pit boss

plural pit bosses · alternative pit-boss

1. datedbusinessA direct overseer of laborers in a mining operation.

   How long could a man expect to stand on the steps of a company building, with a super and a pit-boss at his back, and organise a union of mine-workers?

   1917, Upton Sinclair, King Coal, book 4, ch. 6

   1 more example

   It is, among other things, sufficiently stated in the declaration that appellant is owner and operator of a coal mine, and has in its employ a pit boss, to whom it has given authority to direct and control the labors of those employed in its mine.

   1890, "Consolidated Coal Co. v. Wombacher" (Supreme Court of Illinois) in The Northeastern Reporter, vol. 24, p. 628 (Google preview)

2. gamblingA supervisor who oversees the dealers and activity at the gaming tables in a casino, and who typically has the authority to expel unruly gamblers from the premises.

   Las Vegas: The pit boss sees all on the casino floor as a trained trouble spotter amid this high-roller’s paradise.

   2007 July 22, Selena Roberts, “Stewards of Sport Need a Lesson From the Pit Bosses”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 Jun 2015

   2 more examples

   One woman at a baccarat table […] shouted and mumbled something about wanting her money back, or at least the opportunity to win it back. A pit boss standing behind the dealer joked: “I don’t have any money! I’m unemployed!” and a few moments later, a security guard escorted the woman off the floor.

   2014 January 16, Victoria Bekiempis, “Atlantic City's Last 'Low-Roller' Casino Busts”, in Newsweek, retrieved 10 Jun 2015

   Mathematics is the pit boss of the regulated US online poker market, guaranteeing that luck is random, and no one can sneak a head of the river card.

   2026 February 19, B. E. Delmer, “Random Number Generators Are the Silent Guardians of Fair Play in Online Poker”, in Gambling 911, retrieved 21 Feb 2026

3. hobbiesThe supervisor of the maintenance pit crew of a driver.

   In that same race, the first use of two-way radio-to-pits communication was logged. Al Stevens, who operated a radio dispatch service in Maryland, kept in contact with his pit boss, Cotton Bennett, throughout the race.

   2009, Gerry Souter, The Earnhardts: A Biography, →ISBN, page 29