Stories from the Pit: Blackjack Dealers Share Wild & Nightmarish Stories
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Whether it's poker or a casino pit game, players wouldn’t have the experience they do without one important person – the dealer. While they’re responsible for slinging cards and facilitating games, they’re also a silent observer of human nature.
Recently, we asked specifically blackjack dealers to share their wildest stories from working in the industry. No names nor locations are being reported to respect the privacy of those who shared. While we cannot 100% confirm all of the stories below, the dealers claim to be speaking from their own personal experience.
Please note, so stories contain actions and behaviors that some may find offensive.
Editor's note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or/clarity.
The Biohazard
Dealing in high limit blackjack. A regular (drunk) player is playing, but his hand is down and in front of him. I understand men have itches or need to adjust so it doesn't bother me, but it’s there just a little too long. Figure I would get the suit's attention and let them know I'm uncomfortable.
Just as I glance over my shoulder I hear the suit say to the other suit in the pit., "OMG! You call surveillance, I’ll call the manager." I’m thinking, “Well shit, now I have to wait to say anything. Something is going on back there.”
Next thing I know security comes in and escorts the man out. Lead security is standing in front of my game. A person walks up to my game to play and lead security says, "I'm sorry, this table is closed, we have a biohazard." Then it dawns on me. I lean back and look down. The man had whipped it out and peed under my table. He splashed onto my shoes! I was never so thankful we can't wear open-toed shoes!
High-limit VIP members. Gotta love 'em!
Pop a Squat
I was working valet at my first casino job. I took a break one night and headed towards the break room. I have to go through the casino and doing so, I witness a woman playing blackjack stand up on the table, pull up her skirt, squat, and piss on the table. Never seen that before.
A Short Partnership
At an Indian casino 20 years ago, an elderly man was playing blackjack $100 a hand. He got a pair of aces, had no money left, and asked if anyone would go partners. A big guy gave him $100. The player split and got a 10x and a 5x. He won one and lost one. The backer said, “Where's my half.?”
The elderly man says, “Your half lost.”
The big guy picked him up by the neck and both got escorted out.
Double Down
About 20 years ago, I was dealing blackjack at about 3 a.m. with two players at the table. A third player walked up, an older lady, and plunked down $20, so I dealt. Action got to her, she has 9x9x and I have a 4x showing. She slid up another $20 and said, "Double down."
We had a bit of a language barrier, so I asked her, "Do you mean split?” (Showing two fingers and spreading out her two nines.
She grabbed the cards, put them together, and said again, "Double down."
After I scolded her for grabbing the cards, I asked her, "Ma'am, do you want to split and play two hands?"
While I'm motioning to her that she has that option...assuming she doesn't understand me, she got loud and said, "DOUBLE DOWN...ONE CARRRRRD!!" waving one finger in my face, like her hand was on fire.
I'm convinced her decision is clearly shown on video, so as loud as I could I yelled, "DOUBLE ON A HARD 18." Then I peeled off the card, and of course, it was a three.
I busted my hand, sized into her bet, and she scooped up her $80 before waddling off into the night. I never saw her again. The other two players and I just froze there for a second, dumbfounded.
There Goes the College Fund
Years ago, I had a regular that I saw on a weekly basis. Nice guy, would play between $300-$500 each visit with an average bet of $20-$40 a hand on blackjack. One day I walk into the pit and see he’s got $5,000 in front of him. I look at my boss and said, "He's doing good today.”
My boss looked at me and said, "He's down $25k.” I was confused because I'd never seen him play that big. I’m on the next table over watching him play two hands at $300 each (our casino max) and watch him get hammered. The look on his face told me he was freaking out. When I left my table, he was down to his last $500 and shaking.
I walked to the bathroom on the gaming floor and did my business. As I'm washing my hands I hear some screaming outside. I see the guy run into the bathroom looking like he saw the grim reaper. Right behind him is his wife, red in the face from yelling. She runs up on him, punches him straight in the face, and knocked him out. She left and security showed up a moment later.
Security took my statement, called for an EMT, and that was the last I ever saw of that player. When I got back to the pit, everyone was talking about the guy. Turned out he had a few good days at the tables so decided to cash out his kids’ college funds and try to make more.
Where Did They Go?
One night I was dealing blackjack and I noticed this girl was losing and losing. She was almost down to her last few chips when a guy comes and sits down. They start chatting and he starts winning. She eventually loses all her money and he started giving her some chips.
The talking turned more into flirting as time passed and he continued to give her some chips. I noticed she had a wedding ring on earlier but after about five minutes of him giving her money, the wedding ring was no longer there. They continued to flirt and joke and he kept winning and she kept losing. I eventually get tapped out, and when I came back 20 minutes later, both were gone.
Almost a Dead Man’s Hand
On my second or third day at a new casino I was dealing shoe blackjack and had a pretty good table. I was full so got almost to the end when I noticed spot three had his head down on the table. I said, “Sir, you can't put your head on the table.”
The lady to his left tapped him and he just fell back out of the chair. It was insane. I yelled for the floor and no response. So, the whole table yelled, and finally, a floor showed up, and then the EMTs got there. The guy was technically dead. It took 14 minutes to revive him and get him into an ambulance. Turned out he had an aneurysm.
After that, I got left in for three hours. Didn't even realize it until I had to pee. Was some straight crazy shit. His sister came in the next week to tell us he was going to make a full recovery.
No Drinks on the Table
A player sits down at my blackjack table and sets his drink down on the layout.
Floor: “Hey man, you need to put that in there.” (points at cup holder)
Player: “Oh.” (Begins to pour his drink out into the cup holder)
Floor: “No! That isn’t what I meant. The glass goes into the holder.”
Player: Picks up the cup holder and drinks what he poured into it and then sets his drink into the holder.
Do you have a casino story to tell for future editions of “Tales from the Pit”? Feel free to reach out to PokerNews on either or Facebook or Twitter accounts. You can also email [email protected].
*Images from wiki commons.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
