While I could get many types of jobs, some more respectable than others, few can equate the starting pay of casino bartending. I have many years of experience in it and need to make enough money to pay for my 3rd round of college. Believe it or not, I’ve had over one-hundred different types of jobs in my life. I am truly a jack of all trades.

I am taking a brutally honest look at working as a casino bartender and I don’t even care if what I write here gets me fired; I can simply go work at another casino, there are plenty here. Besides, these people don’t read blogs anyway. If someone is good at it, they can easily make $50,000.00 per year; that’s less than half of what could be made in Las Vegas but is still a hefty starting pay.

casino bar

casino bar

Drugs, cutthroat politics and prostitution are the name of the game. It’s generally a terrible job for a young person with a drug habit. However, someone who is above these problems can do very well. Within three days of working, I already knew 23 drug dealers who openly sold drugs – while on duty – to customers, game dealers, casino management and of course bartenders and cocktail waitresses.

Many cocktail waitresses and bartenders I’ve personally worked with have nasty drug habits (including myself, but I’ve since quit drugs). While working during a busy shift, I overheard two girls complaining about getting a much needed break so they could get a fix. To fit in, a bartender’s relationship to the waitresses must be open and honest.

I am experienced enough to know how to deal with the situation. Though I no longer use drugs, drink or smoke – I must appear to be “cool” with those who do. They must be comfortable with me as 20% of their personal tips come to me. In turn, between 15-20% of my tips go to the barback (the guy who keeps my liquor rack full, washes my glasses and helps me keep the bar clean). A good barback can make a lot of money but it is an extreme, physically demanding job.

The Story of Two Cocktail Waitresses

cocktail waitresses

cocktail waitresses

When my waitresses came back from their break, I could tell the girls were highly intoxicated – not on cocaine or meth, so I guessed it was heroin or something similar. I made 31 drinks for waitressX. While waiting for me to finish, she slightly lowered her head and puked a mighty stream into a large garbage bin next to the bar.

I said, “Three points! Good shot…you didn’t spill a drop!”

She wiped her face with a bar napkin and giggled, “Hehehe…you’re so funny Bobby! I snorted oxycodone ( a powerful narcotic alkaloid used as an analgesic and sedative), it always upsets my stomach!”

The other inebriated waitress said, “That’s nothing.”

She stood three feet away from the trash can, put her hands on her hips and in true American fashion, proudly retched a more streamlined projectile – her stomach contents into the can – perfectly and with no splash back! She proclaimed, “That’s how it’s done…and I don’t even need a napkin.”

I stood in amazement by these two. I’ve done this job for years and this was my first cocktail waitress vomit spitting contest. After the shift slowed down, I was free to converse with these two lovely drug addicts. They are both twenty-one years old and incredibly beautiful (wait until they turn 30! They are in for a rude awakening if they live that long).

Because they had already lowered their guards, I knew I could give them a speech (a screed actually) about how they would end up dying from their actions. They were actually talking about going out after work to drink alcohol and snort cocaine!

I told them a story of three people I know who had died from mixing pain-killers and cocaine. It was quite a horrific tale which I thought would scare them. I was so wrong! They laughed and laughed, continually puking and spraying fluids from their nostrils. One told me, “You should be a professional comedian Bobby! That’s the funniest story I’ve ever heard. Don’t worry about us, we do this everyday!”

I was mortified, I couldn’t believe it! How could 21 year old girls be that far gone? Heroin, it turns out is their favorite drug and it is at epidemic levels here where I live. From the Mississippi Gulf Coast to New Orleans (which is around 120 miles from my house), heroin is available for school children. This is only where I live, I’m sure it’s nation wide. These two girls were doing all this right in front of the customers with absolute reckless abandon.

My sister, who is a child psychologist, deals with 7 year old heroin addicts every day. One important job that needs more people is drug counselors. The money isn’t great but the job’s importance is. I am personally thinking about becoming one. It’s unbelievable to see this going on. It’s impossible to keep drugs off the street, however, effectively educating people can be done.

Other Freakish Incidents

During the same shift, a guy was caught smoking crack outside during a smoking break and was escorted off premises by the police. I also witnessed a blackjack dealer selling pills across the table like they were casino chips!

I walked into the casino liquor room trying to find my barback. He was snorting cocaine off a case of Crown Royal. He said, “Wanna line? I only snort off of Crown Royal cases…that’s why I’m late…I had to get one out, we just got a shipment of liquor in!”

He grabbed a large garbage cart with wheels as I needed him to empty the puke filled bins near the bar because of the noxious odor. As we peregrinated back to the bar, he strutted stylishly pushing the cart and said, “Dude, I make pushing garbage look good.”

He then fixed his hair with a free hand in one of the many casino mirrors. I began feeling sick to my stomach because I know…this is reality.

The casino bar picture is from Matthew’s public gallery.
The cocktail waitresses in the picture are not the girls I work with.

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