dear vegas...you want me on that dice table. you need me on that dice table.

While I'm keenly aware the Strip prefers its dealers to break in on the Strip, let me tell you firsthand the Midwest riverboats are not the minor leagues. I'm not arguing the action in Joliet is better than Bellagio, but the games, rules and procedures are taught the same across the board.

I've been a dealer for about two years total now (with a seven year sabbatical in between stints) and working the dice table on a riverboat is nothing to sneeze at. I've observed games at all levels and at several casinos and here are a few observations:

Riverboats Love Speed.
For better or worse (and I think it's worse), riverboat dice pits have an unhealthy obsession with speed. I know how it goes. More rolls = more money. But it's silly. Vegas dice tables move at a relaxed pace, but not too slow. The key difference is...

Midwest Dice Players Love Prop Bets.
Perhaps I'm not watching the right games at the right time in Vegas, but I have never seen the same sort of prop section on the Strip as I do at a Midwest riverboat. Sure, a Vegas game will have the obligatory hardway bets, a couple C/E bets, maybe even a Horn High 12. But come to the riverboat and you'll see one player simultaneously booking: $10 Horn High Yo, $9 hopping sevens and a $1 ace-deuce. THEN another player on the same game will have the easy eights hopping and a High-Low.

Every. Single. Roll.

Don't tell me Midwest games are soft. The players are prop action freaks...at their own peril.

Procedure Suffers Everywhere.
I know most dealers fancy themselves to be procedurally sound, but I think they all get bored. How many stickmen take their eyes off the dice? How many 21 dealers correct their own mistakes? This happens at EVERY casino.

Final observation...

I Can Deal Anywhere.
Let me tell you why: During my shift Saturday night I was dealing to every skill level of player, action from $40 buy-ins to players working black, all manner of prop betting and all manner of...well, etiquette.

While it was mentally taxing, it was not too much to bear. If I can deal that game in the Midwest, I could do it standing on my head at Paris, or Caesars or the Wynn.

Count it.