Fabula ex opus...

(Sorry... I was testing my Latin last night at work with a fellow employee)

Tales from Work...

I'm flooring two jam-up games last night (jam-up for us here in PA, anyway), working purple to all four ends and cash and markers flying everywhere, when I hear the start of a beef on one of the tables.

I walk over and stand behind the box, and listen to a player tell the box that he needs to be more consistent in his calls of "no roll". The player was stern, and the box was silent. Nothing more was said by either of them.

So I lean in and ask what the problem is...

Now, the box is a man of my general age (mid to late 40s) hailing from the Midwest gaming industry (same as me) with (supposedly) 20+ years in the trade. He looks at me and says, with a voice that carried quite nicely across the entire table, that he told the shooter to hit the back wall with the dice every roll. The shooter did not hit the back wall, and he (the box) called a no roll... because he "doesn't play those kind of games when he sits on a dice game!" What the box FAILED to tell me was that the very next roll of the dice was ALSO short of the back wall, but came up SEVEN OUT and the call stood, the line was locked up and the next shooter was given the dice.

So, once I have gleaned the gist of this disaster to the best of my ability, I again hear from the box that he "doesn't play those kinds of games on his tables!" So, in a voice just as loud as his, I say that I DO play those kinds of games, and that game is called CRAPS, and there are lots of reasons to call a NO ROLL, but short shots are NEVER ONE OF THEM... EVER. I tell him simply and plainly, without ambiguity or expletive, that he will NOT call a NO ROLL again without confirming it with ME as his supervisor... no exceptions. If a dice hits the floor and the stick calls it NO ROLL, then I am to be called over to confirm... each and every time.

Now, no sooner do I get this little bit of drama behind me then I return to the same table to watch some color go out. The amount brought in is just over $1200 in red and green, but the box says the total as "Thirteen hundred" and instructs the dealer to cut it out and send it. I stop the move, tell him he is WRONG, instruct the dealer to send the correct amount, and walk back to the other table where there is table max action left and right. 30 seconds later... beef.

I come back to find that the player making the $1200 color heard the box's total of "thirteen hundred" and wants to know why he is only getting $1200 in purple and black? A perfectly fair and straight-forward question... but the box has already locked up the player's cheques and put them into the bankroll, so we cannot show him what was turned in initially. So, as this is explained to me by the box (in a much more subdued voice than previously used), I AGAIN instruct the box that, in the "real world" of casino dice pits, we do not run down color or EVER put it away without first making sure that the PLAYER verifies the exchange and agrees to the total. I explain to the player what happened, he accepts what I say and walks away... but offers the fair and accurate observation to the box that he was as out of place in his job as an "@$$hole in a urinal". All three dealers bust up laughing at this... and I actually have to tell them to stop just to get the game back on track.

The box is taken off the game to explain to the shift boss what happened. Upon his return, I ask him if he remembers what he was working in black cheques (he left in a bit of a hurry, and didn't pass this on to the floor that tapped him out). His response was a rather curt and surly "NO". I look him dead in the eye and say "That's what I thought." and proceed to tell the pit manager that I want to write him up for each infraction and error that had occurred up to that point.

I did three written warnings on my next break, and today I get to see what the result of my efforts are. I'm hoping for at least a suspension... but I can't discount the possiblity that he might get axed completely (especially if this isn't his first write up... and they booted him off of swing shift entirely for something). As short-handed as the place is supervisor-wise, I can't say I'm not excited about THAT prospect...