TRUMBULL COUNTY From cutting cards to cutting hair

The barber brought a bit of his Las Vegas lifestyle back to the Mahoning Valley.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- As customers' chitchat provides the background noise, Stephen Roberts' fingers deftly manipulate the comb and scissors around a man's head.
His hands move quickly and purposefully, a telltale sign that he was trained many years ago for this type of work.
Yet, the movements are a far cry from how his hands earned him a living for more than 25 years in Las Vegas -- as a dealer in more than a dozen major casinos.
These days, the Warren native is back in his hometown, where he returned in 1993 to help his ailing parents, who have both since died.
"I took a six-month leave from my job at the Rio, not thinking I was gonna stay here," he said.
Here's the deal
But stay he did. He works in the same barbershop on U.S. Route 422 his father opened in 1948, and has his customers sit in the same chairs his father used.
He's also known for helping organize Monte Carlo Nights for area nonprofit agencies as fund-raisers, and he organizes regular trips to Las Vegas and his old haunts.
But there are some changes to the shop that reflect Roberts' other life. Pictures of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and other members of the famed Rat Pack adorn the walls. Pinned up behind Roberts' desk are street maps to the Strip and downtown areas of Las Vegas. A clock resembling a roulette wheel marks the passing seconds and minutes.
Downstairs is the Buckeye Dealers' School. It's a side business Roberts started when he decided to stay in the Mahoning Valley -- someplace he could teach the basics of dealing blackjack, craps, baccarat and more to anyone interested in the career.
It's similar to the school he attended in Las Vegas shortly after he arrived in the 1970s.
"I'm a barber by trade, and I originally left to work at Nellis Air Force Base," he explains. "When I got there, they told me they wanted me to work six days a week, 10 hours a day."
On top of the long work weeks proposed to him, Roberts learned his Ohio barber's license was not recognized in Nevada. He would also need to attend school for three months and take a test to get new certification for the state.
"Forget that," he said.
How it came about
So while looking for other work, he decided to attend dealers school. He got his first job in a downtown casino at a time when you needed to work your way up to the hotels on the famed Las Vegas Strip, he said.
After completing his "initiation period," Roberts then proceeded to work his way from casino to casino and from job to job. He was a blackjack and craps dealer, a pit boss, a shift boss and even a floor boss.
He's glad to share his stories of standing backstage while Frank Sinatra rehearsed for a show. Or to offer his opinion on what he thinks is the hottest show in Vegas right now. Or relate the tales of high-stakes gamblers who would sit at his table and win and lose millions of dollars in a matter of hours.
His hearty laugh is contagious as he shares his memories about the people he's encountered and the events he's witnessed.
"I could tell you stories about things I've seen you wouldn't even believe," he said.
It's obvious it's a lifestyle he wouldn't mind returning to.
"Every day and every night," he says when asked if he ever thinks of moving back to Sin City.
But for now, he's staying put, content to cut hair during the day and teach the basics of dealing during the evenings.
slshaulis@vindy.com
XFor more information on the Buckeye Dealers School, call Stephen Roberts at (330) 369-5776 or (330) 394-3102.