Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
7
The Other
Las Vegas
Your chance to peek behind the scenes
at life in Sin City
C
ARE TO KNOW HOW THE RESIDENTS OF LAS VEGAS LIVE
?
HOW THEY
learn their trades, hone their skills, pursue their ambitions, and kick back? In a
city as weird as this one, those subjects can be more interesting than you'd think.
In this chapter, I'm going to take you into the showgirl's dressing room, to the
schools where dealers learn to take your money, into the tanks where trainers
teach dolphins their tricks, and more. And I won't simply be describing these local
activities; I'll tell you how to share in them, how actually to experience the work,
play, and learning that goes on in Vegas each and every day. I can guarantee this
will be as much fun as anything that happens at the craps table.
HOW THEY LEARN
In Vegas, the American Dream is built on tips—gratuities. Thousands come here
every month because they know that the lack of a college degree won't hold them
back as it will in other parts of the United States; that a high school graduate, or
someone who never even made it that far, can earn between $45,000 and $70,000
a year just parking cars. Skilled jobs offer potentially bigger rewards. To help new-
comers acquire those skills a number of schools and classes have sprung up around
town.
DEALER SCHOOLS
Most common are the “dealer schools,” where anybody who's reasonably math-
savvy and coordinated can learn how to rook all of us vacationers . . . er, I mean
deal cards. Some are fly-by-night operations, to be sure, but there's one with such
an impeccable reputation and track record that it's considered the Harvard of
gaming schools.
That standout, the
Casino Gaming School
(900 E. Karen Ave., Suites 216,
218, 220;
%
702/893
-
1788; www.learntodeal.com),
is run from a large second-
floor suite at the back of the Commercial Center strip mall. Admittedly, it has no
ivied walls or campus. But despite its faceless, somewhat grubby appearance, this
is a dedicated center of learning, as intense in its own way as an Ivy League uni-
versity. And that's largely due to the efforts of owner Nick Kallos, a slight fellow
with bristly salt-and-pepper hair and a goatee, who has the looks and manner of
a more-groomed Ratso Rizzo, but the enthusiasm, energy, and love of teaching of
a Mr. Chips. Nick and his staff of veteran dealers (every teacher here has at least
5 years' experience working in a major casino) patiently teach novices the rules
and rituals of each game. Because the school is always looking for new students,
