Gaming Guru

Where Are the Professional Dice Dealers?

Dear Mr. Scoblete:

What happened to all the professional dice dealers? It seems that the casinos want the dealers to be everything but a professional dealer. Whatever happened to customer service?

Sincerely,
Jim

Dear Jim:

It all depends on the casinos and on the individuals who are dealing. I've been at tables with bored dealers, sarcastic dealers, nasty dealers, haughty dealers -- and also boxmen, floormen and pit bosses exhibiting those qualities too. I've even seen paranoia of the most desperate kind in some suits as well, most recently at an Atlantic City casino.

However, for every one of those (shall I call them) bums, I have been at tables with far more great professional dealers. It is probably 50 to 1 for the good over the grumpy, grouchy, and god-awful dealers and suits.

When I consult with casinos over personnel issues the very first thing I say is that all employees have to "act" professional and exhibit a liking for their players -- whether they actually like the players or not. Actors doing a performance pretend they are the characters they are playing. It doesn't matter if the actor is having problems at home or has a headache or hates audiences -- you have to perform the role. Period. Same goes for all people in the public service industry.

If you find casinos with bad dealers go to another casino...if you can.

For your letter I am giving you a free 10-day subscription to my private, members-only website at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on our private site and I think you will find the discussions to be interesting, enlightening and fun.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete