Who Needs Skill?
June 22, 2009
“Come on and play!”
“Nah, there is no skill involved”, I said.
“But if you have luck, who needs skill?”, he replied.
I walked through the Stratosphere on my way to the poker room (I really do go to places in bunches), and I have never had such an enthusiastic sell from a dealer to play a game.
When I do get cajoled to play table games, I usually just smile, say “no thanks” and walk on … but this guy intrigued me a bit. He prefaced every sentence with “ohhhh” in an almost stereotypical fashion, and it made me fight back a laugh every time.
Stratosphere Casino
Stratosphere Casino
There was absolutely nobody else at his Roulette table, and his obvious fresh off the boat, slightly effeminate, not-yet-jaded-by-Vegas optimism was a refreshing change from the half-hearted “you wanna play?” pitch I usually get when walking by an empty table.
I know that the dealers are told to bring people into the games, but this guy seemed genuinely excited about his game.
“This is fun game, it doesn’t cost much. You have good chance to win!”, he said in a high pitched voice as I stood beside the table, still unconvinced.
“Either you’re stupid for believing in luck or I’m stupid for falling for your act”, I said with a smile as I pulled out my wallet.
“Ohhhh, noooo act, this is a fun game. What’s your favorite number?”, he asked me.
Homeboy was good. He was trying to get me to place a number bet.
“Black”, I replied.
“Ohhhh, that’s a good number”, he smiled.
And so I plunked down a 5, and let it go.
Red.
“Ohhhh, that’s nothing, keep trying”, he insisted.
And so I did. For about 15 minutes. And I must have done okay because I was up a modest amount. I just played black, and it hit more than 50% of the time.
“See, I told you. You don’t need skill if you have luck.”
I laughed, pushed him a $5 chip and went on my way.
It is very rare that I get pulled into playing a game that I had no intention of playing, but I am a sucker for enthusiastic underdogs trying to salvage their jobs running empty tables. They know the pit is looking. They know that every time the boss looks over, and the table is empty, the chance they won’t be called into work the next day ticks up ever so slightly.
Most people resign themselves to the inevitable, and it shows. They have a defeated look, and go through the motions. Not that I blame them at all. As things stand in Las Vegas, I doubt I could muster up enthusiasm for a dwindling paycheck either.
I got to the Strat Poker Room, and was able to get into a shorthanded, but running 1/2 game. This was not a loose table. I swear a couple of guys would have folded a royal Flush to a five dollar bet. So I did something I almost never do.
Bluff.
Stratosphere Poker Room
Stratosphere Poker Room
Stratosphere Poker Room
Stratosphere Poker Room
I tell everyone that I do not bluff, and for the most part, it is true. There are plenty of penile-swinging wannabes in this town who love to look at me with a smirk and yell “Call!”. They have no idea that I don’t put out a bet unless I am almost sure that I am ahead. This is how I grind it out.
There was no way I was getting paid on this day, though, and I was throwing out bets with Ace high or a pair of sevens. More often than not, I got what was in the pot, even if it was only a few dollars.
It wasn’t long before I realized the futility of this session, and packed it in. I collected my 15%-ish profit, and made my way back out through the front entrance.
As I rounded the corner, I heard a squeaky voice say “How’d you do?”.
It was the same guy, still standing at an empty roulette table.
“I made a little”, I said.
“See, I told you! You don’t need skill, you have luck!”
Even though the guy had just called me a poor poker player to my face, I grinned and thanked him.
As I started walking away he shouted, “You wanna play some more?”.
“I fell for that the first time, my friend. I think I’m going to call it a day”, I said over my shoulder.
“Okay, but you come back soon! Remember, you don’t need skill if you have luck!”
Knowing me, I probably will. Even when someone tells me that I am a skill-less gambler to my face multiple times … sometimes their personality can overcome the unintended insults.
Gambling in Las Vegas is not always exciting. You don’t always come home with a double-up story, a bad beat story, or anything really interesting at all. It can be mundane and completely devoid of excitement.
Stratosphere Casino
Sometimes, the only thing you can remember about a day is a brief encounter with a quirky personality that stands out for some reason, or for no reason at all.
This was one of those days.
I didn’t have skill, but I did have luck. And today, it was all I needed to come home a winner.
Written by Phouchg on June 22, 2009 at 7:36 pm
“you don’t need skill if you have luck!”
I think we have a new slogan for the LVCVA
Written by tully on June 23, 2009 at 2:12 am
A nice story. Gotta admire the guy’s spunk.
Written by Huddler on June 23, 2009 at 4:02 am
I am an absolute sucker for a dealer with an outgoing personality. If they are fun and wanting you to have a good time, they get big tips. I will make bets for the dealers all night long and give them green chips. If they dont talk, cant speak english, or are surly, then they dont get tipped at all. I know tips are pooled these days but I want to play where I have a good time. And the dealers can make all the difference in the world. This guy acted like I would want all my dealers to act. He was hustling for your business. Good for him and good for the Strat!
Written by huddler on June 23, 2009 at 4:04 am
That $1/$2 poker game reminded me of every session I ever played at the Hilton poker room! No action. Cant make any money. Table loaded with grinders. No bluffing. Straight ABC sort of poker. I would have left too.
Written by keith on June 23, 2009 at 4:58 am
i ran into that exact scenario that Huddler mentioned in connecticut. Foxwoods dealers are hoorendous – playing craps, $5 min, and doing poorly at best. They decided to raise the mins to $10 and made one call to the players, which my friend didn’t hear. He dropped $5 on the pass line, and the stickman told him “It’s a $10 table now – i just told you.” My friend replied that “i didn’t hear you say that”, which the stickman replied “yeah you did – i was looking right at you”.
We proptly picked up our bets and went back to Mohegan Sun, where the dealers are much more friendly and outgoing. It was night and day how fun the dealers at MS made it.
On another trip to Mohegan, the boss raised the table min from $5 to $10, so my friends and i raised our bets to the new minimums. The dealer said “You guys can keep playing at $5 – this isn’t Foxwoods”.
Written by Tom on June 23, 2009 at 8:21 am
You would have loved Vegas in the late 70′s and early 80′s when one BJ dealer actually told me, “We aren’t supposed to talk to the players.” That attitude was common along the strip perhaps a result of the big corporations taking over and caring only about the bottom line.
Written by Scott on June 23, 2009 at 10:20 am
As a response to Tom,
It amazes me that casinos would have that kind of attitude toward dealers talking to players. Last time I checked, dealers at Circus Circus in Reno were also discouraged from talking to players. I just thought they were surly until I spoke to 2 former dealers (who were then dealing at other casinos) who were apparently let go by Circus Circus for consistently talking to players.
It makes no sense to me. I realize that a good poker dealer is generally expected to shut up and deal in most places, but table games are a little different. I know plenty of people who have avoided Circus Circus in Reno because the place is unfriendly and not a lot of fun.
Written by ExiledinMaine on June 23, 2009 at 4:10 pm
That Roulette dealer reminded me of the Chinese high roller in The Hangover. lol
Written by Huddler on June 24, 2009 at 1:49 am
It looks like that dealer wore his pajamas to work…
Written by jinx on June 24, 2009 at 5:50 am
Great post Rex, I have to admire your recognition of this dealer for how he approached things. In so many ways it’s what you’ve talked about before, good service is the key to Vegas survival. Not high end/low end or whatever. Give them service on any level and it would do wonders for the town.
In thinking about this I realized that there is another reason I don’t play table games quite as much anymore, I’ve had a bad run of dealers. As a matter of fact I almost exclusively play at IP now if I do play at the tables. At the very least the dealertainers are trying to enjoy themselves (mileage may vary) and for rapid roulette, I can get a number of drinks and have the same house edge as standard roulette.
Craps dealers at the IP have always been my favorite as most are pretty fun, although I’ve definitely seen a change in attitude (much more jaded) since HET took over.
Just wanted to pipe in with some of my experiences and I’ll definitely have to check out the strat next week I think when Im in town.
Written by alberta on June 24, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Back when I went through a week of “training” errr….”brainwashing” to work for a major casino here in Vegas. They had all kinds of human relations exercises. Some were pretty flat out stupid. But it was always pounded into us to….”Engage the guest” and if they were a high tier player they stopped short of saying rip your clothes off and bend over for the player. They always stressed you must smile and make eye contact. Impart the feeling of winning and good luck to the player. ( and boy do they have slogans for this) Someday I might try and find the training manuals they issued. It would be worthy of some laughs.
Now when I walk into a casino I am the guest. I know what I can get away with and the how and the why. But I have to admit there are nights where I want to choke the shit out of some of these wise ass sarcastic dealers. Esp the craps crews! Gotta love em…
Paul
Written by alberta on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Damn….I always forget…Nice writing/pics Rex….Thanks again.
Written by FoolsGold on June 25, 2009 at 2:27 pm
We know that the dealer on a dead table is mainly bored but may also be under some pressure from the floor/other-dealers. Sometimes the dealer accepts his fate and sometimes he makes a valiant effort to snag passersby. A little animation helps, but we are there to gamble and expect a dealer not a frustrated stand-up comic. I don’t want a craps dealer telling me they are out of chips when I’m trying to buy in and have not yet had my morning coffee but some conversation is fine. Ever have a craps crew that wanted an early out but didn’t just tell the player that? They know how to make a player feel unwelcome but don’t always know how to make him feel welcome.
Written by Jimbo on June 26, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Rex
I stayed in the Strat, one word of warning, I like to play the 1c machines usually prop betting a few friends, the hot hot penny machines pay short on feature payouts. get the feature 3 bonuses up for 15 free spins win x amount of money and when it transfers to your play meter it always pays short. This was witnessed on several machines so we stopped playing.
Love your posts and have explored more locations away from the strip than ever, keep up the good work