Just as it is important to know how the
spots on dice are supposed to be arranged on a die, it is important to
know how cards are supposed to be arranged in a new deck of cards.
Granted, it would take a scam worthy of Ethan Hunt, to alter or replace
new cards sent from the factory but being prepared for such unlikely
events is what supervisors are paid to do. A more likely scenario would be
the case of manufacturer defects. In which case you would want to be able
to point out any anomalies to your supervisor, before he points them out
to you.
If a new deck of cards is removed from the
box, the jokers removed and the deck is placed facedown on a table: what
would be the card on the top of the deck? The answer is: the ace of
hearts. If you picked up the deck, turned it over and looked at the bottom
card, which card would it be? The answer: the ace of spades. Since the red
suit of hearts is on the top of the deck and the black suit of spades is
on the bottom and of course, the manufacturer alternates the suits by
color, what suit follows hearts in the deck? The answer: clubs followed by
diamonds. If the previous information is memorized, there is only one last
bit of information that needs to be memorized and then the order of the
cards can be remembered. Starting from the top of the deck: ace through
king, ace through king, king through ace and king through ace.
Deciding what color deck to
put on which table.
When replacing decks on a live game,
there isn’t a choice of which color to use. You must replace decks
with another color in order to nullify an attempt by a crossroader
that held out cards from the old deck.
But in the case of opening an entire
pit, you want to make things difficult for anyone that might be
tempted to exchange cards with someone on the next game. The easiest
way to accomplish this is to put red decks on the even numbered
games.
A couple of neat tricks for
breaking the seal on a new deck of cards.
I remember the first time I tried to break
the seal on a deck of cards, using one of the fancy methods used by my
co-workers. By the time I got done, the only part of the box that was left
intact was that goddamn seal! Of course if you were to ask another
floorperson how they manage to open the box so easily, you are likely to
get a vague or incomplete answer, that won’t be of any help to you. But
not to worry, you have your Uncle Dale here to help you.
Method one:
"Slam bam, thankee ma’am."
I
Grasp the deck using your thumb and index
finger, on the bottom corner that is farthest from you. Make sure you have
the side with the seal facing downward!
Drive the top corner, which is closest to
you into the layout, with a snapping force. Your knuckles will probably
hit the layout at the same moment. You don’t want to grasp the corner
too tightly, since it is the cards in the box, rushing towards the lid,
that breaks the seal.
Method two:
"Choking the chicken."
While looking down on the deck: use your
thumb to push the bottom left corner of the box to your right, while using
the crook of your index finger to push the upper right corner of the box
to your left. This twisting motion moves the front of the box to the
right, while leaving the lid in the same position. This motion tears the
seal from left to right. This method is preferred when you are up against
heavily glued seals that have a plastic like appearance.
Checking the cards.
It is vitally important to inventory the
cards before putting them on a game. If the gaming commission would come
in a casino and pull cards off of a game and discover there were cards
missing, there could be serious legal ramifications as well as feeding
frenzy for the media.
Even though I intend to check all the
cards, I’m going to make sure I haven’t made the common mistake of
leaving an ace in the box. I check for the ace of spades on the bottom of
the deck.
And I check the last card to insure it is
the ace of hearts.
I now thumb my way through the entire deck,
making sure every card is there. Even though it is the dealer’s and
generally not the floorperson’s responsibility to check the back of the
cards, I will sometimes check a few of them, especially when there have
been problems with the manufacturer sending cards with uneven borders.
Upon completing the check, I will spread
the deck on the insurance line, so the dealer can inventory the cards.
Especially for those that have limited blackjack experience, I will show
you a couple of subtleties that I have found helpful in achieving a good
spread on the cards.
I straddle the upper-left hand corner
between my index and middle fingers. My thumb supports the deck from the
bottom.
Notice that my little finger is supporting
the bevel I created with the cards. After I set the cards on the table, my
little finger will continue to support the deck as well as slightly
enhance the bevel.
You will now put the jokers and ad cards
back in the box and probably put them in the float lid. Make sure you put
them at the end of the lid as close to you as possible, so the lid won’t
have to be pulled out very far, in order to retrieve the boxes at the card
change.
Closing down games.
Deciding when it is time to "start
bringing up lids" a decision that involves a number of factors. The
number one factor is the temperament of your shift manager. Some shift
bosses like to delegate authority and won’t respect someone that has to
call them and get permission to close games. Others are control freaks
that don’t want any games closed unless they tell you to close them. In
the case of the latter, control freaks sometimes don’t even want you to
call them and ask if you can close a game. They prefer to waltz through
the pit, waiving their scepter, issuing their royal decree to close games.
But even if you work for a boss that will
allow you to make your own decision as to whether to close a game or not,
if you don’t show good judgment, you might well lose the privilege. The
worst case scenario is when the casino manager visits a pit and sees that
there are patrons standing around the tables with money in their hand and
no place to play. This usually occurs because there was not enough dealers
scheduled, table minimums set too low or games are closed too early.
When it is late enough in the shift to
start closing games but early enough to want games to accommodate players,
you reach the point of where you will close one game, if you have two dead
games. When possible, you want to close games in a way that will
consolidate your pit into one easily watched section.
Later in the shift, when you have reached
the point of needing to get games closed, you can remove the table minimum
sign from a game and tell the dealer; "no new players please."
At this point you might have to discreetly tell the dealer to pay players
in larger denomination checks. Dealers, even those that desperately want
to go home, sometimes don’t seem to grasp the concept that players with
five hundred in red, can’t just get up and walk away.
When all else fails and the games haven’t
died of natural causes, you will reach a point where you must close games.
This is accomplished by calling "last shoe" "last
shuffle" or "last shooter" on the remaining games. There is
possibly no other time when your communicative and diplomatic skills are
more tested. Your posture, tone of voice and choice of words must
accomplish the goal of convincing the players that, although their
patronage is appreciated, you must close this table.
One method I have found to be effective is
to make an announcement prior to calling last shuffle. I will say
something like; "Excuse me folks, I’m going to have to close this
game in about ten minutes. There will be games in the main pit, that will
be open all night." Not only does this seem to smooth out the
situation but it often encourages people to beat the rush and find another
table.
There is another option that can be used
when there is a dead game in the main pit. With the consent of the pit
manager and the floorperson in that section, you can have the dealer bring
up the lid on the dead game and wait for the players on your game to move
over to it.
Procedures for closing tables.
The first thing to do when a game goes dead
is have the dealer bring up the lid! Try not to get frustrated when the
dealer decides to fix his rack first or put away the cards. Some dealers
don’t understand that if a player would walk up before the lid is up, it
might make it hard to turn him away. You then have the dealer fix his rack
and then straighten his chairs. Meanwhile, you go get the key, so you are
ready to lock the game as soon as you finish, get a closing slip
(timestamp the back if necessary) and call surveillance.
Your conversations with surveillance should
be pleasant, professional and to the point. As your only contact with the
eye is over the phone, you should be careful not to say anything to offend
them; "Hi, this is Dale. I’m closing BJ twelve. Thank you."
Completing the closing slip.
The first thing you do upon arriving at the
game is to fill out the peripheral information (game, date and shift). You
do this so you can’t forget it and so if you make a stupid mistake, you
have more time to catch it.
Next, you fill in the amounts, double-checking
them as soon as you finish. You will now total the amounts. I find it
useful to add the numbers backwards, when I double-check the total, as
this will reduce the likelihood of me falling for the same mental error
twice. You are now ready to sign the slip and give it to the dealer so he
can check and sign it.
At this point you are now looking around
for another suit to give you a "third" (a third check and
signature). You can now go find something else to do, since you had the
foresight to leave the key on the game, the supervisor that does the final
check can lock the game. What you will probably need to do is to watch
that supervisor’s section as well as your own.
Don’t hand anyone a piece of shit like
this! Just try to add up the amounts without suffering vertigo. Make sure
all your amounts are "justified right."
Write the total of the drop in the drop
section of each game, as you close it. This is especially important in
roulette, when the dealers use lammers to mark up the drop, as you don’t
want someone to have to unlock the game later, to record the drop.
Canceling cards and dice.
Canceling playing cards is a three-part
process. The first part involves inventorying the cards. Under the
strictest of circumstances, you will need to sort the cards and
reconstruct them into the order they were in, when they came out of the
box.
I sort the cards in the same fashion, every
time I do it. This makes me a little faster, every time I do it. I put the
red cards on the right and black cards on the left. I put spades and
diamonds on the top.
If inventorying the cards isn’t required,
you will probably have to count them and put fifty-two in a box.
Sometimes, you are required to count the aces, since this would be the
card most likely held out by a crossroader.
Canceling cards usually involves marking
opposite corner with a felt tip pen. The next corner she will mark will be
the corner that is now bottom-left.
The last step in the process involves
writing some information on each of the boxes. This can be written on the
outside of the box or on the inside of the flap. The information that is
usually required is: the date, the game, the time the cards were taken off
of the game, your name and ID number and the dealer’s name.
Make sure you check dice for miss-spots
when you take them off the game. Dice are usually cancelled with this type
of device, the center of the "four" side being the most popular
choice. Remember, you aren’t drilling for oil, if you overly
enthusiastic in this procedure, there is a good chance that you will strip
out the threads of the canceling device. Wrap the dice in the wrapper they
came in but use the wrapper inside out and use tape to seal it. You might
also be required to write the time you took the dice off of the game, on
the wrapper.
So now your pit is closed and all that
remains to do is check all table lids, one more time, to make sure they
are locked. If any are discovered unlocked, you must call surveillance
before locking them.
