На школу крупье в 81 год!

[Виталий Сафронов]

Газета The Day опубликовала на днях занимательный отчет 81-летнего американца, решившего стать дилером блэкджека в казино. Привожу полный текст на английском:

Casino Career Change: Learning The Real Deal At Age 81

At 81 years of age i felt the need for a little excitement in my life so my ears perked up when my wife called to my attention an ad in a local newspaper that read, “With a career at Foxwoods, the cards are in your favor.”

It went on to say, “Become a professional Blackjack or Poker dealer.”

What a dream follow-up, I thought, to the 53 years I had spent in the advertising business.

I always enjoyed playing blackjack, notwithstanding the fact that I invariably contributed generously to the casinos in Vegas, Atlantic City, Aruba, Nairobi and aboard cruise ships.

Now I could enjoy playing blackjack and actually get paid for doing it.

So it was off to the employment offices at the Foxwoods Training Center in North Stonington, a 45-mile ride from my home in Killingworth.

After filling out the usual employment forms I was given a color blindness test. It's a “no no” to mistake a $5 red chip for a $25 green one.

Incidentally, chips are not called chips in the gaming world. They're called “cheques.”

After coming through with flying colors I was given a simple math test to determine my ability to add, divide, multiply and subtract as might be the case when paying off winning bets, taking losing ones or calculating, at 3 to 2 odds, the payoff in blackjack. Again, no problem. Then it was time to sit down with my interviewer to decide which blackjack

training class made the most sense for me. I chose the 7:30 a.m to 11 a.m. period so I could have my afternoons free for bridge games, doctors' appointments, shopping and time with friends. The class would meet for three and one half hours daily, five days a week for a period of 10 weeks. You are not paid during the training period. On the contrary, it cost me $8 a day in gas to make the 90-mile round trip.

One complication, the 7:30 a.m. starting time for class meant an alarm going off at 5:30 a.m., which, needless to say didn't go over with my wife, so I was banished to the guest room and a cold, queen-sized bed for the duration of the training period. I could now wake up to the CBS morning news without disturbing anyone.

To get back to the training sessions, you don't attend these in leisure clothing. The dress code for trainees calls for a white, long-sleeved, permanent-press dress shirt, button-down style, worn tucked in. Black, polishable shoes. (I had to obliterate the fluorescent logo on my Nike running shoes) Black socks. And no tongue, nose, eyebrow or any other pierces other than one on each ear lobe for males. This I could live with. Now I had to visit some of the Goodwill stores in the area to stock up on black trousers and white shirts, my inventory of which had become depleted since my retirement in 1999.

Normally, when you think of dealing blackjack you don't think of the physical demands of the job, but when they're spelled out, they did seem somewhat daunting. For example, you must be able to stand for a minimum of two hours, have finger dexterity in both your left and right hands so you can handle, feel and reach for chips. You must be able to bend to the waist. Vision requirements include close, distance, color, peripheral and depth perception. You must be able to tolerate for prolonged periods a noise level of moderate to loud decibels and expose yourself to an environment that is crowded, noisy and often smoke-filled.

No mention of bathroom breaks, a major consideration for anyone with an enlarged prostate. A dealer is required to keep both hands above the level of the blackjack layout

One of the first skills you're required to master as a blackjack dealer is “cutting cheques.” This is the terminology used to describe counting out chips quickly and accurately. As an example, you would finger from a stack of 20, four red chips and place them on the playing surface. Adjacent to these you would place another four chips, running your index finger across the top of each stack to make sure that they are of equal height. Repeat this process with another four chips so that you will have counted out a total of 12 chips, which, at $5 each would total $60.

This procedure required much practice so, on the advice of my supervisor, I went to the Mohegan Sun casino, the competition, and purchased 20 one-dollar cheques with which to practice.

This was cheaper than buying a poker set at Wal-Mart, where the chips are not the regulation size. I also went shopping at Jo Ann's Fabrics for a yard of felt that I would tack to a piece of plywood to simulate the surface of the blackjack layout at the casino. (Thank you, Foxwoods for introducing me to a fabric shop, a first in my career).

I now had something to keep my fingers busy during commercials as I watched TV. If I had grandchildren, they would be playing with their blocks while I was playing with my blackjack cheques.

The second major requirement is being able to shuffle eight decks, according to a prescribed procedure, in two minutes. Why two minutes? Because every minute that the blackjack table is not being played costs the casino money. Incidentally the use of eight decks makes it challenging for anyone to count cards, which is discouraged by the casino. Holding eight decks and riffling them without hesitation was also quite a challenge. “Riffling” is the process of shuffling two stacks of cards by intermingling alternate cards from separate decks.

At my best I was able to riffle the eight decks in four minutes. Then as I was maneuvering to place the cards in the shoe, the apparatus that holds the cards prior to dealing, they squirted out of my hands, onto the floor and all over the blackjack table. Talk about embarrassment. I shudder to think what would have happened had this taken place during an actual game. So that evening it was back to the felt-covered plywood for more intensive practice with a stopwatch at my side to keep track of my progress.

Everyone wants to know how much the job of blackjack dealer pays. The answer is $4 per hour. Appreciative players often leave tips (called tokes) so that the total take could come to $18 an hour. As a perpetual loser and non-tipper, I'm probably in the minority.

Such things as minimum-wage laws do not apply to gaming operations in casinos owned by Native Americans.

I felt as though I were back in college when we were told that there would be mid-term exam with my audition as a dealer coming up. This meant reviewing and highlighting the salient points in my 101-page “Procedures and Instruction” manual. Apparently, this paid off because I came away with a 96 on the exam. The audition, however, proved to be my downfall. I never did perfect my “riffling” technique, therefore I exceeded the two-minute shuffling requirement.

I did not maintain the pace of the game, which was the result of not figuring out instantly the blackjack payout on bets like $22.50 or $37.50. My placement of cheques on the table also was somewhat lacking.

So, at the conclusion of the audition, my supervisor unceremoniously informed me that I could not continue in the training program.

I could, however, reapply in one year, not great news for an 81-year-old who, as the saying goes, does not buy green bananas.

So now it's back to the Goodwill stores, not as a purchaser, but as a donor of permanent-press, long-sleeved, button-down white dress shirts and black trousers for other hopefuls to buy who are desirous of becoming blackjack dealers.

And I can get my nose, tongue and eyebrows pierced. On second thought, maybe not.

[kara]

Да уж!!!!


А он мне сразу понравился!!!

[wicked]

молодец дед! только зря ему сразу не сказали что со своей простатой он не выдержит два брейка за ночь. да здравствует америка - страна самого здорового маразма!

[russian]

mne 33 i ja eshe odin iz molodyh dilerov. bol'she 50% stafa starshe 40. v moej craps komande est' babushka 63 goda , na rabotu ezdit na harley , s4itaet kak daj bog kazdomu i kak 4elovek 4to nado. a po4emu s4itat' marazmom tot fakt 4to u vas est' vozmojznost' v 30 40 50 60 70 let pomenjat' professiju??? v usa 20letnih dilerov menee 5%

[Arthur]

a po4emu s4itat' marazmom tot fakt 4to u vas est' vozmojznost' v 30 40 50 60 70 let pomenjat' professiju???

В России сейчас после 40, даже имея профессию, тяжело устроиться на работу, а уж поменять -- практически нереально.