reminded me. It was like those scenes in the movies where all the soldiers are jumping out of the plane, and then one of them hesitates until the sargeant eventually just kicks him in the butt and makes him jump.

I tapped the dealer on the shoulder as he was fixing his tray. The floorman had me put my arms out in front of me. The dealer moved the shoe to the center of the table, cleared his hands, and moved off to the right as I moved in from the left, just as we had practiced so many times before in class. I burned a card from the shoe, and introduced myself. The dealer I had just tapped out moved behind me and stood on my left. As much to myself as to the players, I tapped the felt twice in front of me for good luck, and said, "Alright, everybody. All bets ready? Good luck and here we go!"

And so I dealt my first hand of blackjack to a full table, with all 7 spots in play. This table had the 3 card poker side-bet as well, that would pay off at 9 to 1 if anyone hit. One of the supervisors back at the trailer told us that we would remember this moment in great detail for a long, long time to come. You know what? He was right. I dealt the guy at spot 3 a blackjack on the Ace of spades and a 10 of diamonds. When I turned over the 6 of diamonds, the woman on spot 6 won her poker side bet. She had a 17 with both the 9 and 8 of diamonds. "$45 going out on a flush. Very nice," I called as I paid her winnings. Everyone stood on their hands. I turned over a Jack of clubs, and then drew a 9 of hearts to bust. On my first hand as a live dealer, everyone at the table was a winner. Nice!

Truthfully, much of the rest of that shoe went by so quickly it was a blur. After another 4 rounds it was time to reshuffle. Hey, look! I have an automatic shuffler at my table! And, wait, we're only using 6 decks instead of 8? The floorman came over and showed me how to operate the automatic shuffler. It's really quite easy. All I have to do is push the green button, load the cards, push the green button again, take out the new cards, and then push the green button one last time to close up the machine. Only problem is, I have to do this without actually looking directly at the machine. Under no circumstances am I ever to take my eyes off the table, nor step away from it. With a minimum of fumbling, though, I reloaded the shoe and began to deal again.

Only about 2 more rounds went by when the floorman came back and said that the tray was going to be refilled with cheques. We only went over this briefly in class, and the floor was happy enough to walk me through it. The security guard came over with the cheques in what looked like a plexiglass birdcage. If I remember right, the fill was 2 stacks of green, 6 of red, and 1 of pink for a total of $1650. This went by quickly enough, and I went back to dealing.

Before I knew it, the relief dealer was tapping me out. It was 4:00 and time for my first 20 minute break. The dealer who was shadowing me took me down to the EDR and showed me the ropes. They had a healthy Chinese dish (beef lo mein) in a pot that was cooked up by Lean Cuisine. They scooped out about twice what you would get in those little frozen Lean Cuisine boxes, and charged me a whopping $1.07 for lunch. Drinks from the fountain were free.

The dealer who was shadowing me was in his mid-20s and had been dealing for about 3 months. He said I was doing fine, but he could tell I was nervous by how much I was sweating. I was sweating bullets that first time. Before we knew it break time was over and we went back to the tables.

The rest of the day went by about as quickly as that first shoe. I dealt again from 4:20 to 5:20, took another 20 minute break, and dealt a final time from 5:40 to 6:40. Each time I could feel myself calm down and I was sweating less. I started to get into the game more, and by my last shift I was even able to have a bit of fun with the customers a bit. One guy had a hard 15 against my King. "Come on, Timmy! Can you give me a 6?" Incredibly, I dealt him a 6. "I can do that, sir!" "You the man, Timmy baby!"

When I got tapped out for the last time at 6:40, I was beginning to feel more confident and I was also having fun. I didn't seriously expect to be signed off after the first day, and I wasn't. The floorman went over my performance with me. He said I needed to speak up, and I needed to protect my game better. The casino was loud, he reminded me. Yes, it was actually quite a bit louder than I expected. The floorman pointed out that since he can't watch all 4 tables under his management at the same time, he needs to be able to at least hear what is going on at all times. Make your calls louder, he said. Also, walk your game more. Other than that, you're doing very well. You're friendly with the customers and you're not making any mistakes in arithmetic. See you tomorrow.

A little after 7 all of us from OJT gathered together to be picked up by the shuttlebus and taken back to the trailer. Two of the six of us from my class had been signed off after the first day. Back at the trailer, we all compared notes with each other and went on our way. Instead of being shuttled over from the trailer, we were to park in the Marina garage and report directly to the pit at 3:00 on Tuesday...

More to come very soon.

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Way to go Tim!

Sounds like you're going to do great.

Tim - what does it mean when you say, "walk your game more?"

This is all very fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us!

MikeD:

"Walking your game" is a crucial element of game security. It's important enough that it was the only thing stopping me from getting signed off after my second day. If a dealer just stands behind the table and never moves, he leaves himself vulnerable at the edges of the table. Particularly, if you stay in the center and while the player at first base is acting on his hand, you're eyes are off of third base; you're exposed on your right side. The same is true when you're dealing cards to the right side of the table. You want to position yourself so that you can keep an eye on third while you're dealing to first, and vice versa. (And you know what? I just finally completely understood the whole concept just now in writing that last sentence. Go figure.)

Day 2 of OJT (Tuesday, July 15)

There were 4 of us left from our group of 6 that still needed to be signed off. Again we met about an hour and a half early in the trailer and practiced more dealing. I left about 45 minutes before my OJT to go to the boat, because I wanted to grab something to eat in the EDR, and I wanted to make sure that I could find my way throught the premises again. You know, now that I work there and have walked around a bit, the whole operation doesn't seem anywhere near as big and intimidating as it did on the first day. A good thing, too, since having a 20 minute break wouldn't count for much if you spent 15 of those minutes walking back and forth.

I was still a bit jittery so I really couldn't focus on whatever the EDR was serving. They had another healthy Chinese dish, that I ordered. And this time I got a small salad. Cost me about $1.80. Heck, it would probably cost me more than that just to buy the food with which to make my own lunch and bring it.

A few minutes later the rest of my classmates came into the EDR and joined me. Again we compared notes and offered advice that our shadow dealers and floor supervisors had given us. We went up to the boat, where I found out I was again assigned to pit 5. Once again we got a pep talk from the two pit managers, where once again one of the managers was an old pro and the other was newly minted. This time my assigned table was at the exact opposite end of the pit from yesterday's table. Yesterday I was at the far end of the pit, on the port side of the boat, and as far forward as you could go. Today I was on the starboard side as far back as you could go without being a roulette dealer. Like yesterday, it was a $15-$5000 table with the 3-card poker side bet.

The floorman introduced himself and warned me about my shadow dealer, who he said could be a little intimidating. He was obviously joking with me, because my shadow dealer was a sweet, relaxed, middle-aged woman who stood all of about 4'10". At least this time, though, my shadow had been dealing for several years. Once again I was nervous during my first session. At one point, I was sweating so much that it was dripping onto a couple of the cards, and the floorman actually paused the game for a moment to let me wipe my brow. I was embarrassed, but everyone else at the table sympathized and got a good laugh out of it.

Today went much like yesterday. The shoes flew by, but I was one cold SOB of a dealer. At least half a dozen times I turned over a 16 and then drew a 5 for 21. The highlight (or lowlight, if you will) was when I had a full layout, with a few splits and double downs. No one had busted, so all 7 players were still in the hand. Also, no one on the table had a total higher than 19. I proceeded to draw a 6-card 21. Ouch! People got up and left so quickly that you would have thought that I had just cut a nasty fart or threw up on the layout or something.

I've been on the other end of that, of course, and I had much the same reaction. I'd say to myself,"Man! Forget this! I'm going to a another table." Then I would, well, go to another table. Now, as the dealer, I wanted to call out,"Wait! Don't leave me! The next hand will be better, I promise!"

As yesterday, though, I got more comfortable and settled in as the day wore on. As I went to talk my last break from 6:00 to 6:20 was feeling relaxed and confident, I was outgoin and friendly, and the new pit manager was taking notice. She came down to the EDR when I was on break and told me that I was doing very well, particularly with customer interaction, and that she planned on signing me off today. Woot!

Not so fast there, though. To be signed off, both the pit manager and the floorperson had to agree that I was ready. The pit manager was sold on me, but the floorperson still thought I wasn't protecting my game enough. He didn't go along with the sign-off, so I would be coming back for a third day on Wednesday. A little frustrating, but hey, I'm having fun and I'm still getting paid well enough to cover the cost of driving to work.

This was also the day of the company picnic, which Horseshoe Hammond likes to call "Binion's Bash".

After I punched out at 7:00, I went back to the trailer, changed into street clothes, and drove to Wicker Park in Highland, IN, for the picnic. I got there right before 8:00, but the picnic was officially running until 11pm. The place was mobbed. When I eventually found a parking spot, I got out and walked in the general direction of the most people. I grew up not too far from the park, when my mother and I lived in Highland back in the 1980s. When I was about 10, the park had a miniature golf course and a community swimming pool. Those are all gone now, sadly.

It was about 90 degrees and muggy. Yuck. I'd take 110 degrees and dry in Vegas any day over this mess. Heck, I'd take 30 degrees and windy in Vegas any day over this hell of heat and humidity. I ended up staying barely more than an hour.

Eventually I found my way over to the registration tent. Hey! There's the young woman who ran our orientation 6 weeks ago! How ya doing! She told me to sign in here, and then when I was ready to go over there and pick up my gift and my CSA check. My gift and my check? The CSA check is a property-wide bonus given to all employees who have worked a certain number of hours at the property for achieving and surpassing pre-set customer satisfaction goals. I haven't worked there long enough, so no check for me. I did qualify for the free gift, however. It was an MP3 player! And *everyone* was getting one. I've never owned one before, and truth be told I still haven't even opened the package. Aren't these things like $50 or so?

One of the downsides of the picnic was how late I arrived. A lot of the attractions and entertainers were shutting down at 8 p.m., about 5 minutes before I arrived. Figures. Fortunately, they were still serving food. Best of all, the beer garden was still open, and the beer was free. Yes, there really is a God and He was truly watching over me.

I went over to check out the food supplies. They had a variety of pasta and potato salads, and they also had corn on the cob, grilled hot dogs, brats, and burgers. They even had deep dish pizza that they were cooking, cutting, and serving right there on site. I grabbed a burger and a slice of pizza, and went on for something to drink. I was then reminded of that old Rush song that went "You can choose from phantom fears / And kindness that can kill / I will choose a path that's clear / I will choose free beer"

At least I think that's how the song went; maybe I'm misremembering. ;-) Still, the path was clear and I chose free beer.

I waited in line about 5 minutes for free food. I waited darn near 20 for free beer. When I finally got to the front of the line, I grabbed 2 plastic glasses of Miller Lite (they had Lite and MGD on tap). As she handed me the beer, she made two marks on the wristband I got when I registered in at the tent. So that's how they keep track of how much people are drinking. I found a few classmates and chatted with them for a bit. In the end, though, it was too darn hot and it was pretty obvious the picnic was winding down. I left a little after 9 and went home.

Third and final part to come very soon,

Tim the Dealer