Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Ah, Derby Day!  I haven’t worked one of these in the lounge in a while, so it was fun to see that I was getting the 4pm shift.  The Kentucky Derby (as are the Preakness & Belmont Stakes) are unique for us in that they’re the only three gambling events that casino staff are allowed to participate in -while- clocked in and on-duty. I don’t usually bother with it, but I’d read a preview article the night before so I got in a bit early and swung by Racebook, dropping $10 on two different horses, on a simple ‘to win’ bet, and then went off to the bar which was hopping.

True to form for Derby Day, it was a zoo until after the race, and then it became a desert.

(Oh – but get this?  One of the horses I picked to win? Won. The long shot even.  Seriously – how could I -not- as a bartender, bet on the horse named “I”ll have another”?  Go me.)

The rest of the night was basically as expected.  We were quiet-ish for a fair while. Around midnight, the wedding party finally got out of their reception and came down to the lounge to booze it up, and we responsibly obliged them.

We shut down on time, cleaned up without incident, and went home with a reasonable wad of cash.

No complaints.

Closing observations :

• Wedding party dresses really do range the field, don’t they? It’s just a matter of stitching that makes the difference between something looking lithe and sexy and something looking like a really baggy pair of plastic potty training pants.
• I was reminded during the night, once again, how short of a distance it is for me to go from being positively attracted to someone to being positively ‘I’m going to go over here now. You stay put.’ All you need? A dozen beers, and your best white-girl Gangsta impression.  Easy as pie.

Next up : Monday night