About 10 years ago, maybe 2011, I had an experience that I wrote about on this forum I believe (pre-reincarnation of the forum). I call the story/experience "the perfect shoe". It has to do with the single best shoe and session I have ever had, still to date. I won 20 grand on that single shoe, which is a lot of money for a mid-level player. By the end of the shoe, naturally, I had drawn mega attention. I remember literally running for the door. I just wanted out of that place. I made it out with no problems and cashed in chips over time at later times with no issues. But there is a second part to the story, that I might have mentioned once, but didn't share too much.
So two or three nights later, I was chillin at a local bar, about 2 miles off the strip (where the perfect shoe occurred), when I noticed the pit guy from that very day down the bar. He made his way to me, bought me a drink and sat down next to me. Apparently he had seen me before at the bar (yes it was a gay bar) on prior occasions. I didn't recall seeing him. But I did know that I had played his shift before. So after introducing himself, he told me that he couldn't allow me to play on his shift any longer. He advised me not to play that casino at all, but the stipulation was only that he would not allow me to play his shift. So it was a backoff/baring several days later, several miles from the casino.
We chatted for a few minutes, he bought me another beer and left.
The next time I saw him, was several weeks later. I returned the favor and bought him a beer and we talked some more. Over time, he became a fairly close friend. Just a friend but a close friend. I have had him to my home for parties and get togethers and although I no longer visit bars all that often, I occasionally will meet up to have a beer with him. He is a good guy, has his own interest in card counting and advantage play, and I have picked his brain about different issues over the years. He even once shared info from a database. (I didn't ask for that).
And to this day, he remains a friend and I have never played on his shift again. That casino is actually no longer even in my rotation.
If you live in Vegas, more than other locations, it isn't unusual to see people from the "other" side out and about in public, anywhere from a bar to the grocery store. So it wouldn't surprise me if friendships and relationships aren't that unusual. Dealers and pit people ARE people!
(although some don't act like it).
