Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Who knew Craps was so complicated



I'm starting to have a clear picture painted in my mind about why casino's are always looking for good Craps dealers and why it is the best game to learn if you want to break into the casino business.
Luckily I have played the game numerous times in the past and have taken the time to learn a lot about the game including bets that I would never just so that I could have a basic understanding of the game.

Craps is a thing of beauty to me, there are a ton of bets and there are a million different ways to play the game and different "systems" that you can use.  It's easily the most complicated game that the casino runs and for that reason being a dealer requires a certain amount of skill.  This is what I never fully comprehended until the last few days.

The one thing I now realize I failed to pay any attention to (or at least very little attention) was the order in which everything occurred.  Strange because since I started playing and falling in love with the game I'd kind of day dreamed about one day dealing it as well - you'd think that I'd pay attention and study what they were doing and how they were doing it (like when you are young and you watch your dad's every action as he is driving a car - imaging in your head that one day he'll just turn to you and say "ok, get in the seat and show me what you got) but I completely overlooked it.

Today was my first day actually dealing the game (and being the stick man) with the rest of the class and I can tell you that my first two days of class helped tremendously and I was still very overwhelmed when it was my turn.  The great thing about class is that they throw every damned thing at you that they can think of and when they can't think of it the teacher just adds some random shit in there to fuck up your day as well.
EVERYONE places every non point number in the game and everyone uses a different denomination to do it as well.  Everyone is making come bets and backing them up with different amounts of odds, people are playing the don't pass and the don't come and there are always at least 3 bets in the field.  Your playing (paying) area is littered with a ton of bets from every player and with every roll of the dice you are trying to remember routine, payouts, hand movements, chip cutting, odds, everything.  It's great.  Most crap tables don't become anywhere near as active as this practice table unless someone is on a huge roll.

This class is putting me through the paces at a rate which is kind of amazing to me and I feel like I'm keeping up fairly well even though I know I have a lot of improvements to go through.  However, I will definitely be prepared to deal a real game after she finishes chewing me up and spitting me out and turning me into a world class dealer - after that it's going to be up to my personality to shine and do the rest ..... I might be in trouble.

I can't wait for the mental exhaustion to start to fade

19 comments:

  1. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for craps. I think it's because it can be such a social game. Fortunately I don't get sucked into it very often as it is obviously not a good money maker long term. I think it would be fun to learn to deal, but I also imagine it would make my head asplode. Congratulations for taking that on!

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    1. The first thing that drew me in was the social aspect of it. Walking by the tables on the way to the poker room and watching a group of grown adult strangers actually talking, laughing, screaming and hi-fiving during the course of the game.
      I thought that was awesome and admired it from afar.
      Then one day I decided to talk to a dealer for a couple hours after busting out of a poker game and had him walk me through all the bets and tell me what the better and worse ones were, etc.
      A few of my vacations playing and developing a "craps-friendship" where we kept meeting up at the same table over the course of the week was a lot of damned fun and added to a memorable vacation as well!

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    2. Sometime when we're both ready to dust off some cash we should hit a low limit table somewhere.

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    3. That's the type if attitude I like my readers to have.
      Alliante has $5 tables and I think someone told me that slots-o;fun still has $1 tables sometimes.

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    4. Well Aliante is always a good option for me - I've never actually been to slots-o-fun, so I guess I could give that a try sometime.

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    5. I have never been there either - and really not 100% sure where it is. I think there is one on the Boulder Highway - or I might be mis-remembering a place that I used to drive by years ago.... who knows.
      But Aliante is convenient - Really close to work (and hopefully that is where I end up dealing craps as well). Plus, we could meet up for poker and depending on how the session goes either go enjoy some craps or blow off steam with some craps lol.

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    6. Neither one of you has ever been to Slots-o-Fun? Really? Wow, are you boys in for a treat. It's just like O'shea's but without all the classy people!

      Actually, it's the dump (and that's really an insult to dumps) that is right next to Circus Circus, for all the gamblers who find Circus Circus too pricy.

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    7. When I first moved into town and really had the gambling/Craps bug I lived on Boulder Highway on Harmon.

      Now - at the time, within walking distance of my apartments was a place called Nevada Palace (which has been tore down and replaced with the NEW Cannery).
      Nevada Palace had $1 crap tables (and BJ and Roulette and whatever else) and I loved going there.
      You could play with a $20 and have a ton of fun and they had a really great Cafe as well.
      When I found out that they were closing down to be removed and have a piece of shit new casino put up I was saddened and started eating at the cafe more often just because it was soooo good and cheap.

      After that I did some playing at Sam's Town because of love their unique bets - but then I decided that gambling in the form of craps was bad because it eats your money too quickly...
      so, I mostly stopped playing.
      I'll look for the sluts of fun next time I'm out (maybe).

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    8. Yeah. "Norm" and I always referred to the place as "Sluts Are Fun" back in the day, even tho we never found any professional sluts there. I'm sure there were lots of amateurs.

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  2. It is hard enough being a craps player and keeping track of all the action. Almost any other casino game seems like a walk in the park compared to craps -- especially for the dealers.

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    1. 100% agree and now that I am getting a taste for it I appreciate what those dealers do even more.

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  3. haha .... I like the post by Mr. grrouchie. Admiring it from afar lol.

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  4. Yeah, it's not gonna be easy to do this. First time in Vegas, I had read a lot on craps, and when Iplayed it first time, I was totally lost. I had no idea where my bets were, and sometimes, even why I lost or that I had actually one ("That's your money, sir"). I was just amazed that the dealers could keep everything straight.

    Next trip I had studied even more and figured out a way to keep track of all my bets. I did fine that time, but now that I really knew what was going on, I was even more amazed that the dealers could possibly keep track of everything at even a semi-busy table. I have to say anyone who can keep track of all the bets, the players, etc when the table is full is definitely getting underpaid. They are qualified to be rocket-scientists, if you ask me.

    No other game I've ever seen in a casino is even 1/10th as challenging as dealing this game. Good luck man. If you succeed, you will always have a job in Vegas.

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    1. I am being told I am doing really well for only my 4the day by the students and a dealer alike. That's good but I'm still mentally beat afterwards.
      So much to do and remember lol

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  5. I've heard it's addictive. Guess if it were a simple game, players wouldn't care, would they?

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    1. I think it's like any other gamble. People still blow huge chunks on black Jack and let 'er ride and those are easy

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  6. From Observation not training:
    On Crap Out:
    1) Collect losing Pass line
    2) Collect losing Field
    3) Pay Don'ts
    4) Pay Come
    5) Clean Up place

    On Hitting point
    1) Collect Don't Pass
    2) Pay pass
    3) Pay field
    4) Move Come to number
    5) Pay Place

    On other numbers
    1) Pay Come
    2) Pay Field
    3) Pay Place

    I have had a box man at Casino Royale tell dealer "pay him what he says, he is hammered but knows craps math better than you"

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