Joe Hebels Career as a Blackjack Dealer at the Jackson Rancheria Casino

On August 12th, 2007, over the span of his career as a blackjack dealer at the Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel located in Jackson, California, Joe Hebel has been the all around man aside from being a blackjack dealer.

During his 10 year career manning the blackjack pits outside of Sacramento, Hebel has seen the Jackson Rancheria Casino grow as one of the biggest and most successful casinos in the state of California.

He also witnessed the transformation of the American casino industry as well. Being a casino table game dealer let alone a blackjack dealer is not simple as it seems. One of the reasons why is that dealers has to do a lot of computations mostly mentally.

With all of the card hands that they deal with especially in blackjack and baccarat, some casino dealers said that they are doing thousands of problems every hour, but that is only in card games.

Add in player payouts for craps, where some of the wagers pay in a ratio of 6:5 and the casino dealers are making a lot of mental computations like Deep Blue versus Gary Kasparov. Being a casino dealer requires for fast hands. Most dealers deal 100 hands every hour in blackjack. Dealers also become judges for administering the laws every game. Dealers also need to keep their players amuse while the game is ongoing.

With all of these demands that dealers have to face, giving regular shifts can become problematic. Most blackjack pit supervisors believe that dealers cannot work sharply if they lack sleep so every dealer gets a 20 minute reprieve after 60 minutes of dealer work.

Mr. Hebel usually works from 8:00 a.m. and takes his break at 9:00. He usually eats methodically so that he will not be hungry during work. He usually eats with his co-workers but said that he usually eats by himself because it is faster that way.

Hebel and his other co-workers earn about $45,000 dollars annually including the tips that players gave them after a good game. While this salary seems not much in an industry that earns billion of dollars annually, it is not bad.

One of the biggest advantages for dealers is what will happen everyday because a lot of different gamblers come in the casino.

Mr. Hebel said that he has seen all types of players, some good especially if they are winnings and some are rude, especially if they are experiencing a bad night or a losing streak. Hebel added that his job is rewarding even if it is difficult sometimes.

 

28 August, 2007