Become A Dealer Casino
The only way to become a casino dealer is to learn the tricks of the trade, get a casino dealer license, and apply for a role at your nearest land-based casino. Training courses and workshops are a great way to gain a deeper insight into the industry, but top tips from expert dealers around the world is bound to help too. Another route to becoming a blackjack dealer is to work in a casino in another capacity before moving on to the lucrative dealer position. For example, you might get a job assisting in the pit, and then apply for a blackjack job when one opens up. Another route to becoming a blackjack dealer is to work in a casino in another capacity before moving on to the lucrative dealer position. For example, you might get a job assisting in the pit, and then apply for a blackjack job when one opens up.
What if I told you a lucrative career in the casino gambling industry can be secured for less than $1,000 and only a month’s worth of study and training? No, I’m not talking about some fraudulent craps system promising to teach you the secrets of dice control to become a millionaire overnight.
Instead, I’m referring to the thriving casino dealer industry, which continues to offer a growing slate of steady jobs for anybody willing to learn the ropes. Casino dealers are the backbone of the gambling industry.
Tourists who convene in Las Vegas every year wouldn’t be able to enjoy their favorite table games without an army of highly-trained dealers to supervise the proceedings.
If you’ve ever played table games or poker in the Sin City casino setting, you know just how valuable dealers are to the entire proceedings. They gently guide inexperienced gamblers and make it all seem so effortless and easy.
You likely have plenty of experience dealing with casino dealers from the player’s perspective, but have you ever thought about flipping that script and working from behind the table? If so, this page was written with you in mind.
Below, you’ll learn everything an aspiring casino dealer needs to know about attending training courses in the gambling mecca of Las Vegas. I’ll cover the best schools, pricing plans, and curriculums for your casino dealer education.
Becoming a Casino Dealer Is a Great Idea in Any Economy
Dealers are the lifeblood of the casino industry, which in turn serves as the lifeblood of Las Vegas’ economy through thick and thin.re
According to the popular job search website Recruiter.com, demand for professional casino dealers has remained on a positive upswing for 15 consecutive years. Vacancies within the profession have increased by 3.48% since 2004, averaging 0.58% annual growth to create nearly 23,000 new openings last year alone.
Those statistics have a nationwide scope, mind you, but seeing as how Sin City is the undisputed capital of America’s gambling industry, you can imagine how many jobs await here.
Because every casino requires dozens, or even hundreds, of dealers on the staff to keep the gambling floor humming, it doesn’t take long to find a multitude of open positions.
And those open positions, even at the entry-level tier, aren’t anything to sneeze at either. Based on data from salary aggregator Indeed.com, the average casino dealer in Las Vegas earns nearly $38,000 in annual base salary.
But when you factor in the $138 in average daily tips dealers haul in, their compensation climbs to more than $72,000 ($138 x 261 working days yearly = $34,191).
Casino Dealer Training Courses Can Be Completed in Just a Few Weeks
To become qualified for an audition at your favorite casino, the best way to begin is by attending dealer school.
Fortunately, Las Vegas is home to no shortage of reputable and accredited casino dealer schools, including the city’s top three contenders—Casino Education Group (CEG), Personalized Casino Instruction (PCI), and Crescent School of Gaming and Bartending.
To get an idea of how thorough and in-depth these casino courses really are, take a look below to see what the blackjack class at CEG Dealer School entails.
Casino Education Group (CEG) Dealer School’s Blackjack Curriculum
- 2 Decks of Cards
- Course Manual
- Blackjack Class Orientation
- Game Mechanics
- Cheque Cutting & Sizing
- Bank Management
- Game Protection
- Shuffles
- Pitching
- The Shoe
- Making Change & Color
- The Hole Card / Insurance
- Fills, Markers & Credits
- Payoffs & Color
- Side Bets
- Practice, Rinse and Repeat
- Peer Review x 3
- In-House Blackjack Audition
And that’s just one game. You’ll also need to learn the other staple games like baccarat, craps, and casino roulette games, along with a few of the specialty games that have become so popular in recent years.
That list might appear to lead to a full semester of study, practice, and testing, but you’d be surprised at how soon casino dealers can graduate. The schools listed earlier tend to pass students in one month or less, even while attending part-time and working a day job.
You Don’t Need to Take on Loan Debt to Attend a Top-Tier Dealer School
Don’t worry though, because casino dealer schools in Las Vegas make sure to offer “bundled” pricing plans that cover all of the bases at an affordable cost.
As you can see in the tables below, the PCI Dealer School specializes in linking two or three games together in a coursework bundle, along with single-game courses for folks who need to round out their education.
Personalized Casino Instruction (PCI) Dealer School Course Pricing
Multiple Game Bundle Courses
Blackjack + Roulette = $399.00
Blackjack + Baccarat = $399.00
Blackjack + Pai Gow Poker = $399.00
Blackjack + Dice (Craps) + $449.00
Poker (excluded from 3-game special) = $599.00
Dice (Craps) + Roulette = $699.00
Blackjack + Dice (Craps) + Pai Gow Poker = $699.00
Blackjack + Dice (Craps) + Roulette = $799.00
Single Game Courses
Carnival Games = $149.00
Blackjack = $299.00
Baccarat = $299.00
Pai Gow Poker = $299.00
Dice (Craps) = $399.00
Roulette = $399.00
In most cases, total newcomers to the casino world can enroll in a comprehensive course that touches on all of the necessary table games for under $1,000. That might seem like a steep price to pay, but remember, you’ll earn that tuition expense back (and then some) with only a week’s worth of tips during your first days on the job.
And don’t worry about pounding the pavement and filling out job applications either. Las Vegas casinos work closely with the city’s top dealer schools, scouting talent directly and taking advantage of job placement programs to fill open positions on the fly.
Students Attain Successful Careers After Graduating From Casino Dealer School
I’ve never worked as a casino dealer myself, so don’t take my word for it when it comes to the satisfaction dealer school students feel upon graduation.
Instead, hear from graduates who successfully completed the courses.
How To Become A Dealer Casino Youtube
Personalized Casino Instruction (PCI) Dealer School
“This is the place where everything started in Vegas for me. Five years ago, I was new in town and knew nobody. Luckily, I found PCI Dealer School and spent two weeks here – and got a job soon after. I have been in the gaming industry ever since then, from dealer to floor supervisor, and Operations Manager.”
-Angel S. from California
Casino Education Group (CEG) Dealer School
“Going to CEG is the best money I ever spent. If you are looking for an affordable, flexible, realistic way to get training for a job that you can get, I highly recommend CEG Dealer School. I just got my first paycheck from my first casino dealing job and it covered my cost. I got more out of CEG than I ever expected and will forever be grateful.”
-Joseph B. from Texas
Crescent School of Gaming and Bartending
“With no prior poker experience and with the help of my instructor Tony, I am on my way to the WSOP audition. The mornings and evening classes allow for great flexibility. The team of instructors are very patient and friendly. The atmosphere is not intimidating at all for a newbie like myself. I highly recommended this school over the others as it is the only accredited gaming and bartending school in Vegas.”
-Rissa S. from Nevada
As you can see, these students realized their dreams and ambitions immediately after attaining their certification from a top Las Vegas dealer school. Today, they’re working steady, well-paying jobs in the industry they love, and in many cases, climbing their casino’s corporate ladder to pursue management positions.
Conclusion
Becoming a casino dealer might seem like a lark at first, a fleeting dream to occupy yourself with while grinding out another day at a job you hate. But upon closer inspection, enrolling in a casino dealing school and completing your table game education is an investment in your future. More money, job security, opportunity for advancement, and a fun-filled workplace environment make dealing at a Las Vegas casino a dream career.
A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.
Origin of the word[edit]
Originally a 'croupier' meant one who stood behind a gambler, with extra reserves of cash to back him up during a gambling session. The word derived from croupe (the rump of a horse) and was by way of analogy to one who rode behind on horseback. It later came to refer to one who was employed to collect the money from a gaming-table.[1]
Originally a 'dealer' meant one who was responsible for distributing cards or the player in the dealer position, regardless of whether or not that player was responsible for distributing the cards.[2]
Training[edit]
Training methods to become a casino croupier vary from country to country. In North America, blackjack is almost always the game that dealers learn first, as it is simple and popular, and when the dealer makes errors, they tend not to cost the casino much money. In Europe, croupiers tend to learn roulette first. Complex, busy games such as craps, with complicated payout systems, etc., are usually reserved for the most competent and/or ambitious dealers.[3]
Select colleges and non-collegiate third-level educational institutions now offer croupier training courses, formally dubbed Casino Operations Training, which when put it in an historical context is a milestone achievement for the legitimization of poker in the mainstream. Besides courses, there’s a host of private lessons available on social media, poker forums and classifieds sections worldwide, which could serve even better than attending an official course, giving one-on-one apprentice–master attention.
Casinos may also offer an in-house training program. However, sometimes it serves better to get a 'general qualification' than to be trained exclusively into one companies way of operating. Prospective employers often prefer candidates without fully relevant experience over a candidate highly-experienced in the idiosyncrasies of another operation.[4]
Licensing[edit]
American, Australian, Canadian and British croupiers are required to apply for a gambling license. This license includes police background checks and credit rating checks, to help determine if they are eligible to commence employment. Croupiers are not permitted to deal at a casino until being issued this license.
Tipping[edit]
As is common with customer service staff in the United States, croupiers there depend on tips to make their wage worthwhile. While a croupier should theoretically have no personal interest in the outcome of the game, a successful player customarily tips the croupier, especially in American casinos. Tips are often pooled and divided amongst all the staff. Fraternising with customers is frowned upon, and most casinos prevent their gambling staff from being seen smoking or even being seen in uniform outside the casino. Some gambling strategies include suggestions to tip the casino dealer in order to create a good atmosphere and improve dealer's mood. According to these strategies, tipping might even make the dealer shuffle the cards less frequently and thereby allow easier tracking of particular cards.[5] Australian casinos forbid dealers from taking tips.[6]
Learn How To Become A Casino Dealer
Secondhand smoke exposure[edit]
Because casinos tend to allow smoking on the gambling floor, American croupiers are exposed to secondhand smoke. A health hazard evaluation of several Las Vegas casinos showed that nonsmoker croupiers suffered from more respiratory ailments than their administrative counterparts at the casinos and had cotinine and NNAL (both components of secondhand smoke) in their urine samples.[7]Britain banned smoking in all public places, including casinos, in 2007.[8]
See also[edit]
How Do I Become A Casino Dealer
References[edit]
- ^Oxford English Dictionary, Croupier
- ^'Definition of Dealer - PokerZone'. dictionary.pokerzone.com.
- ^'Career advice - Job tips for workers and job seekers - Jobboom -'. Career advice - Job tips for workers and job seekers - Jobboom.
- ^'How to become a Croupier'. GGPoker. 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- ^'Land Casino rules'. casinoobserver.com. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^'Casino'. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^West, Christine. Secondhand Smoke and Casino Dealers. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. June 16, 2009.
- ^'Smoke ban bill details released'. 27 October 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Croupiers. |