Cripple Creek casinos pay 'prop' players to keep poker games
going, increase revenue  By Debbie Kelley Updated: July 21, 2013
at 2:34 pm • Published: July 20, 2013 | 9:30 pm 0  When Dane
Rhodes tells people about his job, he can almost see the green
streaks of envy.  "A lot of people want to do what I do for a
living," he said.  But few can hack what some call the hardest
job in the gaming industry.  Rhodes gets paid by casinos to play
poker.  Every day, his paycheck is on the line, though.  Rhodes
and other "proposition" or "prop" players receive an hourly wage
from casinos to ante up at poker tables.  They must use their
money, however, for betting, tipping and the rake fee that
casinos charge customers for hosting the game.  "You've got to
wager what you'll make for the day into the game and try to not
lose it. I wouldn't do that job in a million years - I prefer to
go to a job where I'm guaranteed to make money," said Brian
Pearson, who runs the poker room at the Double Eagle and Gold
Creek Casinos in Cri