More turning out

I was a dealer trainee, intensive training on the crap tables, trained
by other dealers, on slow tables, or on the second floor. I was
scared, nervous and completely out of my "realm," but I had a job,
a dealer trainee, at the Nevada Club, in Reno, Nevada. A lifestyle I
had only seen in movies, but did find fascinating.

I would go in at 3 AM, report to Mark, go to a table, and start
training, handling the silver dollars, the stick, moving the dice
around, bets, even money, two to one, six to five, thirty to one,
hundreds of different bets, worrying about them, while trying to
handle two hands full of silver dollars, and not dropping them, but
smoothly approaching a stack of checks, a brisk move by the index
finger, making the payoff an exact measurement of the bet.

It was very intense, and fast pace, getting ready for "live" action on
a table. Training to be a dealer, and actually dealing, were two
entirely different things,

I trained for about a month, Thelma Ganz, Danny Fagan, Bettye
Johnson, Jimmy Jones, so many, all "old timers" in the gaming
industry. In the picture to the right, the 21 dealer in the pink
sweater in Bettye Johnson, and standing in the background on her
left is Jimmie Jones, both good friends. I think this postcard picture
was taken in the early 1950's.

During my time, there were not that many casinos in the country,
at least legal ones, Nevada hat the only legal gambling, with the
exception of California, which had some legal poker houses in
Gardena. There were not that many dealers, it was a closed
fraternity, primarily old timers from "back east" who had done it all
in their time. So, I was one of a small number of dealer.

I went in one morning, went to the "post" and got my instructions
from Mark to open table 6, he gave me the racks of silver and
everything I needed to open the table.

I took the cover off the table, loaded the silver and the checks, got
out the dice, got the stick and was ready.

"Here, give me those dice, let me give it a try."

One of the most recognizable voices had said that, I looked down
at the end of the table, and there was Jimmy Durante, in person.

I slide him the dice bowl, he took a pair, made a bet, and for about
a half hour, I dealt craps to Jimmy Durante. My first celeb. We got
a little pratter going on back and forth as a small crowd started to
gather. It was 3:30 in the morning, and he had finished his last
show at the Riverside Hotel, down by the Truckee River.

He stayed for about a half hour, we chatted back and forth, and he
was a very gracious man.

My first celebrity to deal to, the first of many.