Posted

Jul 17th 2005

Mood

Determined

Music

Peter Gabriel---"I Have the Touch"

I'm sorry I haven't been active on SheezyArt in quite a while . . . I have been insanely busy lately. I got a job promotion to Assistant Flooe Supervisor, meaning that I still deal casino table games, but more often I supervise. I am changing shifts to Swing shift (8PM-4 AM) which was the big "catch" that I saw coming a mile away, and thus agreed to that condition. I am also beginning to write Novel Two!


So what's it like, being a newly-promoted Assistant Floor Supervisor at one of the largest casinos in the world? Well, I have now supervised twelve times, and find it to be a challenge, in the very best sense. I am still learning, of course, but I am becoming progressively more efficient and confident.

I'm also starting to get used to wearing a suit, or at the very least a coat and a tie. Still, I'm much more comfortable in cutoff shorts and a dragon shirt, but that's not work wear so I can't go that route I find suits to be somewhat confining, yet I've gotten a number of compliments about my looks when I am wearing them.

The suit does not make the person---the person makes the suit. I wouldn't be caught dead strutting around in a suit, simply for the sake of strutting around in a two-piece suit. I could do the same job in my birthday suit. Every time I wear a suit I make a conscious effort to keep my ego in check. After all, I'm just a guy. I'm goofy, brainy, eccentric, hard-working Pauly, whether I'm dealing or flooring ("flooring" means supervising). I may have limited authority, over the dealers at 2-5 gaming tables, but at the end of the day I'm but a strong spoke in the wheel-cog, and I am there to serve the customers and to coordinate one section of several, inside a table games pit. I'm part of a team, and not an egotistical smartypants.

Now that I've gotten a feel for supervising, my bosses are more confident in my abilities. Today I supervised five blackjack tables in a steady pit (table games pit). I watch the dealers, accept players' rating cards, calculate their minimum/average/maximum bets on the computer (this helps determine "comp"), keep an eye on each of the five tables' chip inventories (with priority given to black---$100 chips---and purple---$500 chips. I have to keep track where each one goes. I order and confirm "fills" once the table inventory runs sufficiently low. I also help keep the tables clean, I settle disputes (several minor dealing mistakes, helping cool down patrons who might have had a fistfight had I not intervened, and notified my pit manager, and so on), and I help out as needed in certain circumstances (for instance, another supervisor is busy with a fill, so I OK a $200 cash buy-in, put in the computer in that section, and notify the other supervisor once she's no longer tied up). There's a bunch of other little things, too.

I try not to be like a hamster on a wheel, but I am constantly moving about, anyhow. When you have five tables to watch, you simply can't get lax. You need to focus, determine your priorities, stick to them, and stay reasonably flexible. Unfortunately I can't chat with the dealers and the players anywhere near as much I like, because I am so busy with the five tables---none of which go "dead" for the entire eight hours. People buy in, leave the table---many people do not "color in" to a more compact equivalent (for example: coloring in $450 in green and $150 in red---18 $25 chips and 30 $5 chips---for one $500 purple chip and one $100 black chip), many patrons are "refused names" who need to be dociumented anyhow if they bet large amounts, or at any time win/lose blacks, purples, oranges (bigger-sized $1000 chips) or greys ($5000 chips, the same as the oranges). There's also the "grind", which is the estimated amount of under-$101 dealer-approved cash transactions at a given table. There's also the occasional beverage spill, error (EVERYBODY makes errors. It doesn't matter if you're dealing, supervising or managing; the errors need to be recognized, recorded and rectified.)

There is lots and lots of paperwork, too. There is so much state and federal and tribal regulation (which is good, because the need to preserve integrity is absolutely critical.) If so-and-so wins a lot of money, I don't sweat it. Any table can---and will---"blow out" every now and then. If customers are happy and the dealers are happy, I'm happy, too. Teamwork is so totally critical in a hectic atmosphere where you're interacting with the public.

I am so glad I started eating healthier around the New Year; lots of bananas and soy products have lowered my blood pressure and helped me stay focused and (somewhat) relaxed in a very busy, very hectic work environment where it might help to have eyes on the back of one's head.

I'm looking forward to supervising Pai Gow Dominoes (my main game as a dealer) very soon :) And yes, I still do deal, though not as much anymore; hence the job classification "Assistant Floor Supervisor", also known as "Dual-Rate."

The future is now :)

And oh, I'm back to doing art. I don't need to actively brainstorm Novel Two anymore. After all, I start writing it tomorrow night, after work. My 16 July schedule is (24 hour clock) 1300-2100. My 17 July schedule is 2100-0500. I start Swing shift just one day after ending Day shift. So I have to stay up all night so I can sleep during the day. This is why I am starting Novel Two tomorrow night

Photos of myself in a suit, and a screenshot of the first page of Novel Two, soon to follow