Instead of a friendly dealer, the casino brings in a hostile one. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a male dealer will be replaced by a female dealer, generally a woman in her forties or so. There are some women dealers who look as though they hate the world, and men in particular.

They never smile and never even look at a player's face. They deal fast and pay out and collect even faster and never say a word or acknowledge a question. I've met up with bad male dealers, but only a few were as bad as the witches these casinos dig up.

When facing this kind of hostility, this repressed anger, all one can do is play out a couple of hands and leave. I simply get up, take my chips, and walk away. I wouldn't tip them to save my life.

Instead of a hostile dealer, a dealer of another kind almost as bad is sometimes brought over. This character takes a deck of cards, shuffles through with the speed of light, and when the cards are dealt, they're flung at the player with blinding speed.

Sometimes the cards fly into the player's hands or chest. When they hit the knuckles, they can really hurt.

One dealer who was brought in to handle me dealt so fast the cards were hitting my hands or falling on the floor. I made no effort to pick them up, but just sat there until a floorman came over and put the cards back on the table.

character takes a deck

the dealer and floorman

the general manager's office