Casino dealers and croupiers

The pit boss girl complained to Arkady that a player at the poker table was constantly swearing, insulting all the dealers and ignoring demands to behave decently. Arkady told her to warn him that if the party continued, his table would be closed. And he himself began to watch from afar what kind of reaction these words would cause. But on the rather drunk casino manager from Novy Arbat, the warning had the effect of a red rag to a bull instead of a sobering one. - Go to hell! All sorts of fools will teach me how to behave! The answer sounded loud and clear. Arkady heard it even through the background music, standing at the bar. After which the pit boss girl threw the lid on the fleet. The game stopped. - Are you crazy, creature? Call the manager here! These words were already rushing behind her, because the girl was going to report on the further escalation of the conflict. Arkady asked what the player’s “tire pressure” was at the moment — what the game result was. Having learned that the guest, having exchanged 5,000, had no more than a “grand” in his hand, he went to introduce himself to him. — Good evening! My name is Arkady. I am the casino manager. I was told that you wanted to talk to me. I am listening. — Tell them to open the table for me. — First of all, tell me. I am addressing you as “you”, so please be kind. — Tell them to open the table for me. — Do you know why it was closed? — I have no idea. — I will tell you. It was closed because I ordered it to be so. You insulted my employees. — Well, f… them. I am losing money! Come on, open the gates! — I don’t care whether you win or lose. I will not allow anyone to be rude. So collect your chips and exchange them at the cash desk for money. Come next time. The game is over for today. - With these words, Arkady turned around and headed back to the bar. - Hey, you, what's your name?! Call your boss, call Artem. Tell him that I want to talk to him. - I won't call anyone. The game is over for you for today. Nothing and no one will be able to influence the decision made. If you don't want complications, leave the casino yourself. After these words, Arkady ordered the fleet to be closed and the dealer and inspector to be removed from the table. Having made a sign to the pit boss girl, he invited her to join him at the bar. - Well, f..., watch out, you're going to get fucked in the ass! - they heard the threat coming from the empty poker table. The Arbat manager started calling someone, and Arkady, having lost all interest in him, heard something surprising from the pit boss: - Arkady! He comes to us all the time. More often in the company of girls and friends. And he always behaves like this. You were the first to cool him down. - Why do others allow him to be rude? - I don’t know. He doesn’t even react to Artem. - These are Artem’s difficulties. And then Arkady’s mobile rang. Of course, it was Artem Fyodorov calling. - Why are you throwing him out? - Artem started the conversation straight away. - Because he’s being rude. - So what? He’s losing money! - These are his difficulties. But I won’t let him insult our people. - It’s part of their job. They knew where they were going. - I don’t get it, are you trying to justify him? - How did he play? - He lost four thousand. - Okay, but call me next time. - Why? I can close the table and throw him out without you. I don’t need your help for that. Or should you give me your blessing? I don’t need that either. - He’s playing for good money. We can’t lose him. - And why should we lose him? - He’ll get offended and won’t come back anymore. — And fuck him! Should we kiss his ass? Let him worry about losing a job where he gets away with a lot. That was the end of the conversation. While the phone conversation was going on, the lonely player at the poker table was watching and listening, fervently believing that now a “call from a friend” would put everything in its place. But it was not to be! After sitting for another hour, he left without having achieved anything. When Arkady saw Artem at work, they started talking about this incident. Arkady asked what methods of influencing an inadequate young man they had used before. It turned out that after yet another trick pulled by the narcissistic Arbat manager, Artem had called his boss, the general manager, and complained about the bad behavior of his subordinate. — And why do you need this? — Arkady asked. Is he the center of the universe, so that people run around him? Just an arrogant jerk, with whom you must communicate exclusively from a position of strength. The next time the Arbat manager got to Arkady, he was more careful in his expressions, but it still did not go without shocking. Another remark, rudeness in response, closing the table. The expulsion was especially offensive because Arkady gave the ban on the game only to him, lowering his authority in the eyes of the girls. Threats and intimidation by phone calls had no effect - the game for the rowdy once again ended. But the most eventful were his two visits just before the closure of the gambling business, in June 2009. On the first of the days, having come to the morning shift, Arkady received it as a will from a night colleague. Having leisurely sat down at the table, he commented on the game to his friend, emphasizing the hands, face, relatives close and distant standing at the table of the croupier, regardless of their gender. When he was well drunk, he cursed everyone left and right. Even when he was winning. Question: how can you do that? There are girls standing in front of you! Okay, to hell with them, with the representatives of backward nations, who just climbed down from a palm tree and got circumcised - cut off their tail, this is their normal, everyday manner of communication, to which everyone has already gotten used and only laughs when they hear the usual: "I am your mother ..., I am your mouth ..., I am everything your ...". But you, bitch, are Russian! You are one of us! Why do you allow yourself to insult your colleagues? Or are you so "in character" that you can't tell a dick from a tram handle? Arkady asked him about this. But he did not hear anything intelligible in response. And then Arkady called the shift supervisor and ordered him to throw the "Arbatsky" out. But he categorically refused to leave, sending the supervisor far away. Then the senior called the security guard, and they forced the young men to leave the casino. The chips remained lying on the table. An hour later, the senior shift manager told how much effort it took him to push the raging guest out onto the street without using special means. And in the end, he added that this fool called the police, saying that he was beaten up in the casino, but he himself got into his car with a friend and was waiting for the patrol in the parking lot in front of the casino. - Okay, let the police come. We'll organize the second part of the show for him. After some time, the girl, the administrator of the complex, asked Arkady to come down, saying that the patrol that had arrived wanted to know the details of the incident. And indeed, downstairs in front of the entrance to the restaurant there were two police officers in full gear and with weapons, and next to them was Arbatsky and his friend. Arkady answered all the questions, explaining the reason why he was forced to send the guest out of the casino. He also confirmed that neither the shift supervisor nor the guard on duty had used rubber truncheons or handcuffs, escorting the resisting unwanted visitors downstairs solely by physical force, holding them by the forearm. This explanation was quite sufficient. But then the Arbatsky unexpectedly butted into the conversation: “They won’t give me the money.” “What money?” the policemen asked. “Which was on the table when they started throwing me out.” “But you were offered to take it, but you didn’t want to,” Arkady reminded. “Where are they now?” the chief of the detail asked. “There too. They’re on the table.” “Are you going to get the money?” The policemen asked the Arbatsky. “I will.” Accompanied by the police detail, the shift supervisor, and the guard, the Arbatsky, his friend, and Arkady went up to the casino. - Write me the reason why we are taking him away, - the policeman addressed the shift supervisor, nodding towards the Arbatsky. - Swearing, threatening the staff, did not respond to comments, - the supervisor replied. - That's exactly what he's getting for fifteen days of administrative arrest. For swearing in public places, - the policeman summed up. And then it finally dawned on the Arbatsky, who was counting his chips at the table, that things were taking a serious turn and that the money he was worried about could soon find a new owner or owners due to the punishment hanging over him. And the sum was not bad - something around 3,000-4,000 dollars. Then the Arbatsky asked Arkady to step aside and whispered: - I don't want to take the money. Otherwise, they'll take it from me. - What do I care? It's your money - you defend it yourself. - Arkady pretended not to understand who he would have to defend himself from. - Listen, please, leave them in the casino! - Wow, how you started singing! After your rudeness, should I help you? - Oh, please! Finally, in the face of loss, the Arbatsky showed a human face. It turns out that he is not as scary and fierce as he wants to seem, he knows how to ask and be touching. Arkady did not want blood. He understood that the fool had created difficulties for himself with his behavior and now he would have to get out of them. There was no point in making the situation worse. Besides, he was one of them, after all, a member of the casino. Since it turned out that law enforcement agencies got involved, let this be a lesson to him, and feeding the guards of law enforcement with the player's money was not part of Arkady's plans. Having counted the chips and put them in the tray, Arkady announced that he would not cash them, due to the fact that the guest was forcibly escorted out of the casino. That he could pick them up on his next visit, but until then they would be kept in the cash register. Here is a receipt for the deposit. Can you imagine the expression on the faces of our valiant police officers, who had already divided and mentally spent their "client's" money? But they had to work without additional motivation. Good things should be remembered and stored in the memory. But this is not always the case. So our "great Arbat manager" did not bother with gratitude, took care of his well-being as something due and continued to bend his line of behavior. His next conversation with Arkady ended with things completely unheard of for a casino. Arkady is still ashamed, and first of all in front of himself, that he could not restrain himself and became like... Everything was as usual: gambling, swearing, sending everyone and everything away for the sake of creating an image of a tough guy in the eyes of a charming companion. Arkady's short patience this time ended after a vile tirade addressed to the pit boss's girl, who called on the guest to respect the casino employees and other guests. It listed the typical starting points inherent in such phrases: dad, mom, mouth... Although the girl restrained herself, it was clear that she was on the edge. And then some kind of veil covered her mind, and Arkady gave free rein to his righteous anger. He personally closed the lid of the fleet and loudly, for everyone to hear, said everything he thought about this guest. He did not mince words, called things by their proper names, using foul language. And how skilled casino employees can be in this matter, you, dear readers, will judge, because it is thanks to those of you who came to play, lost, got nervous, got angry, insulted, pouring out your negativity on defenseless employees of gambling establishments, that a rich stock of unique in meaning and ornate in essence expressions was formed, which entered the everyday lexicon of workers at all levels and is designed to explain the meaning of what is happening in the most accessible form. Many were shocked to hear such words from a man who preferred not to swear. Arbatsky simply did not know how to behave: all his phrases, having made a circle, returned to him, powdered with even stronger expressions, the existence of which he had not previously suspected. To make it more convincing that he would really do all of the above to him, Arkady, with all his two-meter height, hung over the manager, who was pressed into his chair. The physical and emotional advantage was clearly not on Arbatsky's side. He could not find a worthy answer, frantically going over the possible options in his head. The fact is that if a manager ever "sent" a casino guest, then few people know about it, and there are no recipes for how to behave in such a situation. Whereas the manager's line of further behavior is extremely clear and understandable: the artillery preparation was followed by an attack. Arkady called the shift supervisor and once again threw the scoundrel out, who had not yet recovered from what he had heard addressed to him. The story continued: Artem Fyodorov called again and again complained to the general manager on Arbat about the behavior of his employee. He only smirked in response, offering to ban him from entering forever, since there were less than two weeks left until the end of the casino era.

The time allotted for the training was running out, and the day X, for which the final testing was scheduled, was inexorably approaching. Everyone without exception was worried. No one could even guess what kind of test it would be. The foreigners were silent and "didn't spill", despite all the attempts of Arkady and other "translators" to find out at least something. Only Ray once said that no one would ask them to do something they hadn't been taught. At each table there were leaders - those who had manual dexterity, and outsiders - for whom, on the contrary, everything was failing. Arkady belonged to the latter - legends are still made about his clumsiness and awkwardness. Steve promised that the first three winners (the test was supposed to be timed) would receive wonderful prizes. Information about this spread instantly and only added nervousness to the general atmosphere. The final test turned out to be extremely simple: you had to chip the chips, then "cut" them correctly, equating them to the supposedly winning bets, and then again collect them into even stacks of 20 pieces each. It would seem that nothing could be simpler! Three people took the test, Ray stood next to him with a stopwatch and noted how much time each participant needed in a special report. The leaders of their tables went first, and then in descending order. At Arkady's table, Marina was the best. She grasped everything on the fly, performed clearly and quickly, and many saw her among the prize winners. It was on her that their teacher placed his hopes, since each of the Englishmen wanted his "child" to take first place. As usually happens, those who passed the test told their table mates what they had to do and experience. And this only made them even more nervous. Marina came to her table sad - she had failed to do much of what she could do because she had failed to control her excitement. Steve was walking around blacker than a thundercloud - he understood that his chances of becoming the "best teacher" were rapidly fading. The awards ceremony for the winners and the celebration of the end of school were planned for the next day. The Englishmen had arranged a party at their own expense in one of the hotel bars. They had rented it out completely, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. Beer and vodka flowed like a river, plates with canapés and light snacks flew away one after another. The feeling of celebration and the fact that the worst was behind them did not leave everyone present. Background music was playing, everyone was smiling and looked happy. And then Ray, as the senior in office, took the microphone and addressed the audience. First of all, he congratulated everyone on the end of school and reassured the especially worried that everyone who completed the training would be offered contracts. A joyful buzz swept through the small bar. Some breathed a sigh of relief, others immediately drank. Afterwards, Ray called Nick and together with him presented the main prize - a bottle of Black Label to his student, a young man named Sergey. He completed the task faster than anyone else. Perhaps it was because of this victory, or perhaps because Sergey was studying to be a doctor, that he was given the nickname Prof - short for professor - which accompanied him throughout his subsequent life in the casino. This was a young man whose victory everyone sincerely rejoiced at: both foreigners and future colleagues. Sergey had the set of qualities that made him a universal favorite: sympathetic, open, a good and reliable friend, able to smooth out any difficult situation with an interesting and instructive story. During his time working at the casino, he made many friends and acquaintances and remained true to himself, not bending over or letting his comrades down in various difficult situations. Second and third places, to Steve's indescribable joy, went to his students. The Swarovski earrings were given to a girl named Katya. The owner of a noble Georgian surname ending in "dze", she caused admiration of the male sex and burning envy of girls with her behavior, impeccable manners, correct speech and beautiful appearance. Her only downside was smoking branded thin women's cigarettes. With her whole appearance, she made it clear that good upbringing, correct speech, a sense of taste are not just a set of qualities, but a way of life. The prize for third place, also a bottle, but a simpler one - Red Label - Steve handed over to one of those "non-walkers" named Artem, whom everyone called Art in the American manner for simplicity and convenience, at his own request, in whose success no one believed, not even himself. Perhaps it was precisely because Art understood that he had no chance that he calmly completed all the test tasks and was able to bypass his brighter and more capable comrades who were worried about the result. After the awards ceremony, the fun continued. You can imagine how Russians do it for free. Ray, guessing or based on his own experience, understood how and how it would all end, and hurried to make another very important announcement after the awards ceremony. The next weekend was planned to hold a "test run" of the opening, and all interested friends, relatives and acquaintances were invited to it. The stakes on this day were symbolic. The purpose of the event was to test dealer skills, rehearse coordination of actions and the correctness of following instructions and directions. I will not be mistaken if I say that they offered another fun, and it was happily picked up. Frankly speaking, few people took what was happening seriously during their school years. The foreigners were young and smiling, the punishments for misdemeanors were laughable, the money stipulated in the contracts was more than good, and not only for young people who wanted to earn extra money, and most importantly, the work really seemed easy and did not resemble work at all!!! Everything resembled a game!!! A game for participation in which you get paid... A fairy tale, isn't it?

As a rule, the first Moscow gambling establishments were created with a long-term perspective in mind. Specialists from England and Yugoslavia were invited to train the personnel. The English focused on the ability to create an “atmosphere” at the gaming table and in the hall. The Yugoslavs prioritized unquestioning execution of orders and instructions. Later, “Russian” schools for training personnel appeared. They were run by former croupiers from among the Russian-speaking personnel. The quality of training in such schools was noticeably different from foreign ones. And with the appearance of large casinos from the “Castle” system in Moscow, the process of training dealers turned into a conveyor belt. People who completed the training were more like robots, capable of calculating the payout on roulette and blackjack faster than a calculator (the combination that gave the game its name is a combination of an ace and any picture card or a ten on the first two cards dealt and is paid at a ratio of 3:2). But all their personal qualities were destroyed - they had to become cogs in a big machine called CASINO.

The ice cream parlor turned into the "English Club", where, as the name suggests, the owners were representatives of Foggy Albion. They approached the creation of the casino with purely English practicality. In order to reduce expenses, they gave the entire staff the minimum allowable salaries. But they guaranteed the payment of 100% of tips. This did not mean that the croupiers should lose. On the contrary! The highest level of skill was considered to be the creation of an atmosphere of goodwill towards guests, impeccable work and the speed of execution of orders in the bar and restaurant. A person who could not smile could not even think of finding a job there. Rumors circulated in Moscow about the fabulous fees received by the staff of the "English Club". They said that after a shift, dealers regularly had 300 or even more American dollars in tips. And they were envied. Seriously envied. In other places, the management believed that tips were the player's gratitude to the establishment, and sometimes took all the "tea" for themselves. In most Moscow casinos, as a rule, only a certain part of the total amount was paid out, not exceeding 30-50%. And in the early 2000s, in the popular casino "Stary Svet" (there will be a separate story about it), the management forbade the croupier to take tips. If a player wanted to thank the dealer and gave him chips with words of gratitude, then the "tea" was put into the fleet without unnecessary emotions in front of the surprised player. The dealer had to show with his whole appearance that he was rich and happy and did not need any handouts. This was done so that the player did not hear endless: "Congratulations!", "Thank you very much!" etc. and was not distracted from the game.

The sucker was located around the corner. At that time, it had existed for almost a year. But, as we know, a holy place is never empty. And the empty player niche in the sucker was filled by... casino dealers! What do you want? To know the rules of the games, watch others play, and not try it yourself? It is difficult to find a person among Moscow dealers who has not stood on the other side of the table at least once. So the dealers, having compared the level of bets in the sucker with the level of their salaries, realized that they could afford to periodically visit their neighbors. And off we go... Imagine a situation when an hour ago you were playing at a table with one of the guests of the establishment, the person left, and then you are standing with him, but on the other side of the table, being with him already in the same boat... As a rule, such raids always had a negative financial result due to the time limit and stopped on their own over time.

A young man named Valera worked as a dealer with Arkady. He stood out from other croupiers in that he led a healthy lifestyle: he didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, and went to work without fail or absenteeism. He didn’t participate in raids on the sucker, quietly laughing at his restless workmates. He always refused all offers to go “for a ride” (to play in the casino). But water wears away the stone. And then one fine day Valera agreed to take part in a group trip to the sucker. Arkady has no answer as to why his colleague changed his principles and decided to do such a thing. One of the versions could be the classic French phrase: Cherchez la femme! (Look for the woman!) It would be naive to assume that only boys expressed a predisposition to gambling. Among the female dealers there were many who could give the representatives of the stronger sex a head start in terms of excitement. Whatever Valera was guided by when accepting the invitation, this decision changed his future life very much. It is now impossible to say how the first visit went, how it ended and what happened next. The fact remains: Valera fell ill. And he fell ill very seriously. The disease progressed quickly, and in a very short time he managed to literally "fly by" that honeymoon period that happens to everyone who "fell in love with the casino" and cannot imagine an evening without gambling. The situation unfolded in an incredible way: Valera successfully joined the ranks of the real "house spirits" of the sucker. Three months later, among the staff of the "Sovereign" it was impossible to meet a person to whom Valera did not turn with a request for a cash loan. Arkady refused to invest in his colleague, he understood that if he lent money now, it was completely unclear when they would return and whether they would return at all. Valera demonstrated the amazing ingenuity so typical of people who have fallen into financial trouble: the pretexts under which he tried to borrow were different from each other and were not repeated. They mentioned the desire to give a present to someone in the family, and the urgent need to buy medicine, etc., etc. Everything that could be thought up was used, the only thing that was kept silent was the real reason. There were many sympathetic and sincere guys who heeded the requests and helped Valera. How he dealt with them later, Arkady does not know. It got to the point that his mother came and tearfully asked the management not to give her son a salary. And Valera, as he walked around in a thin blue jacket and a knitted ski cap with the inscription "Dynamo", continued to wear these things in any weather. For this reason, Arkady does not rule out the possibility that it was Valera Plombir who bought the shoes for... Plombir knew Valera as a dealer at the Gosudar casino. He was not at all surprised to see familiar faces in the dive, where he also did not disdain to visit. Plombir, like Mazist, according to the latter, "was ready to play even in the 6th toilet cubicle at the Yaroslavsky railway station: as long as the suit went." Therefore, when Valera approached Plombir with a request for a cash loan, Alexey refused, because he had seen with his own eyes all the symptoms of the disease. But he offered to play with him, to join in. Valera pushed the remaining chips away from himself and with this meager contribution earned the right to be called a "partner." Plombir played, and Valera watched. Dealers changed, "partners" moved from table to table, the stack of chips sometimes decreased, sometimes increased. History is silent about how long this "massacre" lasted, its financial results are also shrouded in mystery. But one thing is known to everyone: that evening Valera left the sucker with money. And with a much larger sum than he came with.