Casino dealer students hopeful outside training will lead to jobs in
2012
January 02, 2010, 10:00AM
Lee
Chau, right, works with student Gordy Bivens to show fellow students how
to position themselves at a gaming table.
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Before students get to deal a game of chance
in Lee Chau's class -- and get a shot at a steady paycheck working in a
casino -- they must learn how to shuffle and count.
"Come on now, 20 at a time," Chau coached Rose Leitaert, a 57-year-old
laid-off restaurant worker from Michigan, as she tried to pick up a stack
of chips with one hand in a recent class. "They aren't going to let you
work unless you can hold them all at once."
Chau teaches poker and casino games such as blackjack, roulette and
craps. The classes at ABC Bartending/Casino School use Monopoly
money.
He instructs dozens of students weekly, mostly unemployed workers from
Michigan and Ohio who are taking a chance at learning a new career that
can pay up to $60,000 a year. Some hope their investment in his class will
land them one of the 7,500 full-time jobs estimated to be coming to Ohio's
new casinos. The jobs come courtesy of Issue 3, which voters approved in
November to allow full-service casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and
Cleveland.
Gaming should begin in 2012.
Though dealers are not required to have certifications to work in
casinos, graduates of the Bartending and Casino College say the courses have given them
the skills to properly deal cards, a proficiency that casinos look for
when hiring.
"I think this shows the community and residents of Ohio are anxious for
the jobs Issue 3 will bring and they are preparing themselves," said
Jennifer Kulczycki, a spokeswoman for Quicken Loans, owned by Cleveland
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who won the right in November's vote to build
the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos.
The ABC Bartending and Casino School plans to open a school in
Cleveland next spring and add the casino course to a bartending school the
company runs in Columbus.
"We figured it would only be a matter of time before casinos would come
to Ohio because they were losing too much money to Michigan and West
Virginia," Chau said.
Students at the ABC
Bartending and Casino School Training practice the proper way to shuffle
cards.
He said that since 2008, he has trained nearly 200 Ohio residents, many
from Northeast Ohio. The former Atlantic City card dealer and Motor City
Casino supervisor said he fields dozens of calls weekly from Ohioans who
want to sign up for his course.
"Who wouldn't want this job?" Chau said. "You get 20-minute breaks
every hour, you get to eat good food for free and work with people. . . .
All you need is the knowledge and know-how of the game.
"The only bad thing is that you gain 40 pounds from all of the standing
and eating you do."
John Pifer, who directs the ABC
Bartending and Casino School in Detroit, said the casino jobs
beckon to people who have been hurt by the economy.
"This is a very low-stress job, and you don't have to be a rocket
scientist to do it," Pifer said. "It is something an average guy can go do
and make $50,000 to $60,000 a year. Gaming survives all economies."
Hours spent at the tables
At the suburban Detroit school, aspiring card dealers spend 40-plus
hours a week practicing with current or former professional dealers who
show them the techniques they need to use while on the other side of the
casino table.
For about $1,000, the students learn how to properly count chips,
manage a game and deal blackjack and basic poker games, all while training
close to 300 hours for a dealer certification. Tuition increases as
students learn more games.
Instructors even test a student dealer's awareness by adding chips
after the bet, causing distractions at the table by asking for change
during a bet or hiding cards. The idea is to prepare students for what
happens in a real casino.
When Leitaert was in class this month, the hardest lesson for her was
counting and grabbing a stack of 20 chips with one hand while
simultaneously paying another player.
Chau took a handful of chips, put them close to her eyes and told her
to count by feeling the grooves. He explained that dealers must learn to
handle chips quickly because it speeds the flow of the game.
"The most important thing is game management," Chau told his students.
"You have to understand that at the casino, nobody trusts anybody. The
player doesn't trust the dealer, the dealer doesn't trust the player, the
floor doesn't trust the dealer and the house doesn't trust the floor."
Looking for an edge in hiring
A school like Chau's is not the only place for people to learn how to
deal.
Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for the two Ohio casino developers, Rock
Ventures and Penn National Gaming, said the owners would probably provide
floor training for people they hire.
Northeast Ohio residents and others who have gradated from the ABC
Bartending and Casino School said they think they'll have an edge when applying for
casino jobs in Ohio.
"When the opportunity comes, I am going to take a shot at it," said
Joseph Pandrea, a 35-year-old Canton native who works at Mountaineer
Casino in West Virginia.
Pandrea, a 2007 ABC graduate who deals such games as Omaha, blackjack
and Texas hold 'em, said the school helped him.
"I was hoping Issue 3 would pass before, but it didn't, and I had to
come down here," Pandrea said. "I have some actual experience, though, and
this will help me out when I apply."
During this year's Issue 3 campaign, Adam Smith handed out stickers and
posters to urge voters to pass the measure. When they did, the 24-year-old
Dayton-area resident traveled to the bartending and casino college in Michigan to earn a
blackjack dealer certification. The airport worker said he is ready for
the job.
"The more games you know, the better the chance you can end up in the
casino," Smith said. "They say these jobs are for Ohio, and I am going to
do what I can to be one of the first people to get one."
Jadia Norman of Cleveland spent several stints at the Hard Rock Casino
in Seminole, Fla., as a blackjack dealer after graduating from the class
last year. The nursing student said she spent a few weeks this past summer
working at casinos to help supplement her income.
"To be honest, I don't think they will hire dealers around here,"
Norman said. "A person with experience is more attractive than a break-in
dealer."
Though many students in Chau's class live in Michigan, they share a
bond with Ohio residents: high foreclosure rates, unemployment and hard
times. They said casinos offer hope.
Kulczycki, Gilbert's spokeswoman, said state legislators will decide
how many tables a casino will run, which will determine the number of
dealers a casino will hire. She stressed that the bulk of the jobs will go
to Ohio residents.
"I am sure we will look to people with experience," she said.
Lenny Giampino, 53, of Wixom, Mich., has spent the last nine weeks at
Chau's school. He has been certified to deal more than a dozen casino and
poker games. The 30-year accountant turned to the school after he was laid
off from a steel company two years ago.
"I spent a lot of money, but I look at it as a small investment into
the future," Giampino said. "If I can get a job that pays well, it will be
all worth it."
Gordy Bivens, 32, of Hastings, Mich., a former iron worker who has been
out of work for more than a year, said he would move to Ohio for a casino
job. He had been a student for two weeks.
"I've been out there looking for work, but it is hard without
experience," the father of two said. "If the jobs are going there, that is
where I will be."
