4 down and 1 to go

It's four days into my marathon orientation process, and I still have one more day to go. I won't get into too many details about what we've been doing the past four days, but most of it is stuff you'd expect in a gaming orientation situation. However, with an entire week to work with, all of that "normal" stuff is delved into mighty detail with multiple activities and role-playing situations played out in front of me.

Wednesday though was an exception. That was the day that each person broke from the group and spent the day with their specific department. Boring stuff like what to do if there's a bomb threat at the property, how to clock in/out, where to go to the bathroom, etc. were covered and then I was introduced to the floor for a couple of hours dealing with someone shadowing me. Since I already know craps and blackjack, I was put into the 3-card poker/Let It Ride/Texas Bonus Hold'em string. Ugh! I wish I had never learned Let It Ride. It's almost impossible to win, so you always have pissy players begging you for better cards. At this point, I've only dealt one full session of it and I'm already sick of it!

After being shadowed for a couple of hours, we went back into the training room and practiced the shuffle procedures some more. It seems there are many instances where the procedures at my new place are much more lax than at the off-strip places. I don't need approval to send out anything at $299 or below, either on a buy-in, payout or color-up. I can also high-five players and shake their hands, which is a big no-no at most places. At this place (being way more fun-oriented) it is encouraged!

I got my schedule for my first week of dealing next week and unfortunately I have to settle for swing shift. I really wanted days, but during the time it took for me to get processed and go through orientation, multiple dealers transferred from swing to days, so now I need to fill the holes during the evening. This means I won't be dealing with Chris for the time being, but he is pretty sure he wants to transfer to swing pretty soon, so we may be reunited sometime down the road. The reason for his transfer would be to take some day classes at UNLV either this summer or fall.

Well, that's about it. After tomorrow, I won't have to go into work on my first day until next Wednesday, so I'll have the entire weekend off for the first time in a pretty long while (aside from my brief period of unemployment). Since Wednesday is my first day, its traditional to get shadowed during that entire first shift with NO tokes, just minimum wage. However, I talked them into just sticking me into the fire and letting me deal like normal so I can get tokes. This entire week is just 8 hours a day of minimum wage during orientation, so I'm not exactly bringing in good dough right now.

Just one more day of practicing super customer service techniques in a classroom setting. Ugh, just get me through it!!