Poker dealer jobs – Q and A

A job as a poker dealer is something quite a few people aspire. Having the skills for the job means you can get a job which gives you a lot of freedom. If you are really good as a dealer, it even enables you to travel the world while making a decent salary. We get a lot of questions about poker dealer jobs, so we thought it would be a good idea to line up the most asked questions and answer them from our background and experience.

Q: Do I need an education to become a poker dealer?

A: It depends. In the United States casinos can require a candidate to have attended some kind of ‘dealer schools’. There are literally hundreds of dealer schools in the country, of which most are located in Nevada (the state Las Vegas is in). The education can be quite expensive but it sometimes (partly) paid for by the casino/poker room.

In the rest of the world poker dealer schools are not very common. Often you will receive some kind of internal education.

Q:What can I earn as a poker dealer?

A:  In Vegas, most dealers earn a low wage but can earn a lot of additional income through tips. The better you are, the more you earn in general. If you can deal cards fast you can deal more hands per hour, thus giving you more chances to receive tips from players. Creating a good atmosphere at the table is also a quality a great dealer posses. When people have fun they tend to tip better.

In casinos in Europe, in general dealers earn a higher fixed wage but need to share the tips with the rest of the staff. For a good dealer, Las Vegas is definitely the place to be. Earnings over $100,000 a year are not uncommon for a good dealer.

Q: What are the downsides of this job?

A: Some card dealers complain that the work can be repetitive and monotonous. Other complaints are the dealer may be the center of frustration and anger of losing players who blame the dealer for their losses. Of course, casinos attract some shady figures so you sometimes need to deal with them. You need to stay focused at all times. If not, ‘accidents’ like this are bound to happen:

Every job has downsides, so don’t be discouraged. Being a poker dealer can be a wonderful job in which you cope a lot with great people, learn more about the game and how people play their cards which can turn out to be very valuable information (famous poker pros like Mike Matusow started out as a dealer)!

On PokerJobs.net you will find a wide variety of jobs as a poker dealer. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get regular updates on jobs in the poker industry.