I had to bring my wife
to the emergency room last February. While she was
being treated, I had the opportunity to watch the
doctors and nurses in a real ER deal with patients
who were, at times, not just sick but sickening.
One drunken guy, who kept complaining that he was
having chest pains, wouldn’t let the doctors
examine him. He was abusive and smelled something
awful.
Not
once did any doctor or nurse lose their tempers and
do what I wished to do –throw his ugly carcass
into the street. Not once did one of the professionals
working that ER room say to this obviously creepy piece
of dreck: “Why don’t you just go somewhere
and die?” I was amazed that they were able to take
this beast’s abuse and act calm and professional.
They finessed him into
finally allowing them to examine him – and
save his ornery life to boot! These emergency room
folks were, to put a very fine edge on it, not at
all human. Their responses were incredibly calm
and contained. And that is just what we expect from
all our professionals, isn’t it? Cool, calm,
considerate reactions to hyper-charged people and
events. Do you want policemen who panic in scary
situations (leave that to the rest of us)? Do you
want surgeons losing their cool when something goes
amiss inside Mr. So-and-So? Do you want teachers
who flip out when confronted by the appalling ignorance
and incredible arrogance of the youths they teach?
Of course not. When Miss Jones confronts little
Timmy Terrible about his behavior, we want her to
be reasonable and controlled; we don’t want
her wielding an axe and cleaving little Timmy’s
head in twain, do we? Dealers are in the same situation
as other professionals, yet many of them have not
been prepared properly to take the “heat”
of disgruntled, grumpy, nasty, drunk and exasperating
players. They either learn to deal with these behaviors
while on the job, thus advancing up the chain of
casino-dealer jobs from break-in joints to plush
pleasure palaces, or they develop a “reactionary”
personality and get stuck somewhere in a dead-end
dealing job where they fester and fume. And let
me tell you I have witnessed dealers and pit personnel
who were the antithesis of cool professionals many
times in my casino-playing career. There are some
casinos that are notorious for their nasty dealers
and even nastier pit personnel. Players coming into
these places to play at these tables – even
happy, fun-loving players as opposed to grumps –
find themselves greeted by coldness and even hostility.
I once saw a dealer who lost several hands to a
player get a swift kick in her leg by the floorperson
at one Vegas, on the Strip, no less. Needless to
say, instead of the dealer rooting for the player
to win (which is always good public relations for
a casino), the dealer, in order to avoid another
boot, became increasingly more agitated and alarmed
as the player kept winning. It was an uneasy, awkward
atmosphere, to say the least.
I once saw a pit boss in this same casino tell a
player he couldn’t play blackjack anymore because
the player was winning. Was the guy an expert card
counting, shuffle-tracking professional advantage
player looking to take hundreds of thousands out
of that casino with his team of accomplices? No.
He didn’t even know the basic strategy for
the game! He was a progressive bettor who spread
from $5 to $10 to $15 as he won. He happened to
hit a hot streak and won a bunch of $15 bets. He
got the boot, albeit not in the same way as the
dealer had. He left the casino dazed, confused but
vowing never to return. So why are some casinos
a pleasure to play in, with happy dealers, charming
pit personnel and professionalism all around? And
why are other casinos filled with unhappy, thoroughly
unprofessional dealers and pit personnel? Why are
grumps handled with aplomb in some places, while
in other places it’s hard to tell the grumps
from the workers? First, as I stated, most dealers
have never taken intensive courses in human behavior
modification. They are never taught the techniques
necessary to handle those individuals who would
try Job’s patience while simultaneously keeping
their games fun and free-wheeling for the other
patrons. If they learn these skills, they learn
them on the job, catch as catch can. It’s survival
of the fittest. If these dealers are lucky enough
to land jobs in casinos where they are treated as
professionals, they thrive – as do the playing-paying
customers. On the other hand, many dealers –
who might have become professionals given a little
instruction in behavior modification – merely
turn sour as they deal with the grown up versions
of Timmy Terrible. Dealers have to take a page from
the ER doctors and nurses, who undergo intensive
training before they mingle with the mangled in
mind, body and spirit. Unquestionably, many hospitals
make their reputation based on their emergency care
and all casinos make their reputation among table-game
players based on how these players feel about the
dealers. After all, the dealers are the folks players
mingle with the most; they are the first line in
the public relations flanks. As such, they have
a lot to do with the table-game bottom line. Bad
dealers, who ultimately will become bad pit personnel
if given the opportunity, are all too human, which
is a shame, because they wear their moods like clothing
and react improperly when handling players who could
be “finessed.” Good dealers have learned
the knack of overcoming “normal” reactions
to people and events while maintaining a cool, calm,
confident exterior. Professionals can’t afford
to act human, and that’s a fact! If it weren’t,
you’d never go to a hospital or call a cop
when a crisis arose.
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Columns By Franki Scoblete
