It happened. It actually happened. I actually found a casino that makes the decision of whether an employee passes his/her probationary period based on (audible gasp) job performance!!!
Just sucessfully completed my probation, and I can now return to the SDMB with my head held high.
So, who wants to join me in the ritual eating of the celebratory chocolate orange?
Not to throw a wet blanket on your happiness, but on what basis do casinos deny someone a job, after their probation, other than job performance?
ME! ME!
Oh, wait. I already ate mine. Well, two, actually…
Al.
[sub]Congrats on passing probate![/sub]
Legally, I’d think, none. In real life? The mind reels.
If Thea is female, that just adds to the possibilities.
Congratulations! Now, how do I beat the house? I know, I know, don’t gamble.
Well, rasta, in the dealer’s lounges of Las Vegas casinos, you hear the phrase “89-day wonder” thrown around a lot. Basically, it is extremely common for casinos to hire people, mostly dealers, although bartenders and housekeeping staff are not immune, and dump them just before the end of the (usually 90-day) probationary period in order to avoid paying insurance benefits. The practice has become so common that it’s close to becoming the rule rather than the exception, and with so many people moving to Vegas, there is always a stack of applications to go through, complete with pre-trained and experienced people. Hell, at my last job, I actually was on a crew with my own replacement- every three months or so, the joint would overhire, get a bunch of extra dealers on board, then dump everyone who was within a week or so of the end of probation, so that they wouldn’t be short staffed after the, um, purge.
Oh, yes, and at one job, I actually was let go after thirty days for carrying an unauthorized pair of C-cups. I was the only female craps dealer on the shift, and for a month my male coworkers treated me as though I was invisible, then the axe fell…
Which casino are you employed at?
The famous Horseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas.
Strange, a couple of jobs I’ve had spend hours and hours in orientation telling the new hires what a great place the joint is to work, yada, yada, then you get out on the floor and they treat you like kopros. At the 'Shoe, orientation was quick and dirty, and the boss warned me that “this is the roughest craps job in town”, and I am blissfully happy working there. I have found peace and tranquility in the midst of chaos.
Incidentally, the Horseshoe’s snack bar serves up the best cheeseburgers in the known universe.
Congratulations on making it. I’ve been following your posts with interest. You tell great stories.
Umm, not to sound too dumb, but…
What do you mean by “an unauthorized pair of C-cups”?
Just wonderin’.
I’ve gambled in the Horshoe Club before. Not a bad place. I prefer the downtown casinos to the ones on the strip.
Breasts, woman, breasts!!! My most obvious sex-linked characteristic. Dice pit personnel who have them will not last long at (won’t name the casino, but it’s on the corner of Rancho and Sahara, just off the Strip). At least, not on swing shift, anyway.
Interestingly enough, after I put it in writing that I felt that I was let go because of my gender, they went out and hired themselves a whole passel of women craps dealers. Don’t know if they’re still there.
Barking Spider, I agree with you. Downtown casinos by and large treat their employees better than the ones on the Strip- Strip casinos are mostly owned by huge mega-corporations who don’t give a damn about the people who work for them. Most of the downtown joints are either family owned or owned by smaller corporations, and are more, um, personable. Happy employees treat the customers better, which makes for a more pleasant gambling experience for the people on both sides of the table.
I did a brief (82 day) stint at a Strip casino and was actually reprimanded for making any extra effort at giving good customer service. I guess they were afraid that the players would tip the dealers instead of gambling the money and putting it into the company’s big pockets.
I don’t have that problem downtown.
Thanks for the tip! I work at a Law firm a few blocks away and there isn’t a whole lot to choose around here for lunch.
Best burgers I have ever had were at Jackson Hole in NYC, and locally it is a tie for In 'n Out vs Fatburger.
Oh, and congrats on the promotion…
Well, wasn’t actually promoted, just officially became a permanent employee.
You’re right, though. Lunch pickings downtown are pretty slim since the Fremont closed down its coffee shop and replaced it with a whole roomfull of (ugh) nickel slots. I was working there at the time, and actually witnessed a decline in the casino’s business.
The Bay City Diner at the Golden Gate, as well as the Golden Gate’s deli are also good places to eat (in my personal unbiased opinion- I worked at the GG a few years back, and still have a fondness for the place). Also, oh, hell, what’s the name of the street between the Lady Luck and the Gold Spike, there’s a nice Thai-Chinese place just south of Ogden, before you get to Fremont Street. It’s kind of tucked away, don’t blink, you’ll miss it. There’s another really good Oriental place on LVB, just a bit north of Charleston, can’t recall the name of it, but it’s got great food. (One of Las Vegas’ best kept secrets is the wide assortement of Mom ‘n’ Pop oriental restaraunts and buffets, they usually smell kind of fishy and funky, but they have great authentic food at very reasonable prices)
Oh, yeah, and, if it’s not too far from where you work, on Oakey, just west of the LVB, there’s this Korean-Jabanese place that has a really nice combo plate… great kim-chee. And I won’t even talk about the two really awesome kim-chee joints tucked in the little Strip malls on the North end of the Strip, just before it starts to fade into downtown territory. A bit pricey as Oriental food goes, but well worth the money. Bulgokee that’s to die for.
Avoid Magnolia’s Veranda at the Four Queens. The food is ok, but the service there felches giant squid.
OK, now I’ve gone and hijacked my own thread.