The average income of most poker dealers can range from $100 up to $400 on a good day. Just remember that poker dealers keep their own tips. So as a dealer, the faster you deal the more money you will make. The average dealer should deal between 30-33 hands per hour. The average tip per hand is $1.
The average poker course can range from $199 to $1800, depending on where you go. Don`t be fooled by a discounted price... as most of you know, in life, "you get what you pay for". The best way to learn poker is from an instructor that has at least 10-15 years in the business and has worked for more than just one casino. Many people insist that they either can teach poker or that there is no real reason to pay a lot of money to learn poker... you can just learn from a dealer. WRONG!!!! I`ve been in the business for over 15 years and have held positions from Poker and Table Games Dealer to Poker Room Manager. I can honestly inform you that learning from an instructor with many years experience and that has worked for more than just a few casinos will be able to provide you with an enormus amount of information than someone that may have the same time in the business that has only worked as a dealer in one card room. Different card rooms have many variances in procedures and rules. I have, from expereince, seen dealers that currently deal in the casino that should have never been hired... mistakes in dealing to lack of procedures, yet these are dealers that are currently dealing in a card room and they believe that they posses the skills to train someone in the techniques of dealing. Most people that deal local home games and friday night poker parties insist that they can deal and that they don`t need to go to
school to learn how to deal. I currently manage a casino dealer
school and have had many people come in and say that they want a certificate from us that have never dealt poker before in a casino environment but have only dealt home games. The minute I put them onto the table and ask them to deal in a mock audition scenario, they have no clue on what to do and their audition lasts less than a minute. People just dont understand that there are procedures in game protection, shuffling, opening a game, closing a game, running a game, pitching, button procedures in live and dead button games, missed blinds, rack management, knowledge of game structure in limit, no-limit, spread and pot limit, as well as knowledge of games such as texas hold`em, 7-card high-low, omaha hi-low, razz, pineapple etc., as well as tournament structure, knowledge of correct betting structures in all limits, knowledge of misdeals, errors, as well as games protection and so on... I could go for hours on the knowledge that you should know. If I ask a person that thinks they know how to deal questions like... what`s the difference between a dead button and live button?, what are two reasons the dealer is required to use a cut card under the deck while dealing?, What is spread limit?, How much can a player raise after the big blind in a $5-$10 pot limit game?, What are 8 scenarios that would constitute a misdeal during the dealing out of the cards?, What is the 50% bet rule in structured limit games?, What is rolling the deck?, What is a "Burn-and-Turn"?, What is the drop or rake?, If a player in no-limit bets $60 and the next player goes all-in for $80, what is the minimum bet the next player can raise to?, What does it mean if a supervisor tells a dealer to get in the box?, What do you announce if you are low on chips in the rack?, What does it mean to "Clear the Rail"?, What is a drop box?, What is a kill pot?, What is a leg-up? How much does a player owe that has two missed blind buttons and they want to re-enter the game?, What is buying the button and who is the only player allowed to buy it?, What is dead money? What does it mean "playing behind"?, What is a boxed card?, What is the muck?, What is dealing seconds, What is base dealing?, What is a hop?, What is a step?, What is boxing?, What are 10 different ways to mark cards?, What are luminous readers?, What are gaffed cards?, What is collusion?, What is counting down the stub?, What are lammers?, What is a soft-break? .... I could go on for hours, but if you just read all those questions and didnt know all of them with ease, you should not be dealing poker or TEACHING poker. It`s amazing the lack of knowledge and lack of procedures that dealers have that are currently employed in card rooms.
I have even heard of casino dealing schools who have trained students how to deal poker and then one month later employed them to instruct the next poker class.... Be sure to ask your poker instructor questions of where they have dealt before, how long have they dealt, why they are not dealing any longer, how long have they been teaching and even some of the questions above you may have not been able to answer...
The poker course at my Casino
School is $1400 with $100 off if paid in full. This course may seem expensive, but again, you get what you pay for. I not only teach procedures and the games but I also teach game protectiona and cheating techniques that dealers need to be able to detect in the card room. The name of the
school is West Coast Dealing Academy (
http://Learntodealnow.com)
I would also ask the
school what their placement rate is. If you really want to know if the students are being hired from the
school, go to the casinos and ask the dealers, supervisors and managers who they would recommend and where they were trained. We tell our potential students the same thing and also tell them to call the H/R/departments and ask who they hire from.... this always gets us a phone call back.
AGAIN!! I can`t stress enough the fact that you should not learn poker from just anyone. Now I do want to also say that in the 15 years that I have been in the casino business, there are dealers that do posses the skills to deal the game correctly, but if you find one, I am possitive that they would inform you to the same opinion that you need to be tought by someone who can actually TEACH you the skills required and not the attitude of "this is what I do".
Good Luck and I Wish all of you the best that wish to enter into the casino industry.
Chad
Canada
