This is Horse(shoe)shit

Ever since starting two months ago, I have taken great pride in working for the Horseshoe Casino. It is (well, was) pretty evident in my signature at both The Batcave and over at FCP, but as you'll notice, the Horseshoe insignia I once displayed with pride is now gone, and unless something changes soon, it won't be back.

So what happened? No, I didn't get fired, just screwed over big time. Last night when I came in, I went to the pencil (the person who assigns our tables) to find out what game I would be dealing for the night, and was told I had to go to the office first. Ok, no big deal, I thought. Wrong! I had to meet with Linda and Bob (really not sure what their official titles are, but they're both important), and was told, out of nowhere, that I was going to be reduced to part time, against my will. Two whole days a week.

Why? Well according to Linda, we are currently overstaffed, even though we currently control 40.5% of the local market, and that number is steadily increasing. So how was I "lucky" enough to be chosen? Because of my hire date. Everyone that came out of my blackjack class is being demoted to part time starting July 27th, EXCEPT the 4 people who started "shadowing" on Tuesday the 16th (of May). I wasn't so lucky as to shadow the 16th, because my normal days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. So as not to be required to work 7 days straight, I was told to come in on the 17th (Wednesday) to start my shadowing. And now because of that, I get a 50 ft. lead pipe shoved right up my ass.

I was told I had to sign a job change form demoting me to part time, which clearly I didn't want to do.

"Do I have to?" I asked .
"Yes."
"And what if I refuse?"
"This isn't optional," I'm told.

So I had to sign it. Basically it was that or lose my job right there.

Later on in the evening, I talked to my direct (my immediate boss) to try to find out more info on why this was happening. He didn't even know they had done it. I told him that I was told we were overstaffed, and his response? "Bullshit! If anything we're short dealers right now! We've been having to close games early just to get people out on time!" Yep. We need all the dealers we can get, yet we're cutting back. Great idea.

This leads me to wonder why the hell they're really doing this. Then it hits me. July 27th will be my 74th day of employment; I'm available for my full time benefits after 90 days. Hey, let's save money on benefits by shoving everyone to part time! I'm told that there is a "chance" that if business "picks up" some time in October, I "might" be able to return to full time "temporarliy."

Well, why don't I just transfer to another casino? This is good. In order to be available for a transfer, you must have been employed with Harrah's Entertainment full time for at least 90 days. I'm going to be a couple of weeks short on that now aren't I? This basically means I'm stuck holding the shaft here at the Horseshoe.

There's no way I'm letting this happen without fighting it. I was offered a full time position when I was hired, which meant I had to quit my previous job. Due to the fact that I was taken out of class early (due to my exceptional dealing skills) to get on the casino floor sooner, I wasn't able to put in my two weeks notice before I left, which means I can't go back. It isn't fair to me (or any of the rest of the dealers facing the same situation) to offer full time positions only to turn around and change to part time without being informed that it would possibly happen. Had I known there was a chance I would get my hours cut, I would have chosen Harrah's over Horseshoe (we were given the option when we "graduated" from dealer class).

One of the things that pisses me off the most is the fact that there are some dealers who sign the EO (early out) list every night, hoping to go home early. Every damn night! If these fools don't want to be here, knock them down to part time, and let people like me (who would work 7 days a week if they'd let me) take their full time spots! They obviously don't want them anyway!

I made a point to tell every single one of my players last night about my situation, and a few of my regulars told me they wouldn't be coming back unless they hear I'm on full time. Many people have told me that they've had the best time ever in a Casino when they've sat at my table. They enjoy my personality, and appreciate the fact that I tried my hardest to make their visit enjoyable. Six of my players last night asked for comment cards to a) commend me for providing them the most entertaining evening possible, and b) protest my being moved to part time. One guy went as far as to say that he would add that he wouldn't be frequenting Horseshoe or Harrah's as a result of my unfair demotion. That made me feel pretty good.

It also got me thinking. Until this is straightened out satisfactorily, if it even is, I'm on a Harrah's Entertainment boycott too. That means I won't be rockin' the Horseshoe tags, or doing any of my gambling in any of the Casinos they run (Horseshoe, Harrah's Harvey's, Showboat, Bally's, Caesar's, Flamingo, Grand, Paris, Rio, and I think there's a couple others) nationwide. Sure it's not much, but that's all I've got.

The Horseshoe and Poker

So yeah, I decided to make a blog. I'll spare everyone the whole "this is me" intro first entry, because either a) you already know a little bit about me, b) you probably don't really care, or c) I don't really care. I'll go with c.

Anyways, sometime in the middle of May, the 17th or so, I started working at the Horseshoe Casino as a Table Games Dealer. My job is awesome. I play cards all day long with other people's money, and when I lose, I get tips, unless I have stingy bastards at my table. The only problem I have with my job is that it has seriously taken away from my poker life.

When I was 8 or 9, I taught myself how to play by looking up "poker" in an encyclopedia. I read up on the rank of hands, as well as how to play standard 5 card draw. We had an old set of those plastic poker chips in a Dutch Masters cigar box (pretty good smokes for as cheap as they are), and an endless supply of playing cards in our junk drawer. I never had anyone else to play against, so naturally I carried on a four player game of 5 card draw with myself quite often. Yep, I started playing with myself at 8 yrs old (pun totally intended).

A while later I remember seeing the final table of the WSOP on ESPN way before the game got poular. It was on in the middle of the day during summer vacation in a slot generally reserved for basket weaving, llama riding, and other big name sports. After learning the terminology and procedures of the game, I switched from 5 card draw to Texas Hold 'Em. Again, all by myself. Luckily, in about 4 or 5 years the poker boom would hit, and suddenly I had other people to play against.

The first night I played hold 'em for money was on a fluke. One of my former roommates had bought Rounders, and after watching it, wanted to play some poker. We all bought in for $5 around 1:00am and played with a 5 cent ante (no one understood blinds yet). The game lasted until 4:00 in the afternoon, we took a nap, and started playing again around 8:00pm. It wasn't long before we were playing almost every night with a revolving group of people.

Eventually it evolved into a $20 buy-in .25/.50 blinds bi-weekly event with the same group of 8-10 people. I used to keep track of my wins and losses, and found that poker had become a productive second job for me (I was averaging $60 a week profit, save a few bad nights where I'd drop $60 or so). In fact, both times I lost my job, playing poker helped make ends meet until I found a job.

So what does all this have to do with my job? Well since I started dealing I have played poker all of one time. A 6-person $20 tournament where I finshed 3rd as my AA lost to JJ when he flopped a set (I was all-in preflop). I miss playing poker, but it just doesn't fit my schedule anymore. Luckily, I recently found out that employees of the Horseshoe Casino can now play poker in our poker room. Apparently it had something to do with some study they did in Vegas where dealers were turning down jobs because they couldn't play poker where they worked, so they changed the rules.

Wow, how's this for irony. As i sit here writing this, I got a call from a friend of mine, and we're putting a game together for tonight. How's that for timing?

That's all for now. Later.