Hey folks, I figured I'd offer an ama for people unfamiliar with how casinos work in California.

I'd planned on making this account sooner (and planned for the name to be 'Different_Kind_of_Banker, but here we are) but better late than never right?

Here are some bits of info that may help get the ball rolling on questions

  • California has specific laws against Nevada style gambling (Where the house keeps the money if you lose)

  • Tribal land is exempt from those laws due to a court case over bingo halls on reservations in the 1980s (yes people were that aggressive about the small bits of money people got)

  • Casinos in California and not tribal lands are technically called card rooms. No slot machines are allowed and instead of getting the money from losses, it goes to a third party person called a banker. These third parties came up to circumvent the laws against Nevada gambling. So in the eyes of the law, card rooms aren't taking people's money. They are just hosting a place where they can gamble with each other's money and they have to pay for the space to use.

  • This workaround uses third party workers called bankers who offer up the money of the corporation to allow for gambling to take place. Players can play without a banker, but they have to use their own money.

  • I am a banker and I hate everything about the environment and feel like a gross person every time I come into work.

  • The customers are usually small business owners who want a chance to complain about losing.

With all that info, I welcome any sorts of questions you might have and hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.

  • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    California has specific laws against Nevada style gambling (Where the house keeps the money if you lose)

    What do you think of the differences between the "style" of Cali and Nevada?

    I am a banker and I hate everything about the environment and feel like a gross person every time I come into work.

    Are there praxis opportunities working as a "banker" ? (Malicious Compliance etc.)

    and most importantly

    Are people more likely to shit their pants in Card Halls or Casinos?

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      California style is just a way to skirt gambling laws. Picture a triangle with three arrows:

      1 casino

      2 player

      3 banker

      Banker is just the extra step that converts profits in a legal way. Nevada style is just a two-way process between player and casino. It's a scummy bullshit job that wouldn't exist in a decent society. But I put most of my hate on the wealthy fucks who run the place and the corporation that employs us bankers.

      I do malicious compliance where I can. I point out bad odds certain games have, encourage players to color up (take their small chips and convert them to bigger chips) so they'll be less likely to continue gambling, I openly share whatever I hear from supervisors about wages and I'll slip in union/leftist terminology when I get the chance.

      However, there are few opportunities to talk to players or coworkers and that's very much by design.

      • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Thanks for the response.

        IRT the first point, that's what it sounded like; CoMmIeFoRnIa for you there.

        IRT the second point, I'm glad to hear it. That's what kept me sane while working in retail pharmacy (the worst of both retail, and healthcare industries. :P)

        • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Oh yeah, I can see how that could come off tone -wise. It's just interesting in light of recent ballot measures and the growing popularity of sports gambling. LMAO California landowners come together to complain and spend money at these depressing places. I just feel bad when the occasional broke person comes in and loses.

          Ooof the pharmacy industry feels like a constant barrage of psychic damage but in a different way. Here's to doing our jobs against the interest of capital!

          🍻

  • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    it's good your customers are wealthy small business owners the people I know who gamble tend to be poor and it has a tremendously destructive effect on their lives

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      A lot of them are on the wealthy side, but we do get some people who are on the addicted side and cannot really afford to play. It's a gross place. There's a cash advance kiosk onsite

  • half_giraffe [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Thanks for doing this, I do have a few questions:

    1. What games are allowed inside the "card rooms?" Poker doesn't need a house in order to operate, but something like blackjack or roulette need a dealer to collect losses, so is that where bankers come in?

    2. Have you ever had to cut someone off from gambling? Do you even have that authority?

    3. Do you ever get compared to the banker in monopoly?

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Poker doesn't need a house to operate, but players come in to have a professional dealer handle the game and manage chips.

      I've seen a lot of blackjack, baccarat, pai gow, and some forms of poker.

      Customers can pay collection if they don't want to use a banker to play, but a banker has to be available at the table just in case. And the dealer has to make it known that anyone can be a banker. Dealers show the camera this by hand gestures.

      I wish I could cut people off, but that's under the purview of the casino itself which is its own company. Though I'll offer players to convert their chips into larger denominations to encourage them to gamble less and get out.

      Never been directly compared to Monopoly outside of training. Folks tend to take out all of their hostility on the dealer and don't seem interested in why I'm sitting at the end of the table.

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Never saw it, but I have all new layers of hate for the movie 21.

      "Winner winner chicken dinner" is going to be scrawled on my walls when the feds come for me.

      Every boomer thinks they're so funny when they say it.

  • emizeko [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    so do you play the games, or... I'm not really understanding how your job works. is it hourly wage or some other structure?

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I have a stack of money in the form of chips (like the banker in Monopoly is how I was told to help me remember and explain to customers) and say you're playing blackjack. The dealer lays out your cards and I give them a five dollar chip to pay the casino. That's where card rooms get their money. If you lose the money from blackjack, that goes to me and goes to my stack.

      I'm not allowed to handle chips outside of that context and so I cannot get tips. I'm paid hourly.

      I'm technically acting to complete a legal loophole.

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I'm actually talking about unions a lot in risky ways because fuck it. But there are a few left-adjacent folks there who hate the place. But turnover is so high because of course.

    • booty [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Is card counting still a viable strategy

      Something important to realize is that card counting is still barely a viable strategy even if you're fucking incredible at it. You can be the world's best card counter and still lose tens of thousands of dollars in an unlucky streak. Mediocre card counters are basically free money to casinos.

      Here's a great video which helps demonstrate just how difficult it is to become even okay at card counting.

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      For every hand dealt, someone pays what's called collection. I'm not sure how it goes for non cardroom settings.

    • walletbaby [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's called "the rake" and they take a small percentage of every pot before the winner gets his share.

  • Multihedra [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Would you say that the casino corporations or banker corporations are on a higher tier? I originally thought that since the bankers had more erratic cash flows they must end up with more money. Or more profit?

    I can’t tell if the casino workers are hired as legitimizing entertainment by money. Or maybe the casinos set the prices the games are played at and they essentially hire the bankers to be money launderers. That one feels more right but it’s such a naked workaround lol

    How could they even be two separate entities? It just just seems so strange.

    I guess I didn’t realize there was anything but “Nevada style” gambling

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Or maybe the casinos set the prices the games are played at and they essentially hire the bankers to be money launderers.

      That's pretty much it. The casinos are usually owned by corporate chains and banker corporations are even bigger chains. It's all just a money-laundering scheme because California capitalists want to get in on the profits. The casino owners basically buy franchises.

  • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
    ·
    2 years ago

    What's the organizational/management structure of the casino? Do you get a lot of the spoils of risk or do they all just get sucked up to the top?

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      So I'm paid a little above minimum wage and that's it. Dealers get paid less because of tips and because they're not considered full-time workers, they don't get standard benefits.

      Also they're allowed to gamble onesite which is predatory af