"Hey, everyone, Im Tracy P. Tapia, and for the last eight years, Ive been a live dealer in casinos (croupiers, if you will) and bring South Africas vibrant energy, direct to your computer screen, to sit at the top table at Casino-Game.co.za."
I hail from Durban North, a mere walk away from the Indian Oceans warming tides. My memory of growing up was reliving weekends that consisted of beach braais and klaberjass or poker games on the veranda that lasted till the early morning hours. My ouma was the one who showed me how one could shuffle the cards with ones hands while preparing a pot of bunny chow in the other; apparently, every good dealer knows how to multitask like their lives depend on it. By the age of 18, I was dealing charity poker games at the surf club, and the casino floor was definitely whispering in my ear.
After school, I did an apprenticeship at the dealer school at Joburg, which I followed with experience at Emerald Resort, Sibaya, before finally cutting my teeth at Sun City. I have dealt blackjack to local celebrities, spun the roulette wheel at Nigerian Zim high-roller tables, and even banked a table full of Springbok rugby players with their autographed jerseys.
I dived right in when the live online casinos began going crazy in SA. These days, I spend my shifts running games like Lightning Roulette, Quantum Blackjack, Infinite Free Bet Blackjack, or the right crazy game show wheels that South Africans go completely ga ga for. Catch me hosting from my spiffy studio in Umhlanga. I show up in my bright coral or tek-colored dress, complete with my Zulu beads on a good night out, waving a big "Sawubona!" or "Howzit?" at the new chums and an enthusiastic "Yebo!" at every big win.
It is actually very satisfying, especially seeing a Khayelitsha, Pretoria, or even London player yell Sharp sharp! when the ball drops on their number.
Behind the scenes, I am still the Durban girl: surfing the sunrise at Addington, on the hunt for the best peri-peri chicken, hiking in the Drakensberg when the call comes for a change of scenery from the ocean, collecting vintage South African casino chips my Wild Coast Sun R5 chip from 1996 remains the favorite.
