Casino Staff: Floor Persons
In a nutshell, a casino floor person’s job is to take care of customers and make sure things run smoothly on the casino floor.
Depending on the type of floor person, the main duties can be to watch over a group of poker dealers to making sure the slot machines work. Floor persons are usually supervised by a “Pit Boss”. While there are some similarities in the duties performed by Pit Bosses and floor persons (Pit Bosses handle customers and dealers too), a floor person is usually more hands on and a Pit Boss will delegate more. In most cases, the floor person will be the employee you interact with when you need help. The Pit Bosses are who floor people go to when they need help.
Floor persons have a few major responsibilities. One of the major responsibilities is to watch over the dealers and/or machines on the floor. Therefore any floor person needs to understand the games being played so they can spot anything suspicious. Knowing the game helps the floor person keep a lookout for any suspicious behavior from customers and dealers. Floor persons are another way casinos protect customer’s (and their) money.
Floor persons for slot machines (aka slot attendants) need to understand the machines in their area so they can perform basic mechanics to fix a broken machine, chewed up tickets, or handle non-payouts. So if there’s any trouble with a slot machine, see the floor person.
Another duty (but not necessarily a lesser one) is to be the casino’s representative and help out guests. So if you’re at a new casino and want to know the house rules, what games are being played, want a new table opened up, ask for credit, or get a comp, ask the floor person. They can likely even direct you to your room.
There are a million little details a floor person needs to handle - you can’t get thousands of people under one roof without having a problem sprout up. A dealer may have to report a card counter, a player may claim stolen chips, or any other multitude of problems that come up when you mix booze, people, money and fun. It’s the floor person’s responsibility to use common sense to find a workable solution (and fast!) Since a floor person has to be an enforcer for the company but remain a marketing person, it’s best to be someone with good people skills.
Next time you need help at your favorite casino, seek out the floor person. And if they help you, tip them, and also make sure to tell his or her Pit Boss what a great job they did.
