Domico Rodriguez
BETS ON HIMSELF Story and photos by Shiloh Francis
Working nights and weekends as a Blackjack dealer in
Deadwood, Domico Rodriguez would watch people place bets night after night. He had taken a chance, moving away from his family in Denver to join the football and track teams at Black
Hills State University. He didn’t know what his future would hold, but he wanted to pave his own way.
After graduation he found himself working three jobs in
downtown Rapid City, hoping to save enough money to move to Las Vegas. One night, on a break from driving the shuttle for the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza, he was asked a question that
would change everything: “Why would you go be a small fish in a big pond in Vegas, when you could stay and have a real impact here in Rapid City?”
The answer to that question changed everything for Rodriguez.
It was time he bet on himself.
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E L E VAT E R A P I D C IT Y SEPTEMBER 2020
