New Blackjack Players

I was visiting in Palm Springs back in May of this year and my friend suggested we go to the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon. Going into Palm Springs from Los Angeles, the (fairly new) casino and hotel tower are about 30 miles west of Palm Springs. I hadn’t been there to play since it was less than a year old, so I said sure.

This was a Wednesday night, so the casino floor was busy, but not crowded. The last time I had played there, it was crowded. We wanted to find a $5 table, so we wandered through the pits for several minutes, looking for one that was open. The casino floor was busy enough that all the easily accessible $5 tables that were close to the restaurant and the doors were full. Even the $10 tables were pretty busy. As is usually the case at these casinos during the week, the $25 tables were dead. We finally found quite a few $5 tables further into the casino (by the bathrooms!) – the problem was, these looked really sad. I was shocked at the shape the table felt was in – it was stained and looked like it hadn’t been changed since they opened the new casino.

To make things look even sadder, the entire group of tables in this section by the bathrooms weren’t very busy. While the tables closer to the front were popping, there was very little action at these tables. I think it’s because they had a side bet feature, with a light inset in the table (which I’d never seen before). I was pretty sure the side bet wasn’t required, but I asked, just to be sure. Maybe other people didn’t feel like asking. Or maybe they sensed something strange about these tables and just moved on.

I don’t think my friend and I played for more than 15 minutes before we got up and left the casino. Aside from the strange vibe and the stained table felt, the dealer was one of the rudest dealers I’ve ever played against. I understand it’s a job and you get tired and want to go home, but it’s like any other job where you’re dealing with customers looking to socialize and have fun – suck it up and put on a smile. How would you like it if you went to Disneyland and Goofy moped around, telling everyone he wanted to go home? This dealer was the equivalent of a limp handshake. It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to talk – my friend and I are perfectly capable of carrying a conversation between us – but the attitude was confirmed came when a co-worker passed and she told him how much she wanted her shift to be over.

The last straw, however, was when I asked her if we could get drink service over to take orders. In a barely audible monotone, she responded: “They come by here every hour or so.”

That was it. We cashed in our chips and left the casino.

Let me tell you how I tip dealers: I tip them if they’re making it fun. It’s not on them whether I win or lose money. All they do is deal the cards. Therefore, my tip is completely unrelated to my winnings. A lively, fun, engaging dealer has a good chance of getting some generous tips from me.

I won’t be going back to Morongo unless someone writes and tells me how management has really made some changes and it’s a great place to go.

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