Need a poker dealer?

[racer13]

Thinking about moving to become a dealer. Anybody have any input, recommendations, advice, etc. about the industry? Any info on trade papers that may advertise dealer postitions available across the US? Any feedback would be appreciated.

[FOURDEAD36]

get ahold of SweetPixiePi..she is a dealer in Reno!!!shes not in forum just on tables

[almurray]

...........wans't Noky a dealer too?

[whatwouldjimbodo]

have you looked intoit at all? from what i heard its tough finding a job and dealers are getting canned all over the place. i wanted to be one too but i just gave up. i dont think the pokertek tablels are helping any either

[racer13]

done a little research through some other forums, kinda sounds like it is hard to find a job in vegas or atlantic city. vegas is no good cuz there are too many dealers already, atlantic city cuz you have to know somebody. but there are a lot of other casinos across the US, and would be willing to move elsewhere, not necessarily a "prime" casino destination. will try to find sweetpixie and noky.... still any other info from anyone else that may read this would be appreciated. still curious about what kind of certifications and the associated costs would be, just an estimate would be close enough, trying to get an idea.....

thanks to those that have responded.

[Miklosik]

first, I think you need to find a good dealer's school. They may have networking available upon graduation. And I'm sure you're not niave enough to assume that hold'em is all you need to know. The dealers at my local casino all need to be able to run all the tables. hold'em, omaha, 3 card, stud, draw, blackjack, carribean, roullette, ****s. Unlike most professions, you cannot afford to specialize.

[Miklosik]

why can't I say ****s? C r a p s.

[JaredRay]

LOL

[racer13]

yeah i also heard that most dealers start at the "carnival" table games up front, then make the transistion to the poker room. as far as omaha, stud, etc., played them all, so no problem understanding them all.

[Miklosik]

you could use this as a gateway.

http://www.jobmonkey.com/casino/html/dealer_schools.html

[ZER007]

Thinking about moving to become a dealer. Anybody have any input, recommendations, advice, etc. about the industry? Any info on trade papers that may advertise dealer postitions available across the US? Any feedback would be appreciated.

The WPT is always looking for dealers. They train you too. But you have to travel with them. It may be a bad time though, they were just recently sold.

[DADuhWEEwah]

Check Oklahoma. Cheap place to live and a TON of casinos with card rooms scattered across the state. Though the Tulsa area has been dying down a bit I am sure if you look hard you could find a job somewhere in Oklahoma.

[whatwouldjimbodo]

i never understood why you need to go to dealing school. players are usually better dealers than the dealers themselves

[Miklosik]

i never understood why you need to go to dealing school. players are usually better dealers than the dealers themselves

Really? You could step right in if your local dealer went on strike? No matter what the game?

[fromafar]

i never understood why you need to go to dealing school. players are usually better dealers than the dealers themselves

Why would you assume dealers aren't already poker players themselves? :confused:

[whatwouldjimbodo]

im not assuming anything. not every dealer is a poker player. thats a fact

[ChrisGill]

I dealt at a casino for 4 months, just needed to know holdem although i could deal most games.

Pay sucks, tips were pooled, but the work is pretty easy, its very social and you get plenty breaks.

If you get to keep your own tips, definitely go for it.

[racer13]

I guess saying the pay sucks could all be relative. What kind of income can be expected?

I was estimating that dealing 20-25 hands an hour should be pretty easy, earning an average of a dollar a hand in tips and the standard minimum wage. Add it all together for an hourly rate of around $30 per hour, over an 8 hour day. Ends up being in the range of $250 per day. Based on a 5 day work week, $1500 per week.

I know everybody has a different "standard of living", but I personally would be happy with $1500 a week.

Are these numbers realistic? Really high? Low?

I would assume that someone that has been a dealer could shed some light...

Thanks in advance!

[ChrisGill]

Well i'm from the UK so i couldn't really comment on the states.

Like i said, here we had to pool all tips and people quickly realise this and don't bother tipping at all so we just gotta live off the wage.. which isn't much at all.

I quit because i only wanted a job to experience the working world and try something some, but going back to full-time poker now.

[racer13]

Thanks for the reply, everywhere I have played seems like tipping about a dollar a hand is pretty standard. Maybe someone from the states can comment, but thanks for the feedback chris.

[Miklosik]

a dollar a hand is pretty standard, but the majority of casinos, like the one where chris worked, pool the tip money to split amoung all dealers. This includes blackjack, roulette, 3 card, c.stud, bonus hold'em and c r a p s. Alot of those games dealers are lucky to see any tips at all.

[Miklosik]

I guess saying the pay sucks could all be relative. What kind of income can be expected?

I was estimating that dealing 20-25 hands an hour should be pretty easy, earning an average of a dollar a hand in tips and the standard minimum wage. Add it all together for an hourly rate of around $30 per hour, over an 8 hour day. Ends up being in the range of $250 per day. Based on a 5 day work week, $1500 per week.

I know everybody has a different "standard of living", but I personally would be happy with $1500 a week.

Are these numbers realistic? Really high? Low?

I would assume that someone that has been a dealer could shed some light...

Thanks in advance!

If you can't deal 17 hands on average every 30 minutes, your job is in jeopardy.

[racer13]

17 hands in 30 minutes is what I had read somewhere else, taking into account table changes, etc. I was kinda thinking around 30-35, but was just trying to reach that $1500 a week number, could do that at 20-25 an hour, which like I said should be pretty easy.

A couple of the places I was considering dealing at doesn't even have other table games, so wouldn't have to worry losing tips to pools that include table games dealers. However, their tip policies may be different, haven't checked into that yet.

Is tip pooling a pretty standard practice among dealers/casinos? Should that be the expected standard?

[Miklosik]

yes and yes

[whatwouldjimbodo]

u should start your own illegal homegame and take rake. bunch of these in college and they make bank

[racer13]

Thought about that, but there usually about 3 home games going on in the same area any night of the week. The fact that everyone is running their own game has killed all of them because the players are now split among 3 games, adding my own 4th would be hard to get going. But I did consider it....