What do you need to be a poker dealer at a casino?

Mortis · Jun 29, 2011

The Hollywood Casino here in Kansas City is going to be opening up next year, and they are about to start job fairs and interviews in the early fall coming up. I had thought about looking into dealing, maybe part-time, but was wondering what kind of training do you need for it? Do most casinos provide the training themselves, or do you have to get your own training for it? I know they aren't just going to hire any ol' joe off the streets to work in their poker room.

smd173 · Jun 29, 2011

Usually when a new casino opens up, either the casino itself or some independent school will offer Dealer Schools. You'd need to go through one and pass before you become an official employee of the casino.

I have a friend who started with a PA casino last year when table games got approved and he had no prior casino experience. He went to the job fair the casino held in a suit and tie and was very friendly to everyone and all smiles. That apparently got him noticed and through the first line of interviews. So you may want to consider something similar.

Mortis · Jun 29, 2011

Okay, cool, thanks SMD!

OzExorcist · Jun 29, 2011

It differs - here becoming a croupier is a two-year paid traineeship where you do a little bit of study first to get your licence etc then the rest of the time you're learning as you go on the gaming floor. The merits of dropping lumpys straight onto the gaming floor are debatable, obviously...

I don't know what they system is like over there but here it's also rare for you to be able to choose the games you learn. You can't go to them as a new recruit and apply as a poker dealer, for example, because they'll just train you in whatever game they need dealers for (typically roulette or baccarat) and just dump you into that game.

Regardless of where you are you'll also need (in descending order of importance):

- A thick skin
- A tolerance for shift work, lousy hours and probably for lousy pay too
- Solid math skills
- Good manual dexterity. They should teach you the chip / card handling skills you need but if you're naturally inclined towards being a fumble-fingers then it'll be that much harder to learn

Mortis · Jun 29, 2011

I can handle all that.. except I'm just looking for something part-time in the late afternoons or early evenings for 2-3 days a week. I'm already working 6 days a week from morning - afternoon at the animal shelter, which I am not going to quit or even willing to let go of any hours there.

Other than that, I have good math skills, a thick skin, and a pretty quick and accurate on the dealing when it comes to home games and bar poker. I can definitely work on these skills, too.. it's not that difficult for me.

OzExorcist · Jun 29, 2011

Chances are there are some very specific skills that they'll need you to learn - pitching the cards instead of just "dealing" them, for example, spreading a flop properly, but the harder ones that I still struggle with are the chip skills: being able to feel when you've got a stack of exactly 20 in your hand, being able to cut a precise number of chips off the bottom of the stack, etc. then tracking the pot size and calculating rake on the fly.

I don't want to discourage you or anything, I'm just saying don't assume that there's only a little bit to learn - there's a lot of things a casino dealer is required to do that a home game dealer has never even thought about.

On the hours issue again things will differ from casino to casino but I believe most casinos the world over are similar in that their busy periods are after the sun goes down and well into the early hours. I know the casino here offers two options - alternating day and night shifts or simply permanent nights because that's when the work is.

Mortis · Jun 29, 2011

I guess probably the best thing for me to do would just go there when they are having their hiring spree and see what they say. Thanks for the heads up, Oz!

bettsjc · Jun 29, 2011

Just search "casino dealing school" in your local area, There are different programs for different areas, usually a 3-6 week programs. The courses usually don't cost too much money, a good investment really. If there are casinos in the area then there should be some sort of accredited dealing school.

LarkMarlow · Jul 1, 2011

I'm fairly certain that our local Hollywood (Lawrenceburg IN) trains their own dealers. Mike and I were at another riverboat June 28-30. I had my netbook with me so after I read your post I asked the floor and a couple of dealers at the poker room there. They confirmed what I thought but didn't know if that was true for all the Hollywoods.

Today I called the Hollywood room to see if I could find out. The floor told me I'd have to check with the manager, who wasn't around. I left word on his voicemail--hopefully he'll get back to me.

In the meantime, I have a feeling you'd be a great dealer!

skyin452 · Jul 2, 2011

Yo Mortis, go to homepokertourney.com and on the right side of the home page you will find a link to an online poker dealer training site. Don't know exactly what you're looking for as far as learning about being a dealer, but I checked it out and it seemed kinda cool!

aliengenius · Jul 2, 2011

http://www.gatlineducation.com/poker_dealer_training.html

Mortis · Jul 2, 2011

LarkMarlow said:
I'm fairly certain that our local Hollywood (Lawrenceburg IN) trains their own dealers. Mike and I were at another riverboat June 28-30. I had my netbook with me so after I read your post I asked the floor and a couple of dealers at the poker room there. They confirmed what I thought but didn't know if that was true for all the Hollywoods.

Today I called the Hollywood room to see if I could find out. The floor told me I'd have to check with the manager, who wasn't around. I left word on his voicemail--hopefully he'll get back to me.

In the meantime, I have a feeling you'd be a great dealer!

I appreciate you asking around for me, Lark! Much appreciated!

And thanks Sky and AG for the links! I'm not really looking for anything serious in dealing.. just something a little extra in addition to my day job. Though, the online courses would be interesting.. if it's too much, I don't think I would do something like that.

When they start hiring or have their hiring fair, I think I'm just going to go there and apply and see what happens. If I get a job, great!! If I don't, well then, I won't be too devastated.

RideN2Aces · Jul 2, 2011

I wanted to be a dealer when I was younger. And what the casino in my area told me is....They dont care weather you have a "dealers coarse" or not...You need job experience in Customer Service ....They will always hire people with that background over someone with a coarse....They will train you dealing them selves.

Mortis · Jul 2, 2011

RideN2Aces said:
I wanted to be a dealer when I was younger. And what the casino in my area told me is....They dont care weather you have a "dealers coarse" or not...You need job experience in Customer Service ....They will always hire people with that background over someone with a coarse....They will train you dealing them selves.

Good to know.

RideN2Aces · Jul 2, 2011

Mortis said:
Good to know.

So I humped a shit job at The Home Depot for 3 years lol

Mortis · Jul 2, 2011

RideN2Aces said:
So I humped a shit job at The Home Depot for 3 years lol

I could play off my animal shelter experience as customer service, being that we help people choose the right dog or cat for them.

pcgnome · Jul 2, 2011

There you go, but dealers shuffle the the cards really well and deal out the cards really fast and accurately. Can you handle that? I wish you luck.

Poker Orifice · Jul 3, 2011

Mortis said:
I can handle all that.. except I'm just looking for something part-time in the late afternoons or early evenings for 2-3 days a week. I'm already working 6 days a week from morning - afternoon at the animal shelter, which I am not going to quit or even willing to let go of any hours there.
.

Drug dealing > casino dealing (imo). Pick your own hours & better pay!

OzExorcist · Jul 3, 2011

pcgnome said:
There you go, but dealers shuffle the the cards really well and deal out the cards really fast and accurately. Can you handle that? I wish you luck.

FWIW there's a bit more to it than that...

LarkMarlow · Jul 9, 2011

LarkMarlow said:
Today I called the Hollywood room to see if I could find out. The floor told me I'd have to check with the manager, who wasn't around. I left word on his voicemail--hopefully he'll get back to me.

Mortis said:
I appreciate you asking around for me, Lark! Much appreciated!

You're welcome, as always.

The manager just called back--he had been out of town. He said that while the first preference is always experienced dealers, usually they don't get nearly enough to staff the Hollywood rooms. So, depending on the size of the room, they make their hires a number of months before the casino is slated to open and, yes, they train all of the new people at their own dealer school. While the dealers here were hired 9 months before opening, from what he heard the KC room was not going to anywhere near as big so he thought they would start the training 4-5 months prior to the opening. Go for for it!

Mortis · Jul 15, 2011

Thanks again, Lark! I'm just going to apply to be a part-time dealer when they having their hiring fair and see what they say. The worst they can do is tell me, "No."

BM0529 · Jul 21, 2011

In a case of a new casino they may be desperate, though in our current economy perhaps less than they normall would. When Riverwind Casino opened in Norman, OK in 2006 they basically hired anyone to be a dealer and some were so bad they were eventually fired in the ensuing 1-2 years though this constituted a very small number of them. I'd strongly advise not to overqualify yourself, classic example, if you have a college degree and you note that to them you can hurt your chances. Underqualifying yourself for a position like dealing is sometimes the smarter way to lean. The whole goal in the end is to make the dealer school/training process by being selected through the resume/interview process, once you get to that point you should be fine....they are going to take the faster dealers generally for the better shifts such a 4pm-midnight or the weekend nights (keep in mind the better shifts for tips are going to be the worse shifts for your social/family life but the goal is to make more money in the long run)...the slower you are the more likely you get stuck with the 6am-2pm shift or the overnights Sun/Mon...again, these might be better if you have a family but you will make much less money in tips on those shifts.

Mortis · Aug 5, 2011

Hiring fair for it on Saturday, August 13.

http://www.hollywoodcasinokansas.com/jobfair.html

They have a "dealer school" available as well.

https://careers-pngaming.icims.com/jobs/4697/job

LarkMarlow · Aug 5, 2011

TID, Mortis! I'll be thinking of you--let us know how it goes.

Makwa · Aug 6, 2011

Just remember me when I'm sitting at your table with my house and Elvis on the line. NO RUNNER RUNNERS for the donk. Got it? :handkiss:

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