Poker Dealer Perspective:
Why Choose a Card Game For a Career
- Explain your background in poker.
a. I started playing poker around the age of 16. I was hanging out with two friends in their basement. One of them suggested, “why don’t we play some poker?” We played a $5 tournament of just the three of us. They basically had to explain the rules to me as we were playing. Obviously, I lost, but I immediately loved the game.
Growing up, I would play 25 cent/50 cent cash games. I would play all over town. One spot was with my friend Cody. His uncle owned a local business, and we would sneak in and play in their executive office.
Once I was 21, I started playing in the casino. I would make money sometimes. I wasn’t amazing, but I loved the game, so I kept coming back. I was working nights at a call center. It was okay pay, but it wasn’t the best job.
There was one pivotal moment in my life. I was working on getting a promotion to a temporary team leader position at the call center which would further commit me to a job that I was not crazy about. I saw an ad for a class to deal blackjack at the casino. I ended up getting offered the job for the leadership position. At the same time, I got offered a spot at the blackjack training class. This was the pivotal moment for me because I could take the safe and secure route of the promotion, or I could commit to the class. The class would not guarantee me a position. I ended up choosing the blackjack class because I was ready for a change. I passed the class, and they offered me the job.
Three months later, a position opened up in the poker room. I applied for the position. The fact that I had played so much in the poker room helped me land the job despite having zero experience.
Since then, I have dealt in five different casinos. I have dealt an array of games from Texas Hold ’Em, to Pot Limit Omaha, to Seven Card Stud. I have dealt cash games and tournaments. I dealt the Heartland Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker, and the Midstate Poker Tour.
2. Why did you choose to be a poker dealer?
a. The money was very good for the little amount of education needed. I don’t have any college experience, so the money I could make dealing poker seemed too good to pass up.
3. What was the onboarding/training process like to become a dealer?
a. Onboarding in casinos in general is a very long process. They do an extensive background check on any casino employee. From interview to orientation was about three weeks.
I don’t actually have any formal poker dealing training because of how laid back my first casino was. It’s honestly hard to get trained because no one owns an actual poker table. That’s where YouTube comes into play.
4. Describe one of your favorite moments at the poker table.
a. It’s hard to narrow it down. The easy answer would be one of the biggest tips I ever received. One of the first days I was working at my most recent casino, I was getting along really well with one of the guests. I had never dealt to this person before. I ended up dealing to him later that night on a different table and pushed him a massive pot. Probably somewhere in the $1500-$1600 vicinity. He tells me he has really enjoyed my dealing all night. He told himself earlier that night, that he hoped I would push him a big pot, so he could give me a hundred-dollar tip. Which he then proceeded to do.
5. What skills are necessary to excel at dealing poker?
a. Simple math is a very important skill for any casino dealing position. You have to be charismatic. It goes a long way. This is something I have learned over the years. Coming up, I always wanted to be the fastest dealer possible. In my head, the more hands I could deal, the more money I could make which is true to an extent. What’s much more important is being friendly and likeable. The fastest dealer in the world won’t make as much money as a slower, more charismatic dealer.
Above all, patience is the most important skill. Especially when you are learning, poker can be very intimidating. Sitting around nine or ten other players expecting you to be the all-knowing entity of poker. Being patient and having a thick skin goes a long way at the table.
6. Do you prefer dealing cash games or tournaments? Why?
a. Almost always, cash is preferred to tournaments. There is way more money in cash compared to dealing tournaments. Having said that, tournaments are a lot less stressful in my opinion. Simply because, the mistakes you make seem less consequential.
7. Would you recommend this career to others? Why?
a. I would absolutely recommend this career to others, and I have many times in the past. The amount of actual work required compared to the amount of money you make is insane. It’s hard for me to give an unbiased answer because of how much I love my job. Putting it into cold hard facts; with no college education required, you can start out making 40 grand a year. If you are efficient and charismatic, you could make up to 100 grand a year. Just for sitting on your butt and throwing cards to a bunch of degenerate gamblers.
One day during the Heartland Poker Tour, I was walking out of work with an HPT dealer. When a poker tour comes through, they hire a staff of dealers to work only the two weeks that the tour is there. A lot of the time, they are vastly understaffed, so they have to work long hours. Sometimes 12 hours or more. As we are walking to our cars, I ask him how many hours he had to work today. And he just smiled and said, “Well, we deal poker for a living. So, I don’t feel like I worked at all.”
