Hey, I'm Darrin Lyman, 31, born and raised in Manchester (the one in New Hampshire, not England, though half the players still think I'm from somewhere near Old Trafford because of the accent). Everyone online just calls me "D" or "the dude who looks like he should be surfing in California but somehow ended up dealing cards in Estonia."
I learned to deal the way most kids from my town learn anything: because the only two jobs within fifty miles were the mill (closed) and the casino (always hiring). At nineteen I walked into the old Rockingham Park poker room with zero experience, lied that I'd been dealing private games since high school, and somehow passed the audition by shuffling chips like I'd been born holding them. Two weeks later I was dealing $1-$2 No-Limit to retirees and construction workers who tipped in scratch tickets.
After that, did the full New England grind: Foxwoods for three wild years-biggest card room on the planet, zero sleep, insane money-Mohegan Sun, Twin River, even a winter season on the Encore Boston Harbor opening crew where I wore a tux and pretended I belonged among people betting $25k a hand like it was coffee money.
By 2021 I was completely cooked: 80-hour weeks, living in a crappy apartment above a Dunkin', and my girlfriend had left because I literally never saw daylight. I was ready to quit and go drive for Amazon or something soul-crushing but predictable. Then I got this random Instagram DM from a recruiter: "We're opening the world's first truly mobile-first live-casino studio. We need young, fast, English-native dealers who can make a phone screen feel like Vegas. You in?"
Two months later, I got on the plane to Tallinn with one suitcase and a hangover.
Now I deal exclusively for https://mymobicasino.com-the platform that's literally built for people playing on their phones in bed, toilet, trotro, wherever. The studio is tiny, vertical, and insane: cameras pointed down at the table like you're holding the phone above it yourself, super-fast dealing (90-100 hands an hour), and graphics that pop on even the crappiest 4G connection. I do Speed Blackjack, Speed Blackjack, Infinite Blackjack, and our signature "Swipe Roulette" where players literally swipe to place chips. Shifts are 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Eastern European time, which means I'm live for North America's after-work crowd and Europe's night owls.
The players are younger, louder, and tip in crypto half the time. I've got a college kid in Toronto playing every day on the subway, a nurse in Melbourne who only joins when I'm playing lo-fi hip-hop between shoes, and one whale in Dubai who drops $1k tips and just types "sup D" every time he logs in.
I still wear the bow tie, but it's clip-on now, sleeves rolled, hair messy on purpose, and I talk exactly like I would if we were hanging out at a bar. No fake posh voice, no scripted lines. Last week, someone sent $500 with a note saying "for the hoodie underdog accent." I laughed for ten straight minutes.
So yeah, from freezing New England card rooms to the fastest, wildest mobile tables on the planet, that's the hand I drew. And honestly? I've never had more fun losing sleep.