I went to the casino at two PM to start my shift and was told that the two to ten shift had been canceled. Hmmmmm... nobody told me about that. Or maybe they told me and I didn't pay any attention.
Then I was told to come back at six. Okay - maybe I'll be working from six to two. But no point in driving home. Might as well spend a little time at the poker table.
Four hours later, I was twenty bucks ahead. So that's about five dollars an hour - non-taxable. Not bad money for having fun.
I check in with the Pencil (the pit boss in charge of scheduling) at six, and I'm told that I still have a job - just new hours.
On my third hour of the shift, I tapped out a dealer in his mid twenties. He told the players that they would appreciate me because I was closer to their age. (dumb fuckin' thing to say). So as I stepped forward to the table, I said, "Yeah, and I'm better looking and funnier too."
Two of the players were toking well, the third was a little tight and the others started to rag him about it. One of the players looked at me and said, "He doesn't really understand about tipping."
I replied, "He probably thinks it's something you do with your hat."
Well, that got the third guy loosened up a bit and he started throwing me a chip every now and then.
One of the guys lost about six hands in a row and said that he'd had enough. He got up to leave and I gave him a cordial, "Thanks for joining us tonight."
One of the other players added, "And thanks for leaving."
I laughed and said, "I've always wanted to say that."
I had a lot of fun tonight. God, I love this job.