Almost forever ago while dealing a high limit game at Bellagio at a table with no automatic shuffler, as I shuffled the deck, Jack Graflund was in a player’s seat and made the comment that when Linda dealt, her shuffle was like soft rain. 

I took it as a huge compliment. Jack and his wife, Cindy, had been friends of mine – and regulars at the poker tables – for a number of years. I feel I’ve fine tuned my dealing over the years and smoothed all the edges, including being as professional as possible in the dealer’s box without making all the racket that some dealers make to let everyone know they are there.

Then we went to automatic shufflers.

Then Linda aka MOI left the dealer’s box for over eight years and now the soft rain is back. I applied for a job at the Pahrump Nugget. I turned in my resume and my application and got walked to Human Resources by the casino manager, Earl. I got lucky because Earl was walking through the pit and visiting with his staff when I came in to talk to the pit supervisor and the pit supervisor had already made the decision that I was hired but had to clear it with Earl.

Then it was the standard routine, background check, fingerprints, gaming license, and while that was going on, I was asked to audition for two of the poker dealers that were part of the dealing staff. I thought it was a little bit humorous. Auditioning for a supervisor or manager could be pretty standard. Well…anyway.  I passed.  I hadn’t pitched a card at a poker table in over eight years.

I have a lot of strange start times and the scheduling is a bit crazy right now.  But I am the ‘new kid’ and it’s to be expected that I would get the scraps, I am not unhappy with the scheduling. It’s just hard to try and adjust any type of sleep pattern to the way it’s set up. I don’t have two days off together, sometimes six days a week, sometimes four but separated with a day off in between.

I think I’ve been working for five weeks but who is keeping track. I don’t believe I will write much about the poker games or the employees or the casino. One reason is because I would probably be fired. But the main reason is because this is the easiest room I’ve every dealt in. I haven’t ran into any issues with anyone.

Most of the regulars are my age although a few younger players come in. We host a number of tournaments and the live action isn’t always strong. Our hours as dealers run from 9:30 AM to around 9:00 or 10:00 PM. Occasionally the game runs late – like a few nights ago it went until 2 AM.

No one zings cards at me or any of the dealers, no one swears at me…or any of the dealers, and everyone tips.  It’s so relaxing, it’s insane…and they throw $$ in your pocket. The Ladies Tournament on Monday nights is hysterical.  They are fun, spicy, competitive, entertaining, and mostly just like to get together to have a gab fest and try to beat each other.

That’s the update on the job situation, and yes, my shuffle still sounds like soft rain. G’nite.