I really enjoyed dealing at Arizona Charlies. The pit critters on all shifts were very nice. The players were nice as a general rule. In the winter it was mainly Canadian. The other dealers were friendly. I got along with all of them. Another group that was larger was casino workers from other casinos.
An exciting thing that happened there a Korean Tour group had dinner at ABC. One guy had put 50 cents into a Quarter Mania machine. Press the button and he would the progressive jack pot over 1 million. The slot machine made noises. Flashed lights. The timid Korean thought he had broken the machine as security and the slot manager were coming after him. No one spoke Korean. They forced him to stay. He was panicking as the bis took off without him. After 20 minutes a lady who spoke Korean came and told him what had happened. The guy smiled super wide. Everyone was happy for him. after an hour the people who ran the progressive machine came and gave him a very large check and a smaller real one. Pictures were taken. A limo took him to the hotel his group was at for the evening.
Bo was a blackjack plater. One night his luck turned fantastic He would not lose a hand. He had had the table to himself and was playing all the spots on the table. Max bet was $10,000. He was up to that on all his spots. The pit critter new cards out. He kept winning. Dealer were changed every 20 minutes. I even dealt to him. We were getting huge tips $200. He filled the tip box several times. Dealers were super happy . He had played 24 hour and was up $1,000,000. A new pit boss on swing shift. Chased BO away. When John the casino manager heard this the new pit boss was fired on the spot. Bo went to Boulder station a casino two miles from ACB. John new the cards would turn against and ACB could have won back all that money. We were still happy. We had a $150 day in tips compared to the $40 we normally got.
The food was great there if you tipped the cook $2 he would make anything for you, like steak, lobster and other good stuff. If you didn’t tip you had a choice of the menu on the wall of 4 things. I tipped and had roast beef a lot. If you were not eating, you were on the roof of the parking garage. the break space was in the shade and there were picnic tables. It was cool to chat with everyone. Back then smoking was common, so the smokers tried to be down wind.
You could play the slots after your shift. A lot of dealers played video poker. They watched the machines on their shift. After the shit boom video poker machines were full.
I started out as craps dealer. I learned blackjack using the shoe and flinging the cards on the double deck. I learned all the carnival games like 4 card poker.
After a year, they asked me to become a pit critter. I was a dual rate floorman. I would cover in the dealer’s pit if they had to few dealers. Otherwise, I was in a suit with cards and dice in my pocket. I had a lot of fun as a floorman. I chatted with the players and got to know them if they were regulars. I chatted with the dealers. I sat box on the craps game. The only unliked thing I was on dayshift.
I enjoyed my time at Arizona Charlies Boulder
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